Why I’m Not Buying A Car Anytime Soon

by | Jun 17, 2021

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

 The Consumer Price Index released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday June 10, 2021 showed that used car prices rose another 7.5 percent last month, after rising 10 percent in April with a 30 percent rise for the year so far.—New York Times

According to the Jalopnik blog, new data from CarGurus show what used brand’s used car prices are increasing and by how much. The data shows that there are a 11 brands that  increased by more than 30 percent. Those companies include:

  1. Ram, +40.58 percent
  2. Ford, +38.93 percent
  3. Aston Martin, +38.34 percent
  4. GMC, +38.09 percent
  5. Chevrolet, +37.47 percent
  6. Dodge, +36.54 percent
  7. Volkswagen, +35.13 percent
  8. Lincoln, +32.96 percent
  9. Toyota, +30.54 percent
  10. Hyundai, +30.07 percent

Speaking of VW’s: A week does not go by without me receiving at least one email or USPS letter from a local Volkswagen dealer inquiring about Mary’s 2016 Beetle convertible. Initially they were trying to talk us us into trading her Beetle in on a 2021 Jetta. Now the Jetta, especially the latest model, is a really nice car but why, in heaven’s name, would they think Mary would want to trade a distinctive convertible for a four-door sedan? And now she’s getting letters and email from three different VW dealers who, although they’re still asking her to trade her Beetle, they’re also offering just to buy her clean, low mileage (37,000 miles) convertible. She’s not interested in selling.

As I mentioned in a recent (or updated) post Mary’s more-or-less recent purchase of a Subaru Crosstrek—the Beetle has been designated as a “summer car—has changed the automotive balance in our garage. While previously I wanted some kind of interesting 4WD wagon and maybe even a Land Rover that kind of vehicle seems redundant. And then there’s the whole “how much money do I have” question. Honestly, not that much. My original goal of a buying a ten-year old car for $10,000 has flown out the windows as used car prices have exploded into the stratosphere. So I’m going to wait and, you know, see what happens.

How I made this shot: When I moved to Colorado in 1981, I was driving a white 1978 Mustang II T-tops that I bought new from Academy Ford in Annapolis, MD. You can read my thoughts on that five-speed, V8 model here. For a long time it was an unloved (by many) automobile, the attitude of Mustang enthusiasts seems to have changed. I loved my Mustang II and would like to own one now, especially if I could one as nice as the model pictured above. The sad truth is that these days most Mustang II’s that I see are not in this nice condition. I photographed this beautiful Mustang II at a Cars & Coffee event using a Canon EOS 60D with EF50mm f/1.4 USM lens and an exposure of 1/640 sec at f/8 and ISO 320. This included a one-stop underexposure as I recommend when photographing black cars.