f6john
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2010
- Posts
- 304
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I have owned and drove cars from the 40’s, 60’s,70’s,80’s,90’s, 00’s and 10’s. There were some dud’s in their but I can say that the cars have consistently gotten better, more expensive for sure but much better. If you put a 4 cylinder car from the seventies up against a four cylinder car of today the difference is amazing. I enjoy all the assists that they put in the new cars although they do come at a high cost.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that people are getting major miles out of their vehicles compared to the earlier vehicles. The first new car I ever owned, a 1975 Monte Carlo, which I loved at the time but it literally rusted and fell apart so bad that I parted it out and hauled it to the crusher when it had less than 100,000 miles and 10years old. I had a 98 GMC 3500 van and it had 300,000 miles on it when I sold it.
I have been frustrated with the cost of vehicles. I remember wanting to buy a new Corvette in Athens late seventies, it was $8000.00 and out of my budget. As time went by I made more money but the next generation of Corvettes were $20,000 even more out of my budget. As the C4’s ran from 84 to 96 they were in the mid $30k range and well out of my budget so I bought a 95 Impala SS for $22k easily the most I had ever given for a vehicle. The C5 came out in 97, the most technologically advanced Corvette ever and the cheapest version was $40k. 20 years later the entry price is around $55k, so I finally bought what I could afford in the 99 model I have now and have been quite pleased.
I guess what has surprised me the most of late is the number of young guys running around in $70k pickup trucks! Farming must be doing great these days.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that people are getting major miles out of their vehicles compared to the earlier vehicles. The first new car I ever owned, a 1975 Monte Carlo, which I loved at the time but it literally rusted and fell apart so bad that I parted it out and hauled it to the crusher when it had less than 100,000 miles and 10years old. I had a 98 GMC 3500 van and it had 300,000 miles on it when I sold it.
I have been frustrated with the cost of vehicles. I remember wanting to buy a new Corvette in Athens late seventies, it was $8000.00 and out of my budget. As time went by I made more money but the next generation of Corvettes were $20,000 even more out of my budget. As the C4’s ran from 84 to 96 they were in the mid $30k range and well out of my budget so I bought a 95 Impala SS for $22k easily the most I had ever given for a vehicle. The C5 came out in 97, the most technologically advanced Corvette ever and the cheapest version was $40k. 20 years later the entry price is around $55k, so I finally bought what I could afford in the 99 model I have now and have been quite pleased.
I guess what has surprised me the most of late is the number of young guys running around in $70k pickup trucks! Farming must be doing great these days.
