I hope nobody is paying full sticker for the average ride: http://www.freep.com/article/20081028/BUSINESS01/810280376/1014 New vehicle transaction prices in the United States declined for the 10th consecutive month in October -- after 44 months of increases from May 2004 to December 2007. The Power Information Network, a subsidiary of J.D. Power and Associates, on Monday reported the finding in its industry newsletter, PIN Insights. The industrywide decline means that automakers are bringing in less revenue and are likely to be less profitable when they report third- quarter earnings. "They have to reduce costs as quickly as they can to minimize this," Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at PIN, told the Free Press. "It's a serious situation," he said. "It does have enormous implications." PIN attributes the decline largely to the soft environment: tight credit, low consumer confidence and relatively high gas prices. U.S. vehicle sales are down 12.8%, or 1.6 million vehicles, through September, compared with the same period in 2007. However, the market shift from large SUVs and other trucks to less-expensive, fuel- efficient small cars is also a factor. Worse yet, the decline in average transaction prices has been accelerating throughout the year. In the first three months of 2008, average transaction prices declined by less than 1.5%. From May through September, year-over-year price declines exceeded 4%. But from Oct. 1-19, the price drop reached a near-term record of 7.7%. Libby called the news a double whammy for the already-suffering automakers.
Thus spake : If we're talking about Detroit, aren't we talking about the idiots who thought that they could build something that got 21 mpg highway forever?
It's rather amazing how cheap new Toyotas have become. We paid a bit under $17K for a Camry LE 12 years ago. Now I can buy a 2009 Camry LE for $17.5K, and the new vehicle has a bigger engine, better fuel economy, and a lot more safety features like ABS, TPMS, and a bunch of air bags as standard equipment.
Yes, the 92-96 generation was at the peak of quality and design. They started decontenting the base car while adding bells and whistles.
It should console you that your Camry was better built and probably longer-lived. We have a '95 Camry wagon that cost $24k new. Yikes. We bought if for $3995 a couple of years ago.
