Episode 567
Cars Cost $50K Now; Not Luxury, Just... Cars
The average price of a new car is over $50,000 now — yeah, fifty grand, not just the fancy stuff. Full-size pickups are sitting near $67,500 and the average monthly payment is about $776, so this ain’t your grandpa’s car loan. Folks have been trading down to smaller SUVs and cheaper trims, but the baseline cost still won’t budge — wild. Dealers are getting desperate and weird: a local Lincoln Mercury ad actually touted a “Firstborn Sales Event,” offering discounts for “well-qualified babies” and straight-up telling you to “surrender your firstborn.” We crack up about it on the show because $2,000 off feels like pocket change next to a birth certificate — tune in for the audio, the ad is hilariously awful.
Takeaways:
- I freaked out when I learned the average new car now tops fifty grand—wild, right?
- We talk monthly payments climbing near $776 and how that feels more like paying rent than a car loan.
- Even buyers downsizing into compact SUVs and cheaper trims haven't budged the record average price, shockingly.
- I joked dealerships might need crazy promos — like that over-the-top 'surrender your firstborn' sales stunt we aired — to get attention.
- Bottom line: baseline vehicle costs are shockingly high, and typical $2,000 incentives barely move the needle; we're in full-on sticker shock era.
Transcript
It's haystack.
Speaker A:And the average price of a new vehicle is near a record high.
Speaker A:Well over $50,000 now.
Speaker A:And that's not the average of the new luxury car.
Speaker A:That's the average of all new vehicles sold.
Speaker A:The average new car over $50,000.
Speaker A:And if you want a full size pickup, you're talking about $67,500.
Speaker A:And the new payments climbed to about $776 a month.
Speaker A:Now what's interesting is that that's with buyers already trying to adjust to cheaper vehicles.
Speaker A:Buyers have been Moving towards smaller SUVs, compact cars, smaller pickups, cheaper trim levels, and somehow the average transaction price still essentially tied with an all time record at over 50 grand.
Speaker A:So it's not just people deciding they want a loaded Escalade.
Speaker A:The baseline cost of a new vehicle has gotten so genuinely hard to swallow.
Speaker A: and a lot more like rent from: Speaker B:You know, the before times.
Speaker A:Which means that dealerships are eventually going to have to get more creative.
Speaker A:$2,000 Customer cash.
Speaker C:Meh, meh, meh, meh.
Speaker A:That does not hit the same when the sticker says $50,000 on it for a baseline vehicle.
Speaker A:I mean, at some point these traditional incentives just are not enough.
Speaker A: takes to afford a new car in: Speaker B:High interest rates have automobile prices soaring.
Speaker B:Now your local Lincoln Mercury dealer is offering an incentive you will not want to miss with our first born sales event.
Speaker B:Surrender your firstborn and surrender to luxury when you step out the hospital and into a dealership where our friendly sales team will approve new parents for deep discounts for well qualified babies.
Speaker B:Give life to your driving experience with only your firstborn child.
Speaker B:Do it.
Speaker B:Signing on a 36 month lease for first time mommies and daddies.
Speaker B:The Lincoln Mercury firstborn sales event where we deliver savings after your delivery.
