The Expert Podcast

It used to be that there were always some popular cars that were affordable in the last five to ten years. Two such cars were the Toyota RAV4 and the Toyota Prius. They were good little cars: very reliable, efficient, good on gas, and they were relatively inexpensive. A lot of times, you could get one in and around the $20,000-$25,000 range for a decent one. But the increase in new cars and interest rates have put these cars at a pretty high monthly payment for financing, and most people finance their cars, you know.

A RAV4 or Prius is now going to be something that's going to be over $30,000 for a nice one. And that's even assuming that you're going to buy a used one. The used car prices have gone up 50% on a lot of these vehicles, close to the price of what they were new. So, if you buy a car that's $30,000-$35,000, even if you put down a couple thousand to cover taxes and maybe a little bit towards the vehicle, at today's rate, you're going to be spending $600 to $700 a month for that Toyota RAV4 or Prius. That's what some people pay on rent.

So, are popular cheap cars a thing of the past? Do you have to buy an old sled beater to get a low payment or to pay cash for a car? If a RAV4 and a Prius is now a $700 a month vehicle, what does that say about the affordability of popular reliable cars? Or do you just have to buy a junky car that nobody likes? Buying a used car and spending $600 or $700 a month really isn't what most people are looking to do. Most people are looking to get a cheap payment, you know, $300 or $400, maybe one week's paycheck, and pay that in the insurance. But if you're at $600 or $700, that's a whole different ball game for a lot of people.

What are your thoughts on a used car? What are your payments? If you have a report on what your car payments are, put it in the comments so we can get a sense for what people are paying for cars these days. Maybe $700 isn't that much. Maybe people are willing to pay that much to get a good used car or an entry-level new car. If that's the case, maybe times have changed, and people's attitudes towards car payments have changed. It'll be interesting to see what the vast majority of comments say about the price of used cars.