The Cars: Value for the Money?

I

imp

Senior Member
1964, summer, Lee Iacocca's brainchild introduced, the Mustang sold like hotcakes! I ordered mine in August. Took the staid, proven, uni-body design of the Falcon, gave it curves and grace, nice selection of options, and of course, affordable price. The new Mustang base price was just over $2,000. Mine came to $3150, half of that difference being due to the "High Performance Package".

Has 50 years so stripped our dollar of it's value that a similar new car today costs 12 times as much? Are you earning 12 times more, today, than folks were 50 years ago? In '64, I was earning $510 a week, as a skilled Technician, Electronics. Extended forward, I should be earning, then, today, over $5,000 per week. Dubiously doubtful.

WTH has happened? Iacocca once stated that the "closest guarded secret in Detroit is the actual cost to produce a new car".

Perhaps that's true. imp

Edit: "Key-slip" error, arthritic finger joints, tell me how to edit the title?
 

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The issue with cars has been an ongoing debate in many auto magazines. I have been a gear-head since I was 14. No sense with going into my resume as an amateur car builder. I think most of the articles in the magazines that I have read agree that due to U.S. autos having to upgrade to better fuel efficiency, better carbon reductions, better safety items, better wear on parts, and on and on has brought the price of the automobile to where it is today. The mark up on a vehicle is dependent upon the brand. From what I have read, Porsche leads all others with about a $25,000.00 markup.

No matter what, there seems to be no shortage of buyers, even though the automobile is the worse investment a purchaser can make.
 

When I was working, I often took a call at the Ford or GM plants in Kansas City. One time, back in the late '70's, I was at the GM plant when they were running some cost analysis programs, and I saw the plant costs of their cars. At the time, they were building the Chevy Nova, and Buick Apollo...which retailed in the $3000 to $5000 range. The Actual production costs...parts and labor...ran in the area of about 40% of the retail. By the time these cars reached the customer, the rest of the costs were markups and profits, etc. Cars today are a lot more sophisticated than they were back then...and understandably more costly....but very few are worth anywhere near the "sticker" price...IMO.

I also spent some time as a car salesman when I first got out of the military...while I was waiting for an "honest" job opening. Those few months opened my eyes to the tricks the dealers and salesmen use to get a sale. On average, probably 9 out of 10 customers at that dealership paid more than they really needed to. Things haven't changed that much on the past 40+ years, and I can still smell the Sales BS on the rare occasions that I go car shopping.
 
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Here in PA, the state purchases new police cars every year. However, only 25% of the fleet is replaced in each year, so it takes a 4 year cycle to get around to replacing all of the cars. The cars are purchased, not leased. After the car's fourth year in operation, it is pulled out of service and all of the electronics are removed, including the necessary wiring, decals, lights, etc. It looks like the car was stripped and left standing. The cars are then sold during a public auction to the highest bidder. I always wondered who in he heck would want to buy one of these stripped out clunkers. Well, they do go fairly cheap. I have seen them sell for as low as a few grand.
 
911 said:
Here in PA, the state purchases new police cars every year. However, only 25% of the fleet is replaced in each year, so it takes a 4 year cycle to get around to replacing all of the cars. The cars are purchased, not leased. After the car's fourth year in operation, it is pulled out of service and all of the electronics are removed, including the necessary wiring, decals, lights, etc. It looks like the car was stripped and left standing. The cars are then sold during a public auction to the highest bidder. I always wondered who in he heck would want to buy one of these stripped out clunkers. Well, they do go fairly cheap. I have seen them sell for as low as a few grand.
Click to expand...

There are many Crown Vic taxis around with a "police interceptor" badge on the trunk lid.
 

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