I figure GP's talking about gas trucks. We're talking working class people spending over a year's gross income on a truck, when in the past they'd be buying a "work truck" with a single bench seat, no A/C, and an AM radio.

I don't want to make assumptions, but it's my understanding that they're usually on finance which means they're paying much more than sticker price.

I certainly don't know many middle class people with 70k in savings to throw around, either everyone is doing a lot better than they otherwise expose or there's easy money on the table.

I think we'll see price corrections downward for cars over the next 5 years, as interest rates change. I've asked a handful of importers while I try and source a car from Japan, with the Japanese import market being hyper inflated. They've all suggested that during the pandemic, financed purchases were making up the majority of their sales. I imagine that's set to change as interest rates change and loans get harder to acquire.

Of course people are financing them. Vehicles are expensive. I believe the average used car price is over $40K now here. Even an average used car was about $20K.

Let's stick to the truck, though. F-150s are everywhere.

If I head to the Ford Canada website, an F-150 XL (the cheap one) is $39K before you get started. A Platinum brings you up to $87K, and the Limited brings you up to $98K.

The website is definitely NOT including taxes, licensing fees, financing fees, interest, etc.

I couldn't imagine paying that for a work truck. The trades are fairly well payed, but to that extent?

The average new car transaction price is currently $48K.

https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/kbb-atp-september...

What's the histogram? Surely the mean is highly skewed.

I can't see the logic in it either, by the time they're done paying off a typical loan even for the $87k variant, you would be up into triple figures for it. It could have cost as much as some people's homes.