Do you think that, on average, cars are better today than they’ve ever been before? I ask that because the average age of cars and trucks on America’s highways and byways is now an amazingly robust 11.4-years. That means that people are happy enough with driving old iron to keep doing so instead of buying something more modern. And that’s in a year when U.S.car and truck sales exceeded their pre-recession levels. By the way, what’s a Byway? The problem with consumers keeping cars so long is that dealers aren’t keeping up with the curve. Try this: go and attempt to trade in a ten-year old car at a dealership. You’ll likely be surprised to learn that they will only take it grudgingly, and that the price they offer might make selling it to the two kids with the lemonade stand down the block a better deal. That discordance causes all sorts of problems with people who eventually do want to trade up to something newer, and that brings up the question of how old is too old? What do you think, at what age do modern cars and trucks no longer seem like they’re of the current generation? Image: Dealerfraud.org
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