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Comment by dudeinhawaii | Hacker News Reader

While we're being data driven - the narrative isn't far off from reality. Looking at inflation in isolation is also misleading.

Plainly, prices have risen faster than pay.

Avg. new-car price: $23,017 in 2005 -> $47,465 in 2024 (+32% after inflation).

Median household income: $46,242 in 2005 -> $80,610 in 2023 (+12% after inflation).

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Average new car price is very misleading. When you buy a car, they don't charge you the average, they charge you what the specific car you're buying costs. If there are a dozen cheap car options for sale, it is irrelevant to me that there are also some more expensive options for sale.

MSRP of Honda Accord went from $15k-$30k in 2005 to $30k-$40k in 2025.

MSRP of one model is also not perfect, but it's another data point.

> MSRP of Honda Accord went from $15k-$30k in 2005 to $30k-$40k in 2025.

> MSRP of one model is also not perfect, but it's another data point.

I do not know if this is true.

- Cheapest Honda Accord in 2005 was $17,510 (that is $28,895 in today's money) - https://www.kbb.com/honda/accord/2005/

- Cheapest Honda Accord in 2025 is $28,295 (https://automobiles.honda.com/accord-sedan).

So the price is really the same.

2005 accord is a 2025 civic class wise

2005 accord is 5 inchers longer, a couple inches wider and has a longer wheelbase. This results in larger interior space and trunk space. While cars are in fact getting bigger and heavier, in this case it's not as egregious.

you also could compare internal dimensions between 3: 2005 accord vs 2025 civic vs 2025 accord, I kinda believe 2025 civic will be closer to 2005 accord.

But I mostly referred on class in general: 2005 accord was basic appliance economy car, while 2025 accord has many more accura like luxury features besides drivetrain.

Yep, model inflation. I have an early 2000s Accord and it's smaller than most Civics I see on the road, and with fewer features than a base model Civic.

We can also say that the average cost of education has risen 141.0% over the last 20 year.

So I’m not saying that things are not expensive now: but not having cheap cars is not the reason for that. And that is what the article is saying.

Is the average new-car price the average price that people are buying cars at, or the price that cars are being released at?

I believe it's the price they're bought at, and the rate of average car debt is also similarly higher so it checks out

I believe the stat is uually reported as median purchase price, so if a billionaire orders a bunch of Bugattis it doesn't mess up the stats

For under 47k, (off the top of my head) you can buy a Subaru BRZ, Toyota gr86, Toyota gr Corolla, Honda Civic type r, Subaru WRX, VW gti... None of those are budget conscious family cars so something is off with that average car price you quoted. You can buy a Nissan versa for under 18k today. https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/cars/versa-sedan/specs-tr... .

> Honda Civic type r

You will NEVER get a type R from the dealer at this price

This still doesn't tell the whole story

You need car interest rates to understand actual "car affordability" at any particular time. ZIRP era was far cheaper than right now where most new cars are 6% for highly qualified buyers (800+ credit rating)

Also, cars today last longer, have more features for your dollar, and are significantly safer and in many cases (i.e. toyota small cars like the corolla) can get 50+ mpg without the anemic and underpowered engines of the past.

A simple adjustment of (average new car cost)/(average lifespan of car in miles) would be a good start.

We’ve also got 0% down 7-10 year car loans now when they used to be much shorter terms.

The car market is highly manipulated between financing, the literal laws protecting dealership monopolies, insurance, etc.

No simple analysis on a handful of metrics will show the full picture

You shouldn't compare an average to a median in this way.

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