Can’t Afford Most New Cars? You’re Not Alone

2017 Mitsubishi Mirage (Credit: Mitsubishi )

Can’t afford that new car you really want? Plenty of Americans can’t, and that’s not good for the auto industry. According to a new report from Interest.com, the average person in the United States can’t buy the average new vehicle on the market.

Thanks to price inflation, the average price of new cars for sale in the United States has ballooned to $32,086. That was deemed too much based on a formula Interest.com used.

The formula Interest.com created included a loan term of only four years. Of course, most people these days have opted to stretch out their own term to make the monthly payments on a car more manageable, but that makes the overall amount paid higher and increases the risk of getting upside down.

Another problem that’s affecting all kinds of industries is widespread wage stagnation in the United States. It’s a problem that’s fueling quite a bit of political rage these days, if you haven’t noticed.

Automakers are also struggling to make advanced cars like the ones people say they want, while hitting a price point people can afford. We’re picky in America and I guess would rather be upside down on a high-tech car than save some cash and drive something less advanced. Case in point: the Mitsubishi Mirage and its solid sales versus the horrible reviews it’s received.