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Comment by JoelSutherland | Hacker News Reader

In 1985 the average age of a car on the road was about 6 years. In 2012, the average age is over 11 years. This has a number of obvious implications on new-car purchasing behavior of young people:

1. It's much easier to buy a used car now since they have more years of service in them.

2. Getting a hand-me-down from a relative is possible.

3. Culturally, getting a new car is much more rare so there is less pressure to do it.

I think 3 is a huge factor. The social status a new car provides has fallen dramatically.

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Culturally, getting a new car is much more rare so there is less pressure to do it.

I agree, and this isn't just for Gen Y-ers, either. Most of my Gen X friends (I guess I'm a Gen X-er, too) have no interest in purchasing new vehicles. My wife and I have owned exactly one new car (which we then sold after 6 years to purchase our camper van), and our current vehicle is ten years old. Shiny cars just aren't the status symbols they used to be.

Funny, as a Gen X-er I was reading this as a story about somebody else, but you're totally right. I'm 41 and I've only ever owned one new car. We bought it when my wife was pregnant, because I wanted to make sure she had a good reliable car for her 30-minute commute to and from work. That car has lasted five years so far, and fate willing it will last at least another five. (Her commute is only five minutes these days, and the carseat is in our purchased-used minivan.)

It's really a crazy contrast from what I remember a number of adults doing back in the 80s -- a new car every two years, regular as clockwork.

I would add that used cars are increasingly more reliable and easier to vet. There are also more resources available to help identify lemons as well.

Truth.

CarFax was pretty much directly predicted by Akerlof's "The Market for Lemons".

A bit ironic for the car companies that their progress in reliability of a vehicle as it ages ends up biting them in new car sales.

Thats because they had to compete with foreign cars. Everyone started buying foreign cars cause they lasted longer.

With every passing year, cars become less substantial, and more like delicate metal cages surrounded by plastic fairings, and protecting their inhabitants with vinyl ballons. I just can't fathom parting with my hard-earned money for such a creation.

The newer cars are far safer, it seems every 5 years we bump up the crash test standards.

If you've seen a modern ski helmet after a hard hit, it looks destroyed. You wonder how it helped at all. But the destruction of the helmet absorbs some of the energy. A 'sturdy' helmet would just pass that right through to the head. Helmets are now effectively single use.

Cars are almost the same way. It's seemingly silly how easily modern cars are totaled. But they are crumpling and absorbing energy - while maintaining the passenger compartment's integrity. Older cars simply folded up. Often times the passenger compartment was the weakest point - i.e. the first thing to crush. That makes modern cars fairly disposable after major accidents, but I'd vasty prefer the safety of a modern car.

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