Epiphany about truck prices in general

[Hullguy]

Add the Union workers recent hard-fought pay bump to supply chain, inflation and all the other aspects contributing to skyrocketing costs.

Hang onto your boxers if tariffs are put into place: an XL for $80K.

Why do the trucks built non union by Toyota cost the same if it’s about the Union workers? This doesn’t hold water!

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[Tone]

It's a recently added rise in manufacturing cost - among others - through all Union workers that holds several tons of water.

 

[Hullguy]

It's a recently added rise in manufacturing cost - among others - through all Union workers that holds several tons of water.

Your vessel has many holes in it! Labor costs are only 7% of the total vehicle cost
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/18/business/labor-costs-impact-car-price/index.html

 

[Buyer2021]

Either way, the fact that a corvette can be had for less than the price of a midrange 1/2 ton pickup truck is amazing to me.

Methinks that's been true for quite some time.

The ~$61k MSRP on my 2021 Lariat 500A was ~equal to the MSRP of an entry-level Vette in that same year. IMO it's a silly / nonsensical comparison.

Yep, some pay MSRP, some more, some less, when buying any vehicle (thank you Granger Ford for making it easy).

Another non-sensical comparison but FWIW ..... my brother bought a new entry-level 2025 Kia Sportage LX yesterday at an Austin, TX, dealer. Yep, a 100% made-in-Korea basic-transportation vehicle with an MSRP of ~28k including delivery (replacing a 2015 Kia Soul he ran for 256k miles with no significant problems, so it's hard for me to fault his return to the brand).

With a bit of low-stress negotiation and competitive shopping, he paid 12% below MSRP for that '25 Sportage, $180 'dealer doc fee', no other dealer add-ons, + statutory TT&L OTD (no trade-in involved). Good on him I say, I was a bit surprised that they moved that much on such a low-price car.

Will rumored / threatened tariffs raise the price of that Kia? Who the heck knows? Brother knew he would be shopping within the next year and just decided to minimize his stress and avoid the gamble. Smart move, IMO.

Still and all, yes vehicle prices seem to be rising well-above broader inflation indices, and IMO that's likely to continue for a variety of reasons. And yeah, IMO, the farther one moves up from entry-level vehicles the greater that gap will continue to be.

Am I glad that in 2021 I settled my vehicle needs for the next 10+ years? You bet I am, let the storm rage!

 

[v8440]

I don't think it's a nonsensical comparison because I think it succinctly sums up a rather huge shift in relative prices of different parts of the automotive market. Looking at the data point from 1992 I provided, the change is obvious. I selected the corvette because it has been a high priced car relative to many others from gm for decades, and thus serves as a well known quick comparison point. My intention wasn't to do a strict scientific study, but rather to point out something that to me was a startling realization that points to a major increase in truck prices relative to something other than just recent year previous truck prices.

 

[contrastok]

Methinks that's been true for quite some time.

The ~$61k MSRP on my 2021 Lariat 500A was ~equal to the MSRP of an entry-level Vette in that same year. IMO it's a silly / nonsensical comparison.

Yep, some pay MSRP, some more, some less, when buying any vehicle (thank you Granger Ford for making it easy).

Another non-sensical comparison but FWIW ..... my brother bought a new entry-level 2025 Kia Sportage LX yesterday at an Austin, TX, dealer. Yep, a 100% made-in-Korea basic-transportation vehicle with an MSRP of ~28k including delivery (replacing a 2015 Kia Soul he ran for 256k miles with no significant problems, so it's hard for me to fault his return to the brand).

With a bit of low-stress negotiation and competitive shopping, he paid 12% below MSRP for that '25 Sportage, $180 'dealer doc fee', no other dealer add-ons, + statutory TT&L OTD (no trade-in involved). Good on him I say, I was a bit surprised that they moved that much on such a low-price car.

Will rumored / threatened tariffs raise the price of that Kia? Who the heck knows? Brother knew he would be shopping within the next year and just decided to minimize his stress and avoid the gamble. Smart move, IMO.

Still and all, yes vehicle prices seem to be rising well-above broader inflation indices, and IMO that's likely to continue for a variety of reasons. And yeah, IMO, the farther one moves up from entry-level vehicles the greater that gap will continue to be.

Am I glad that in 2021 I settled my vehicle needs for the next 10+ years? You bet I am, let the storm rage!

Standard Kia deal for this moment in time

$31k MSRP Sportage LX can be had in Chicago area for $26,000 out the door right now

 

[Buyer2021]

My intention wasn't to do a strict scientific study, but rather to point out something that to me was a startling realization that points to a major increase in truck prices relative to something other than just recent year previous truck prices.

Fair enuf, no worries!

 

[v8440]

Fair enuf, no worries!

Yeah, you BETTER say that!

 

[Larrymoe]

I don't think it's a nonsensical comparison because I think it succinctly sums up a rather huge shift in relative prices of different parts of the automotive market. Looking at the data point from 1992 I provided, the change is obvious. I selected the corvette because it has been a high priced car relative to many others from gm for decades, and thus serves as a well known quick comparison point. My intention wasn't to do a strict scientific study, but rather to point out something that to me was a startling realization that points to a major increase in truck prices relative to something other than just recent year previous truck prices.

My 92 F150 XL had an inline 6 coupled to a 5 speed manual transmission. No power locks, no power windows, no AC, no cruise, no remote start, nothing. To try to act like my 24 XL and it are the same level of truck is crazy talk. My base level XL has more unneccessary shit jammed in it than the most tricked out vehicle you could find in 1992.

I haven't looked at a Corvette, but I would imagine there's more creature comfort BS in trucks now than there are Vettes.

 

[9663mu]

Not just trucks obviously , every damn thing is expensive. heck we have Mustangs now into the 60k mark .

 

[staying_tuned]

Not sure of it could be considered a silver lining but man there are some deals to be had in other segments. The 2018+ BMW M5 (AWD TT 10 sec. tune-only on pump gas and drives like a dream) can be had in the 50s with decent mileage. Sure they tanked the recent branding refresh but the venerable Jaguar F-Type R AWD (supercharged v8) can be had in the 50s with moderate mileage. Audi RS3 is hitting high 30s and these were all cars you couldn't touch just last year for these prices.

 

[Graygoose2021]

Not just trucks obviously , every damn thing is expensive. heck we have Mustangs now into the 60k mark .

MUSTANGS, or Teslas with a "horse" Mustang? LOL

 

[24STX5.0]

correct, but depending on brand, trucks are only assembled in USA. Components come from all over the world.

True that. The "Parts Content Information" sticker on the window of my Dearborn-built F-150 states, "US/Canadian Parts Content: 32%." So at least two-thirds of the parts are foreign.

 

[contrastok]

My 92 F150 XL had an inline 6 coupled to a 5 speed manual transmission. No power locks, no power windows, no AC, no cruise, no remote start, nothing. To try to act like my 24 XL and it are the same level of truck is crazy talk. My base level XL has more unneccessary shit jammed in it than the most tricked out vehicle you could find in 1992.

I haven't looked at a Corvette, but I would imagine there's more creature comfort BS in trucks now than there are Vettes.

No doubt. Base XL trucks today are fairly inline (pun intended) with inflation rates AND they are a lot nicer with more fancy standard features

The bigger problem for many is their wages didn’t keep the same pace from 1992, 2002, etc

 

[Buyer2021]

True that. The "Parts Content Information" sticker on the window of my Dearborn-built F-150 states, "US/Canadian Parts Content: 32%." So at least two-thirds of the parts are foreign.

Yeah, I posted about that here with a link to the NHTSA parts content information webpage.

I found it interesting that the US/Canadian content on my 2022 F150 was shown as 50%, while the similar 2024 was shown as 32% (!).

Seems like a big change for a same Generation vehicle, no idea what's going on with that?

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