0$ per month, I refuse to spend money I don’t already have.

If you’re worried even a little bit about financials, don’t get the platinum. It’s a poor use of money. The platinum is very much a luxury vehicle, nothing about it is essential and nothing it adds on top of the other trims is worth the price hike.

All that being said, I picked mine up today and I’m in love with it.

 

0$ per month, I refuse to spend money I don’t already have.

If you’re worried even a little bit about financials, don’t get the platinum. It’s a poor use of money. The platinum is very much a luxury vehicle, nothing about it is essential and nothing it adds on top of the other trims is worth the price hike.

All that being said, I picked mine up today and I’m in love with it.

Hats off to you. That’s awesome. How long did you save? Do you mind me asking you what do you do for a living?

 

I would advise you to think carefully about your future income before locking yourself into a 6 year loan. You need to make those payments regardless of whether you lose your job, have unexpected bills, etc.

You're paying $50K (plus interest) for it regardless of how much you pay per month. They'll just stretch out how long you need to keep paying for. If that sounds crazy to you, maybe consider getting something used. $50K is a lot of money... I know the Highlander is tempting, but take a step back and assess your finances first! You could find a slightly used Highlander or Pilot with low mileage in the $20K-25K range.

 

I’m definitely considering it or waiting a couple of years for the highlander that I want to become used. I just can’t justify spending that much money on a car. That is a little under my yearly income. I’m an educator and I must live within my means. I’m driving an old car. I may be waiting a couple of years before purchasing now.

 

Buying new only makes "sense" (if you will) if you can afford it. Everybody's situation is different. If you have to really worry hard about it, you should seek alternatives. Get a used one. I think I saw some used Gen 4s already. Also, some think the last Gen 3 are the high lights of the series.

Now I LOVE Ruby! But I could do with something else too. Getting her did put a dent in our extra cash bucket, but it was planned for and certainly no financial strain. Cars should never cripple your wallet.

You should carefully consider if you can actually afford it. Or spend less and save for something important, like a house or pay off debt. I have only purchased a few new cars in my life time. The rest were hand me downs, fixers, or flips, meaning these were used.

Do not want to preach, but if you are so worried about the price, you should look at something you can afford.

Good luck.....

 

Buying new only makes "sense" (if you will) if you can afford it. Everybody's situation is different. If you have to really worry hard about it, you should seek alternatives. Get a used one. I think I saw some used Gen 4s already. Also, some think the last Gen 3 are the high lights of the series.

Now I LOVE Ruby! But I could do with something else too. Getting her did put a dent in our extra cash bucket, but it was planned for and certainly no financial strain. Cars should never cripple your wallet.

You should carefully consider if you can actually afford it. Or spend less and save for something important, like a house or pay off debt. I have only purchased a few new cars in my life time. The rest were hand me downs, fixers, or flips, meaning these were used.

Do not want to preach, but if you are so worried about the price, you should look at something you can afford.

Good luck.....

Thank you! We purchased our home 3 years ago on a 15 year fixed. I follow Dave Ramsey and this car is definitely not in my bracket. I know it. I’m just hurt. Lol. I wanted this darn car. I thought I could justify it but as an educator; it’s not realistic for me. I’ll keep looking for something else. I’ll continue to buy used. I wanted to purchase one car in my life new but that’s not happening. Not yet anyway. Thanks for the advice and I pray you truly enjoy Ruby.

 

Yes, the MSRP on a 2021 fully-loaded midsize SUV is going to be significantly more expensive than a compact car's MSRP from 2009.

Different class of vehicle, twelve years of inflation. Reality.

Inflation actually plays a significant role in why cars today are more expensive than they were just twelve years ago. The MSRP of a 2009 Honda Civic EX back in 2009 was $19,305. The MSRP of a 2021 Honda Civic EX is $24,400. If you put $19,305 into an inflation calculator and adjust for the past twelve years, it spits out that $19,305 is equivalent to $23,815. When you consider the additional standard equipment that a 2021 Civic EX has compared to a 2009, an inflation-adjusted increase of $585 seems like a downright bargain.

 

Yes, the MSRP on a 2021 fully-loaded midsize SUV is going to be significantly more expensive than a compact car's MSRP from 2009.

Different class of vehicle, twelve years of inflation. Reality.

Inflation actually plays a significant role in why cars today are more expensive than they were just twelve years ago. The MSRP of a 2009 Honda Civic EX back in 2009 was $19,305. The MSRP of a 2021 Honda Civic EX is $24,400. If you put $19,305 into an inflation calculator and adjust for the past twelve years, it spits out that $19,305 is equivalent to $23,815. When you consider the additional standard equipment that a 2021 Civic EX has compared to a 2009, an inflation-adjusted increase of $585 seems like a downright bargain.

You’re absolutely correct. So, what was the highlander?

 

I cleaned my safe last week and saw the receipts of our previous cars back when we bought them new. 2004 4Runner SR5 in Hawaii - $28k; 2011 Tundra TRD SR5 4x4 in Washington state - $38k; current '20 HiHy in WA - $48k. God forbids I'm going to replace my Tundra in maybe 5 years and I can't imagine how much it's goin to cost.


Hafa Adai!
'20 HiHy Red Platinum

 

Smh. That’s what I was researching. The price of cars have increased drastically; however, my pay as an educator has stayed consistent. This tells me this is an depreciating asset that I can’t afford new. Maybe I need to find a side hustle.

 

my buddy got a 2019 higlander se for 32k, everything included except for leather seat. i've never been a fan of leather seat, i wouldn't pay 50 k just for leather seat.

 

I’m going to wait and let somebody else drive the depreciation off the lot. They’ll trade it in eventually and I’ll buy it used. I’m not spending 50k for 4 wheels, a transmission, and motor.

 

It is what it is.

 

$745 a month which included the tire and wheel and lifetime oil. Platinum awd. At 1.9% apr at 72 months with a credit union. That’s with a 800 plus score. Around 1500 down.

 

Wow. $745 a month is a lot of money for a vehicle. What do you do for a living?

 

How much are you paying monthly?

As mentioned previously by somebody else, I don't buy car with money I don't have. It's written on the US bill: in god we trust, the rest pay cash. (Ok, the second part is not actually written on the bills...)

Seriously, a house is an investment that grows (normally) in value over time. A car is an expense, except old collection car, maybe. So borrowing to get a house makes sense to me, not a car. I did get a cheap 800$ cars and took care of repairing it until I could pay a new one. When I have the new, I start putting money on the side for the next car in 10 years.

When checking cost, look at fuel price over the time you'll keep the car. That's where the Hybrid make sense for us (because of fuel tax in Canada). So if you take the 10 year car+fuel cost, it doesn't increase a lot over the years when I compare to 1998. It's not even inflation. Of course I do a lot of km/h (sometime 50k). Also I go on camping roadtrips for vacation instead of taking a plane to vacation spots. With a familly of 4, that's significant vacation money that I can redirect on car over the years.

We stopped at XLE because it has the seat+mirror we needed to be comfortable. If you go with what you need and not what you desire, you'll see it is easier to fit in the budget.

And after that there is «justification for higher education» poster...

jf

 

When checking cost, look at fuel price over the time you'll keep the car. That's where the Hybrid make sense for us (because of fuel tax in Canada). So if you take the 10 year car+fuel cost, it doesn't increase a lot over the years when I compare to 1998. It's not even inflation. Of course I do a lot of km/h (sometime 50k). Also I go on camping roadtrips for vacation instead of taking a plane to vacation spots. With a familly of 4, that's significant vacation money that I can redirect on car over the years.

Canada does not do a 'tax-per-mile' instead of (or addition to) a fuel tax at the pump?, which would make the hybrid sort of 'useless' in that regards if they tax per mile most is equal now in the same gross weight class

 

"Of course I do a lot of km/h (sometime 50k)" I wonder how is your life going at 50000 Kilometers per hour I guess if we count the fact that earth is moving into space, we're all going rather fast LOL

 

My 2010 Honda Odyssey had nowhere near the number of features, tech and improvements that my current vehicle has. It’s orders of magnitude different. Yes, I'm paying more but I'm also getting significantly more imo.

 

Built my own house, now worth $359k, been here going on 17 years, NO payments on houses in 27 years.

I borrow money to make money, PERIOD.

98 Sienna with 107k miles, 2000 Echo with 178k miles. $41k in short term cash reserves and $105k in retirement fund. That says nothing about what the wife has in assets, even after giving her daughters probably close to $100k each of the money her father left her when he died.

Spent $85 in gas (cash of course) for fuel in December and January COMBINED.

Van and Echo cost close to $40k new with all fees and bullshit. I paid $2800 COMBINED for both and drove them home, fixed what others couldn't or wouldn't and years later just start them and go. Insurance is a joke at less than $30 a month for both.

I was looking at a IMiev (electric car) for $4k with 22k miles on a 2012, but replacement batteries are a fortune, basically over 2 times the value of the car. Hard to justify jacking up my electric bills, since we had 7 months last year with under 1000 KW monthly usage (as low as 650 on month) in a 2500 square foot house. We should be living in less than half that space. Love to collect that $350k for the house and build another for less than $100k (total).

We even wait for movies to come on TV and see them for free (not really free but close).

The depreciation on that electric car I was considering was $1 per mile.

One more thing, gas prices have jumped close to 30% since the election, when they usually drop in winter. Even if I drove the Sienna exclusively for 100k miles, at current prices my fuel cost would be $10,000 at 10 cents a mile. In the Echo it would be about $4400 for 100k miles (fuel cost).

If I was going to spend $50k it would be to buy PROPERTY to build my next house on AND I AM 70 YEARS OLD. Or I could buy a motor home for practically nothing with a leaky roof and fix it.

 

One more thing, gas prices have jumped close to 30% since the election, when they usually drop in winter.

This is not unexpected, or if it is, you weren't paying attention during the popularity contest we had last November. The current administration wants to eliminate all fossil fuels, so obviously the cost of any oil based products we need to buy are going to continue to go up and up and up. I clearly remember seeing $5.00 a gallon for regular gasoline in the early obama years.

 

I'll tell you what the real problem is.... it's these A-hole automakers passing on the costs of government regulation about emissions. They felt the need for more tech rather than keep producing sensible drivetrain logic in the post-Obama era wheeled Sh#tboxes, so that sensible masses who didn't buy ridiculous 6.7 liter village hauler SUV's in the 90's and 00's now get screwed because the only choices for a 6-pot mid size sedan now are a Camry and a worthless Maxima! We now have to make do with force-fed tiny displacement 4 bangers in the mid size sedan category, which probably won't make it past 200k because of their ludicrous designs that are engineered to fail prematurely because of board room exec corporate mentalities like: "Why don't we just replace everything that used to be durable aluminum with junk plastic??? The average hipster consumer won't know the difference, they'll just buy it because we've stuffed it with Apple Carplay!!! Oh, and we'll hike up the price for safety features that people will become dependent on, so that when they fail, because of a shoddy circuit board solder joint, and the consumer is dead, we'll just wash our hands of it and blame it on user error!!! Hahaha, the jokes on you, average American carbuyer!!!"

 

I'll tell you what the real problem is.... it's these A-hole automakers passing on the costs of government regulation about emissions.

Everytime ANY federal government agency establishes "rules/regulations" that must be followed, they automatically add additional costs to the manufacturers. No business can just absorb / eat these additional costs out of their margins, indefinitely, or we wouldn't have any manufacturers of anything left in the USA, in any industry.

IMO, the problem is not the manufacturers, it's the Federal Government, constantly "improving" the companies products.

 

The higher average purchase price is because most people only want fully loaded vehicles, like Platinum Highlanders. If you want leather covered caramel seats and power everything you have to pay for it. There are other lower trim Highlanders available for you to buy.

 

Part of this is the reduced buying power of the dollar. Part is the increased expense of production. A good part is all the garbage that is mandated. Some of these mandates go in opposite directions. Like increased fuel economy requirements in the face of other equipment being required that adds weight.

If you don't like the cost of driving now, haha, just give it another 3 or 4 years. Us bourgeois middle classers driving new Toyotas will learn to become obedient serfs. We all need the exercise anyway, right? Look how fit the Dutch are. That's what walking and biking everywhere will do for you.

In the end I simply say no to $50K Highlanders. If I had it to do over I wouldn't spend the $30K on my 16 Camry V6 XSE. But I'd buy my 03 Corolla 5 speed new again in a heartbeat if Toyota would make it. It's such a gem what with climate controls that do what the pilot ordered, extremely low maintenance, and no horse crap noise makers that need to be turned off every time I start the car. Oh and a seatbelt chime that chimes for a few seconds and then knows how to shut TF up. My next project is defeating that on the Camry. That's what 30 grand got me.

 

But the fact that a new Camry gets better gas mileage than your 03 Corolla, has more power and is far more safer than your 03 Corolla shows that manufacturers can put out safer, cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicles if they want to.

And if you fasten your seatbelt the chime doesn't come on.

 

Ok, let's do these in order. First, a new Camry does NOT get better gas mileage than my 5 speed Corolla. You should look that one up. Unless you're talking about a hybrid of course. Agreed on far more power. Especially my 16 V6. But the mileage isn't in the same universe. Also agree on the Camry's greater occupant protection. But not from stupidity like error prone automatic brake engagement. Or the idiot designed and approved car hijacking steering control because it thinks I've left my lane. In over a million miles of driving I've never crashed a car this way. This idiot proofing will only be used as a crutch by poorly skilled drivers who will become even less skilled for it.

Who the hell are YOU? If I unfasten my seat belt there's a reason for that. It's no one's (especially the OEM's) business but mine. For the record I wear that belt 99.99% of the time because I feel less safe without it. But if I unfasten it there's a reason. And I don't need all the distracting noises. Just a 3 or 4 second chime is sufficient. And a warning light. Those features of my Corolla are appreciated.

 

Wait two years, there will be more 2020 Highlanders on the used market, probably lease returns and there likely would be CPOs to choose from.

 

Wow.....Here's my .02 and you can take it for what it is worth. So what, $50K for a new Highlander? - Since I was 10 y.o. been listening to this same complaint for over 60 years.

In 1960 when gold was $35/oz., silver was less than $1/oz (quarters and halfs were real silver!), gas was $0.25/gal. and a 1oz. Hershey bar was $0.05 and our home was selling for $7K, my dad was bellyaching that he paid $2100 for a new Impala fully equipped with all options: V8, auto tranny, power steering, power brakes, a heater, 1 speed electric wiper and even a tube AM radio. And no leasing or time buying either, you either had the cash or you took the train/bus/bicycle which was my basic transportation until 17 y.o.. Not every family owned a car let alone 20 years ago in a family with two teens I had owned 4.

Today in 2020 gold is $2000/oz, silver over $20/oz.a a 1oz Hershey bar is $1, my home is going for $500K. Today the Highlander at $50K has loads of creature options that couldn't even be dreamed of 60 years ago and my dad's 1960 Impala would go for more than a Highlander in today's bucks. No more bumping your head against a steel dash when you stop short or hit the roof cresting a hill too fast or sweating in the Summer heat with the only A/C as a fly window. And you can even buy one if you don't have enough cash on hand to afford one, a small cash down or on a lease gets a new one instead of the used 1999 Honda that can be bought with the same amount.

Complaining about the exorbitant price of a Highlander is like a man with a loaf of bread under each arm crying in his soup!

 

You make a good point. I alluded to it earlier in regards to the buying power of the dollar. But is it always that simple? I bought my F150 Lightning new for about $18K in 94. Still have it and it's been pretty decent. You're looking at more like $75K today for a truck that's a little nicer but not as durable. I drove my Mustang off the lot for $14K back in 91. It's an LX 5.0 with everything but leather. Today your're talking $40K. But wait a minute. Curveball warning. A friend bought her V6 Camry with everything for 29K back in 95. Can you see where this is headed? I bought my loaded Camry V6 in 16 for $30K. Her 95 wasn't a little better made. It was way better made. But mine is larger, quicker, and more comfortable. Yet both muffler heat shields have fallen off and not even to 47K miles yet.

Maybe you can explain how all that math worked out? So a new Mustang already had the rear disc brakes that I had to retrofit to mine and it handles and rides far better. It's certainly quicker than my car was stock but not anymore. There's more happening here than just inflation.

 

A base model 2021 Camry non hybrid with the 2.5 4 cylinder will get up to 41 MPG on the highway. The best a 2003 Corolla could do is 40 MPG on the highway. I looked it up. Most rear end collisions are caused by distracted drivers (even before smart phones) and automatic emergency braking can save you a lot of money on collision repairs and lawsuits. I agree about automatic lane corrections especially if the driver's hands are on the wheel.

And sorry but I call bull on the seatbelt thing. If you were wearing the seatbelt 99.99% of the time the ultra rare occasion that you unbuckle it the chime wouldn't bother you. Also because when you unbuckle it the chime sounds only once and turns on the light. If you don't buckle it back then it will start the insistent chime and flash the warning light. It's as if Toyota already thought that a person may have to unbuckle their seatbelt for some reason for a short time. Only people who don't wear their seatbelts are annoyed by the chime, which is the point of the annoying chime.

 

You have no bull to call but your own. I suggest you research further. My '03 is rated exactly at 41HWY and I have gotten it when I'm not lead footing. You should also review the City ratings. But the real bottom line is what the car actually gets. I'm an engineer who travels for a living. Camrys make great rentals and I've rented many of them. They do not get 41HWY even with the 4 cylinder. The latest revision did represent a big improvement in the 4 cylinder's performance though.

Your persistence about the seatbelt thing is simply ridiculous! You have no idea what anyone else's individual circumstance is yet you feel entitled to prattle on about seat belt usage. When I unfasten mine, again I'll try it slooowly for you...there's a reason. It isn't for you or Toyota to decide. I'm grounding that line today and this problem will be solved. Unfortunately that will also render the initial chime and warning light inoperative. Thank you for the inspiration.

Lemme guess, you're probably ok with a shit nav system that won't allow the passenger to enter an updated destination while the car is in motion too? Funny how people paid 2 grand for that feature before the nannying started. Now everyone just uses their phone because it works when you need it to. Some people just can't grasp the concept of unintended consequences. Folks who like to mind other people's business are usually in that group.

 

Stagnant wages baby. The upper 1% keeps getting wealthier, while us peasants struggle to buy $50k cars and $350k houses.

 

You think that is expensive.... I remember when a loaded pick up truck was $15,000 and the base price was $8999. Who the * is buying all these $90,000 pick up trucks? and then giving them to high school kids to put another $30,000 in rims on them just to have them flip them over and junk them? Sh pretty soon the poor people will get around in ferrari's and the rich people will be driving around in 5 million dollar priuses. 😁

 

Interesting view points on here. Naturally the smart thing would be is to save up and put down either larger payment down for used or new one. I've bought and sold over 31 cars in 20 plus years and i say if you want something go for it, only live one time. And if you want something bad enough try to get a side job in evenings 1 or 2 days a week to justify it. My 2018 Chevy hd was around 75k sticker ( no one's dumb enough to pay near that price) and 2017 Camry XLE was around 30k ish???? Might be off on that lil. Basically I decided I don't like kids, and don't want any. And don't travel much to elaborate locations so I justify my hobbies that way. Such as buying and driving grossly depreciated items from what I paid at the dealer. Not most sound investment, but only live 1x. Good luck with your future car shopping when you do decide to pull trigger.

 

Naturally the smart thing would be is to save up...

Not only is it smart it's also cheaper. Instead of paying interest to the lender for the money you borrow the bank pays you interest while you're building up the funds to pay cash.

I haven't had a car payment for nearly 30 years now - not because I'm rich by any stretch of the imagination. Rather I decided I was tired of car payments and instead of getting a new car once the loan was paid off (or shortly thereafter) I drove it for another 4 years and kept making the payments into savings. I then had sufficient funds to pay cash and avoided taking out a loan. Keep making the payments to yourself and when the time comes you pay cash again.

A secondary benefit to doing this is it makes you realize the true cost of what you're buying versus just the payment amount.

 

The smart thing to do is to never buy a NEW car, used cars are better financial purchases. However it's a lot harder to find a good used car and there is a lot more involved in the process. New cars are easier to buy and of course there is a warranty. But when you do find a good used car and can buy it for 10 grand or more less than when it was new but has plenty of life left in it, the money in your pocket sure feels good.

I bought my Camry when it was 3 years old and had 38,000 miles on it. It has quite a few parking lot scratches (my guess is an elderly person was the original owner) but the interior is like new, runs perfectly and has a clean Car Fax. I got it for 15 grand and the original sticker (which was in the car from the original owner) was over 26 grand; it cost me less than a brand new Corolla.

 

That is often excellent advice. Let someone else enjoy the initial depreciation. There are exceptions, like my '03 Corolla. Those cars didn't sell for much less when 3 years old with typical mileage. I wanted a 5 speed and that was hard to find even new. Eighteen years later I still own the car that still costs less per mile than any other choice I can see. It still gets 35MPG in the city if I'm not beating on it. If I had bought used I'd have no idea how the car was maintained from the beginning. Buying used is wise unless someone chooses a really good new car with the intent of driving the wheels off of it.

Also, I think the frontal airbag is a Bevis and Butthead invention. Look at the discussions about it from the '70s. The idea was that buckling up was too inconvenient so we needed something to protect all the Buttheads who couldn't be bothered to do so. Fast forward to the reality: Depending on your size the frontal airbag may or may not help you in a crash if you didn't bother buckling up. Unless you're small. If you're under 5'3" that airbag might just hurt you, and badly, even if you are buckled up. Of course this isn't a news story, right? Short people who sit right up on the wheel to reach the pedals don't matter. I'm so glad this never happened to my grandmother. I couldn't get in her car without moving the seat back. Now knee airbags and side impact airbags, for sure, sign me up. I'd order them if they were optional. But the front airbags not so much. I wear my seat belt 99.9% of the time and sit far enough back that it would be impossible to smack the wheel with my face in a crash. But Big Brother always knows best.

 

The smart thing is not to buy new? I have owned 4 vehicles, all of which were used. They never had the options I wanted and there was a compromise. Sometimes you want what you want, but that still does not justify the prices that are being charged for vehicles today. If salaries kept up with car prices the guy flipping burgers at McDonalds should be making $60,000 per year.

And you would be paying $30 for that bigmac.

 

I tried to hock the (paid for) house I built early in 2009 and buy Dominion stock which was paying 7% dividend in March of 09. If the wife had not refused to hocking the house that single transaction today would have been worth a million dollars, 11,000 shares at $26.15 a share (from memory). We're still married, but she does not get any chance of trying to make me pay more bills, since she cost me that money.
With my luck depending on the stock market to beat a note payment would do the exact opposite. Stock is worthless, job is toast, shiny car being towed away due to non payment of loan.

 

I tried to hock the (paid for) house I built early in 2009 and buy Dominion stock which was paying 7% dividend in March of 09. If the wife had not refused to hocking the house that single transaction today would have been worth a million dollars, 11,000 shares at $26.15 a share (from memory). We're still married, but she does not get any chance of trying to make me pay more bills, since she cost me that money.
With my luck depending on the stock market to beat a note payment would do the exact opposite. Stock is worthless, job is toast, shiny car being towed away due to non payment of loan.

Sometimes (earlier) it pays (has paid) to buy / build more houses. The wife was Ok with that. Now those are the gift that keep giving.....

Sold the car repair biz too. That keeps giving also. No more dirty hands.

Now we debate what the next financially prudent thing to do is......

What does this have to do with new car prices? Nothing. Nothing because it is simply the cars are another cost center we plan for.