Random Comment on New Car Prices

"Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis" (Dwhite95) 12/20/2015 at 23:12 • Filed to: None

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Looking at comments in the worst year for cars, someone said the original Mazda Miata gave a much better value for the price than the 2015 Mazda Miata. Did it?

Warning, extremely shallow analysis ahead.

The comment said “...except the Miata (which is still pretty expensive for a 130hp car)”

Just as a comparison of price, the 1991 Mazda Miata had a base MSRP of $14,200, which adjusted for inflation that equals $24,744 today. The 2015 Miata has a MSRP $23,970. So with slightly higher horsepower, and relatively similar weight, the 2015 is cheaper. But the 1991 model still has better value? Sure...

Remember random internet people, inflation is a thing.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 12/20/2015 at 23:18

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Especially when you factor in the increased safety features and crash ratings. I’ll take the new ND and they can keep their delusional “older is better” circle jerk mentality.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 12/20/2015 at 23:20

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yeah but flip up headlights.

i really hope somewhere some one in the aftermarket is working on this

I mean lots of companies make “retro” kits for the NA and NB miatas so why not this for the the ND.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 12/20/2015 at 23:21

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The internet really struggles with inflation. See: any comments about the current cost of a Mustang GT.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 12/20/2015 at 23:22

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I’ll take visibility at night.

With that said, I love me some pop-ups on other cars like the F40 and NSX though.

Sam > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 12/20/2015 at 23:25

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But flip-up lights are terrible. I don’t know who decided it was a good idea to affix buckets to the front of an otherwise aerodynamic car.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Sam 12/20/2015 at 23:29

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its a good idea... during the day.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 12/21/2015 at 00:05

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I think current cars are better value than ever. But with each successive generation gaining size, I am not afraid to “downsize”—rather, I am not afraid to refuse to upsize to the newer, bigger car bearing the same name.

The new North American Civic is huge. But it is many times better than a 1994 Accord—bigger, safer, and with the right trim level, faster too.

Another topic: Has income trended equally with inflation? My gut instinct says no, but perhaps someone can present some good data to show that whatever decent job was making $50k/year in 1990 is now worth $80k/year.

mazda616 > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 12/21/2015 at 00:12

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People all around forget that inflation exists. My grandpa says his first car cost $50. That was in 1950. Today, that’s $492.40. Still cheap for a car, but not $50.00 by any means. Gas was also 10 cents a gallon. Today, that’s $0.98. Again, cheap. But not 10 cents cheap.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 12/21/2015 at 00:34

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Yes, but in those cases other cars are created to fit that niche. I dont know details, but I’d bet the Fit is similarly size to what the Civic was. And on the Miata topic, it only weighs an extra 50ish pounds, which in the grand scheme of things, not including the extra 30ish hp, isnt very much.

On the other topic, for the average person income absolutely has not matched inflation. But unfortunately that does not decrease the cost of the materials that go into the final product. It only shrinks the size of market that the product can reasonably obtain.

DanZman > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 12/21/2015 at 01:28

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Yeah, inflation is like some mythical force that cannot be understood by the general population of the internet.

Unless we are talking about full size pickup prices... That shit has gotten out of control.

6Cylinder > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 12/21/2015 at 01:32

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Usually something along the lines of “Back in 67’ I bought a Shelby GT350 for $7500, now I’d be lucky to get a motherfuckin’ 2015 GT350 for $60,000... Thanks Obama!”

Axial > Sam 12/21/2015 at 01:36

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The people trying to make sealed beams play nice with aerodynamics in the first place, that’s who.

Sam > Axial 12/21/2015 at 03:59

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Ah yeah, I guess sealed beams were pretty bad, but as a whole pop-ups are a terrible idea.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 12/21/2015 at 08:38

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You can go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for better numbers, but in essence the median income in this country has been stagnant since the 70s, and has dropped since 2000. If you make less than 80k, your demographic group probably hasn’t seen income growth since Eisenhower.

jariten1781 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 12/21/2015 at 08:40

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Income vs. Inflation: Depends where you look (it’s one of those things where playing with statistics you can make it read either way), but generally the US Census shows most people (bottom 80% of earners) holding steady with inflation with folks in the top 20% of the earning spectrum beating it handily. That higher end spectrum is buoyed, though, by the folks way up at the top of it. It’s a bit different from the mantra ‘rich get richer, poor get poorer’ (unsurprisingly, folks who like to make that argument cherry pick start dates and durations during volatile times like the past 10 or so years)...more just ‘rich get richer, everyone else stays in their box’.

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 12/21/2015 at 08:57

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I’m cool with inflation (so long as my salary follows). What I’m upset about is getting screwed on exchange rate. [This is why I bought an NB this year instead of saving more money for an ND.]. Also, add 13% tax to these: