
Sales drop could be sign of peril for American muscle cars - spking
https://www.yahoo.com/news/sales-drop-could-sign-peril-131156726.html
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jdhn
>"Big, loud engines and noisy V8s, it just doesn't draw the same attention and
I think interest with the younger crowd," said Jeff Schuster, a senior vice
president at the forecasting firm LMC Automotive.

No, I think it still does, it's just that the younger crowd doesn't have the
money to buy a V8 muscle car. The price of these cars keeps going up, and when
you combine it with packages, the price goes even higher.

~~~
mrguyorama
I would love to have a beautiful brand new corvette. Do I need 400 horsepower?
Hell no, I wouldn't even have a use for it, but that's never been the issue.

I _can_ afford it, in fact, I can put a 50% downpayment on a new corvette. I
can afford the monthly payment. But _why_ would I? Cars pretty much always
depreciate. I certainly wouldn't be able to keep it up as a collectors quality
example, even if it ever became one. And in 99% of my use cases, a used
Corolla or Accord will provide a similar experience.

Meanwhile, in 1966, Ford Mustangs apparently cost around $20k adjusted for
inflation[0]. That's mind boggling. If a sports car were that cheap, I'd own
it. Even the Toyota 86 and Mazda Miata are around $30k new now.

[0]:[https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/mustang-prices-
through...](https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/mustang-prices-through-the-
years#1966)

~~~
theluketaylor
Depreciation and the unbelievable acceleration of modern basic sedans has
destroyed the mid tier performance car. The outrageous horsepower era we're in
now has produced some weird side effects.

All the money has shifted to classics where you can own a car for a decade and
have it be worth the same or more. Maintenance will be somewhat expensive, but
after you factor in depreciation it's a far cheaper way to own an interesting
car. Some of the blue chip classics like air cooled 911s are basically liquid
assets since you can turn them into cash with as little as a few hours notice.

~~~
EADGBE
I agree with all this.

I also think the every-model-year-update to appearance (for appearance
sake)[1] enhances the acceleration of depreciation for any desirable car.

[1] (trucks are probably the worst at this - as it's obvious no other part of
the body changes)

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shaftway
For me, muscle cars just got pincered out.

I had a '99 Mustang GT convertible. Loved it, worked on it, drove it for 14
years. A brand new Mustang GT coupe starts at $35,355 but a more realistic
configuration would put you around $43,000. That's a car that gets 15-25 mpg.

Instead we picked up a Model 3, which after tax rebates in CA comes out to
$41,000. It's not the most fun car on the planet (though it does match the
Mustang GT's 0-60 times). But for driving around when I need to run errands
and stuff it's just fine. But I don't use the Tesla for my commute. I'm in the
Bay Area, and my commute is about 40 miles. That'd be 1:45 hours in, and 2:30
to get home, so a little over 4 hours of commute per day.

For commuting I have a motorcycle. I dropped $9000 on an almost-new bike that
gets ~50 mpg. It's more fun than the Mustang was, peppy, perky, and with
reasonable lane splitting (i.e. no more than 15 mph over surrounding traffic)
my commute drops to well under an hour to get in, and under an hour and a half
to get home.

I do about 20,000 miles in commuting per year, so for the Mustang that'd be
$4000 in fuel per year, with the Tesla it'd be ~$200, and on the bike it's
about $1500 plus around 400 hours of my life back (which is a trade I'm happy
to make). My total was ~$50,000 vs. ~$43,000 for a new Mustang.

So I have no idea where a "muscle car" would fit in my life.

~~~
sharkmerry
are you incorporating the lower safety of a motorcycle into possible costs? A
motorcycle accident can put you out of work for a lot longer than a car.

~~~
shaftway
I did. It's a trade-off I was willing to make.

~~~
sharkmerry
Can i ask how? Trying to make a similar call.

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paintstripper
Maybe it's because the process of buying a car sucks. I spec'd out a Shelby
mustang last year and then called up a local dealer to start talking to them
about it. They quoted me $40k ABOVE the price on fords website.

Put money down on a tesla instead, was exactly the same cost on the website,
very happy.

~~~
EpicEng
>They quoted me $40k ABOVE the price on fords website

That's... very hard to believe. What were the curcumstances around this?
Obviously Joe Schmo dealer isn't going to tack on 40k and expect to make any
sales.

~~~
mikestew
_That 's... very hard to believe._

I believe it for models with low production numbers like a Shelby. Quote $40K
above list, maybe some sucker will buy it. With the assumption that this is
very unlikely, you'll still have a halo model sitting on the floor until you
decide to drop it to MSRP and get rid of it. Dealer either gets more than it's
worth, or they get a nice-looking marketing write-off for a while.

I'm thinking of the Ferrari 458 sitting on the floor of the local Chevy dealer
in central Florida where Mom takes her Corvette. It's been there the last
couple of years I've visited. How many $250K Ferraris are sold in central
Florida? Doesn't matter, the dealer's got the money to let it sit on that
showroom floor, and it sure looks cool.

~~~
EpicEng
That's kind of what I was getting at. If supply is low then if course you're
going to pay more than list price, but that's hardly a typical situation.

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gnadx
I’ve got no sympathy whatsoever for anyone who bought a gas-guzzler over the
past few years simply because fuel was cheap. You should’ve seen this coming.

