http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/21/pf/a...ex.htm?cnn=yes

Car prices top $30,000 on average

Sticker prices set record in December. What buyers actually paid went up only slightly.
January 22, 2004: 2:48 PM EST



NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The average sticker price of a new auto purchased in December crossed $30,000 for the first time, according to price tracker Edmunds.com, but sticker shock isn't keeping buyers from getting the vehicles they want.

The average manufacturer's suggested retail price of cars and light trucks bought last month was $30,481, up 2 percent from the average sticker price in November and 4.6 percent higher than a year earlier.

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Strong incentives and normal negotiation kept the average actual selling price well below that. In December it was $26,077, about 5 percent above the year-ago transaction price. Both average transaction prices are about 14 percent below the manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP).

Buyers at General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group, the North American unit of DaimlerChrysler, paid an average of 18.8 percent below MSRP in December, versus 18.4 percent below a year earlier.

Japanese automakers had even more improvement, as buyers of those brands paid 7.5 percent below MSRP in December compared to 8.4 percent a year earlier.

The Korean automakers ended up giving a lot on price, as their buyers were at 15.2 percent below sticker price in December compared to only 9.4 percent a year earlier. Buyers of European models got the smallest break on sticker price, only 4.6 percent in December, compared to 4.8 percent a year earlier.

 

Atleast $30K for something sporty.

 

SUVs jacked that up a lot.

 

Also all these people buying 30k on the average doesn't necessarily mean they can all afford them comfortably either.

 

Isnt that the truth!!

As a mortgage broker i pull peoples credit all day long and what i see amazes me.....

for example today i got this gentleman that wanted a refi on his house and i am reviewing his credit report and this moron has a 48 month lease on a 2002 toyota previa and the idiot is paying 526 a month!

all I can say is id love to have seen that salesmans commission because a fully loaded one bought for 60 months is almost the same payment!!

I just cant believe this shit!!!

 

OK...everyone trade in ur CL's for a pair of Kia's...we'll show them!!!We'll drop that number down so fast that they won't know what hit'em. OK guys so who's w/ me................................................ .............uhhhh guys???

 

this is sad...this means that a g35, 3series, new tl and such are just avg. cars, nothing special anymore since the avg. price is now in the 30k's

 

^yeah thats disappointing
but not just think about all the people driving below avg cars .. at least we're avg

 

damn i thought it was like 20k

 

It's because of all the MB SLs on the road... think about it... if one person buys an SL500 for every 6 civics on the road, the average for those 7 cars is still above 30k each =)

And hell, include used cars in here, and that 30k drops to something like 12-16k, I'm sure.

 

This is why I don't buy new. I can't bring myself to make payments like that on a car. I would rather spend 15-22k and trick it out with the extra cash.

 

man, i see the same thing all the time. people who can't afford a new car, but get one anyway (saw this working in the insurance biz for awhile).

this one lady bought a new hyundai accent, but had lousy credit and very little down, so total purchase after all payments were around $20k for a $10k car. She got hit by some old lady about 2 months after buying, and the other lady's insurance only paid the value of the car, meaning this lady now has no car to drive, but still owes about $10k to the bank.

The risks people take...

 

i have learned that after buying 2 brand new vehicles. i'll never do it again, i just don't wanna take the big hit driving it off the lot anymore

 

Many people SHOULD consider on taking the gap insurance.

 

I have bought two new cars too. What I liked about it is that you do not need to worry about mechanical problems. And if they do happen, warranty will cover it.

 

What about the average car prices among all the cars sold (prorating all sold cars with MSRP). I bet its easy under 20k.

 

And the average household debt is?

Mostly everyone puts it on credit these days and they spend what they don't have.

"Life is like a box of bills."