A great report from “Today Explained”
“When did auto ownership get so expensive?” The short answer is the day your parents quit paying for your car. The longer answer, of course, is more complicated. There are many reasons why it’s so expensive these days… technology, training, liability, inflation, fuel and safety standards all go into the mix, but there are other factors as well.
We caught this report on NPR from Vox’s “Today Explained” that gets into a few of the factors you might not have considered. They hit new car prices, insurance, repairs and a few other things in their typical bright and insightful way. They left a lot uncovered, but we really learned a lot from the points they did cover and we thought we’d share it with you this month. We’re including the first part of the transcript here to get you started, but do yourself a favor and listen to the 26-minute podcast here.
When did auto ownership get so expensive?
Noel King and Marin Kogan on Today, Explained, Apr 2024
“Drivers are increasingly paying sticker price or more for a new car. Then there are sky-high insurance rates and mortgage-level car payments. Vox’s Marin Cogan explains how we got here.
This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by David Herman, and hosted by Noel King.
A popular TikTok trend I don’t pretend to understand is where someone armed with a video camera accost their coworkers and asks, How much is your car payment? 1800. How much is your car payment pay? Like 1200. How much is your car payment? What’s for lunch? That’s the real question.
If some of those numbers sound to you like rent, you’re not wrong. Owning a car has gotten more and more and more expensive. Insurance is up, repairs are up, interest rates are up and it wouldn’t be America if scams we’re not also up. Coming up on today. Explain. We’re not gonna ask if you should just ride a bike or walk. That makes everyone mad. But, we are going to examine what has happened to make car ownership so unaffordable.
I might not have money for food or to hang out with my friends, but I always have money for candles. I always have money for candles. I have candles.
Hey, before we get into the show today, I have an ask for you this month My colleagues at Vox are launching a special project on climate change. Vox relies on financial contributions from our readers and listeners to make this work possible. And, I wonder if you might consider supporting our climate coverage and helping us continue to produce these stories. You can go to Vox dot com slash give to contribute and Thank you sincerely for your support.
Come on, come on, come on, come a spot. Announcements Thank you spot. Here we go. Explained
It’s today explained. I’m Noel King with Vox Senior correspondent Marin Kogan. Marin frequently covers auto-related nonsense. Everything from why it’s so treacherous to be a pedestrian to why dangerous drivers are facing fewer penalties. Recently, Marin’s been on the money beat. It is not your imagination. Car ownership has gotten insanely expensive.
The average price of a new car is $48,000 right now. And there’s a couple different reasons for that. It has somewhat to do with changing fuel economy standards. It’s also just that manufacturers are favoring more expensive luxury cars and consumers are buying them more.
Five years ago, shoppers looking for an inexpensive car could choose from about a dozen models selling for less than $20,000. Now there’s only one, the subcompact Mitsubishi Mirage and there are reports that it will be phased out in 2025.
But it’s not just car prices, it’s car prices, it’s auto insurance and it’s the cost of gasoline. Basically everything associated with owning a car has gotten more expensive.
Let’s break them out into individual little buckets there. Insurance, a thing that everybody must have, should have is up. How much and how long has this been going on?
