Average price of new car in the US: $40,000

[2of9]

If you get a 90s toyota or honda for around $3000 the cost of ownership is virtually nothing.

true but man, the rust here in Minnesota completely destroys those 90s cars. I saw a 98 Mirage (coupe), 5 spd manual, looked clean on the outside but man, underneath, it was a wreck from the pics the owner sent us. A few Corollas were nice but man, the rust on them were insane. As much as I would love to own a 90-92 Accord (first car i learned to drive in), those are just super rare now, especially in good condition with little rust, haha. But yeah, a well maintained one with okay body, will definitely be a good buy.

*begins to search on craigslist and fb marketplace for a 92 Accord**

[Mark]

true but man, the rust here in Minnesota completely destroys those 90s cars. I saw a 98 Mirage (coupe), 5 spd manual, looked clean on the outside but man, underneath, it was a wreck from the pics the owner sent us. A few Corollas were nice but man, the rust on them were insane. As much as I would love to own a 90-92 Accord (first car i learned to drive in), those are just super rare now, especially in good condition with little rust, haha. But yeah, a well maintained one with okay body, will definitely be a good buy.

*begins to search on craigslist and fb marketplace for a 92 Accord**

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the 1995-2005 vintage Honda & Toyota vehicles. If I could buy a brand new, I would pick one of those over anything on the market today.

The days of buying a good used 1990's vehicle are somewhat gone in northern areas at least.

I paid 2/3 window sticker for my new Mirage. I plan on driving it 15+ years. At that price, I saw no need to buy used.

[Clessy]

true but man, the rust here in Minnesota completely destroys those 90s cars. I saw a 98 Mirage (coupe), 5 spd manual, looked clean on the outside but man, underneath, it was a wreck from the pics the owner sent us. A few Corollas were nice but man, the rust on them were insane. As much as I would love to own a 90-92 Accord (first car i learned to drive in), those are just super rare now, especially in good condition with little rust, haha. But yeah, a well maintained one with okay body, will definitely be a good buy.

*begins to search on craigslist and fb marketplace for a 92 Accord**

My first car was a 92 accord and what a pile it was lol. Pretty much started my hate for hondas. The transmission went out on the car after 3 months of ownership. I went out and bought a GST eclipse that weekend and havent really dabbled outside of mitsubishi other than a nissan and a civic si.

[Subcompact Culture]

I suspect we will see the return of the subcompact ****box in the states in the next 5 years or so.

As much as I'd personally love that, I don't see it happening. Unless fuel goes sky high and the economy goes into the tank, I don't see it happening. The automakers don't make much money off of small cars at all. Americans love their big cars. While we saw a rise in small car buying from 2004 to about, oh I don't know, 2010 or 2012, they're nearly all gone, in favor of money-making CUVs. Even small CUVs, such as the Ford EcoSport can command $4,000 more than the Ford Fiesta it was based on. (Not my calculation; it was on an NBC video about the disappearance of small cars).

I look at it this way: You know small cars are disappearing when Toyota pulls the plug. Toyota offered a subcompact car since its existence here in the U.S. until it axed the Mazda-made Yaris in 2020.

I'd love to see some of the world's great small cars come here again, but alas, I don't think it'll happen for a very long time.

[PityOnU]

As much as I'd personally love that, I don't see it happening. Unless fuel goes sky high and the economy goes into the tank, I don't see it happening. The automakers don't make much money off of small cars at all. Americans love their big cars. While we saw a rise in small car buying from 2004 to about, oh I don't know, 2010 or 2012, they're nearly all gone, in favor of money-making CUVs. Even small CUVs, such as the Ford EcoSport can command $4,000 more than the Ford Fiesta it was based on. (Not my calculation; it was on an NBC video about the disappearance of small cars).

I look at it this way: You know small cars are disappearing when Toyota pulls the plug. Toyota offered a subcompact car since its existence here in the U.S. until it axed the Mazda-made Yaris in 2020.

I'd love to see some of the world's great small cars come here again, but alas, I don't think it'll happen for a very long time.

Yeah, I was really surprised when I started looking at the vehicles manufacturers offer in other countries, but have discontinued/never offered here in the States. It seems like A LOT of brands actually have their equivalent of a Mitsubishi Mirage:

- Ford Ka
- Nissan Micra
- Toyota Yaris

Just to name a few.

Money talks, though, and Americans just ain't buying 'em, I suppose.

P.S. - Semi-related, but the Mirage G4 in Mexico is actually the Dodge Attitude. So apparently that old friendship is still going.

[2016 Versa]

Looking at those numbers makes me really proud of the rebuilt '16 Versa I bought in Feb. '19. When I bought it it had 10K miles, cost of the car with taxes and tag had me on the road for under $5700. It really irks me to see 10 year old cars with 200K miles on them selling for $5-10K. I don't even bother looking at new vehicles any more unless it's something like the Mirage. Last summer one of my neighbors was talking about buying a used truck, he said he only paid $10K for it and it had somewhere north of 200K miles. I usually don't consider a vehicle worn out at 200K miles but consider it well on it's way. People are willing to pay these prices for vehicles with 200K yet I have a garage kept '97 Ford Escort station wagon with 41K original miles that I'd probably be lucky to get $3-4K out of if I wanted to sell it.

[Clessy]

As much as I'd personally love that, I don't see it happening. Unless fuel goes sky high and the economy goes into the tank, I don't see it happening. The automakers don't make much money off of small cars at all. Americans love their big cars. While we saw a rise in small car buying from 2004 to about, oh I don't know, 2010 or 2012, they're nearly all gone, in favor of money-making CUVs. Even small CUVs, such as the Ford EcoSport can command $4,000 more than the Ford Fiesta it was based on. (Not my calculation; it was on an NBC video about the disappearance of small cars).

I look at it this way: You know small cars are disappearing when Toyota pulls the plug. Toyota offered a subcompact car since its existence here in the U.S. until it axed the Mazda-made Yaris in 2020.

I'd love to see some of the world's great small cars come here again, but alas, I don't think it'll happen for a very long time.

I wish we'd just get rid of the 25 year old import law. So few people would import cars that it would have virtually no effect on the US car market and it would let people get some of these odd ball cool small cars state side.

[Subcompact Culture]

I wish we'd just get rid of the 25 year old import law. So few people would import cars that it would have virtually no effect on the US car market and it would let people get some of these odd ball cool small cars state side.

Yeah, or just go with 15 like Canada. But I can't imagine that draconian law will change. Oh, and while you're at it, can we finally get rid of the Chicken Tax?

[Clessy]

Yeah, or just go with 15 like Canada. But I can't imagine that draconian law will change. Oh, and while you're at it, can we finally get rid of the Chicken Tax?

All tax should switch over to nothing but sales tax. Love Texas for that.

[Mark]

Yeah, I was really surprised when I started looking at the vehicles manufacturers offer in other countries, but have discontinued/never offered here in the States. It seems like A LOT of brands actually have their equivalent of a Mitsubishi Mirage:

- Ford Ka
- Nissan Micra
- Toyota Yaris

Just to name a few.

Money talks, though, and Americans just ain't buying 'em, I suppose.

P.S. - Semi-related, but the Mirage G4 in Mexico is actually the Dodge Attitude. So apparently that old friendship is still going.

We miss out on a number of cool small cars offered elsewhere. I sort of like the Suzuki line up of vehicles, but our love of small vehicles is not the norm here.

On a positive note - I've owned my Mirage for almost 3.5 years now, & there's nothing offered today that I like better than what I already have. I am not suffering from vehicle envy! Not when it comes to price, reliability/warranty, & economy. A highly discounted Mirage is a great buy! Some car critics overlook what's really important!