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My wife could use a new car and we can afford one but we're having a tough time justifying the price. The covid era inflation of vehicle prices hasn't really come back to reality and it feels like dealerships are playing some sort of false inventory scarcity game still. Not sure what to make of it but the market feels heavily manipulated against the consumer right now. More so than in the past.

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The prices don't match the value except as a luxury item. Maybe that was a switch to make cars more profitable?

I see little appeal in a new car. Huge money sink, long waiting lists, sketchy dealers, sketchy warranties, software-based without being run by software companies, and all for what? To be able to travel in an unpleasant, dangerous road system.

Buying these feels more like an obligation to avoid, not something fun and worthwhile. Like checking the mail for bills.

We're also unlikely to see future wage gains to outpace the recent increases to cars and houses. We had a brief increase in wages, but inflation and/or the market quickly outpaced that.

I'd like to say things will get messy when so many things become unaffordable, but people said that 10 years (and probably further back), so where's the real incentive to make things affordable so long as businesses stay in business?

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