Article, Ford loses its last cheap vehicle to tariffs

[Glen Baker LLC]

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[MaverickNoticer]

I remember the price of cars dropping or rolling back over time when they started assembling/manufacturing parts outside the US. The consumer saw 85% price drops...........NOT!. We did not see any of those savings so where did the savings go?

Straight in to Dealer and OEM pockets?

 

[pigsareus]

Broadly speaking I would agree that there were many vehicles circa ~1990 to 2015 (roughly) which were known to go 200-300K+ with adequate maintenance. They were in the sweat spot for having good technology, but not loaded to the gills with technology, and well developed engines. Broad spectrum of vehicles from the usual Japanese ones to Buick 3800 vehicles, Panther platform, Rangers, and many others.

Frankly even a lot of the bad vehicles of that era also served their purpose. I grew up in rural Nebraska, and stuff like the Grand Ams, Escorts, Cavaliers were what almost everyone drove in high school. Yes they were not great cars, but they were cheap to buy new, depreciated like a lead balloon, and were very cheap used. They were also ridiculously easy vehicles to fix with an abundance of new and used parts. They would not go 200K+ miles, but they would do 10-15 years 100-150K.

Your comment about houses is not too far off for cars too because people are just holding on to good cars longer and longer now, and the reliability of new ones has been dropping due to poorer quality parts, too much driver aid tech, and chasing harder to get MPGs with turbos, direct injection, cylinder deactivation, super high compression, looser piston rings, overly elaborate variable cam timing, etc. Really says a lot that Toyota is doing massive Hyundai Kia style engine recalls, and GM can't make a small block V8 that doesn't disintegrate.

yep - even earlier - had an 85 corolla , put 200K miles on it, besides basic maint, tires, battery...only repair it really needed was an alternator - and it was so easy to swap out i did it out side at 10 degrees out and changed it out in 15 minutes. Eventually sold it to a family member who managed to wreck it in 4 months....

 

[MavHarbin]

I estimate that by 2028, when the next-gen Maverick arrives, the most affordable hybrid trim will carry an MSRP of around $35,000.

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