What happened to $1000 used pieces of crap as a first car? Are they gone, or do Zoomers have unrealistic expectations?
If they end up merely being the third richest generation of humans to ever live, is it really the end of the world? Did we think things would just always get better forever, without some force dragging us upward beyond fulfillment of our own basal desires?
I drove cheap pieces of crap when I was living with my mother.
What changed when I had kids myself was that there have been noticeable safety improvements in cars, which didn't use to happen often. There's stability control (2007), tire pressure monitoring system (2008), backup cameras (2018), and automatic emergency braking (2022). Other tech that's not required is adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection, lane departure warning and lane keeping, etc.
Before that it was 3-point seat belts (1973), third rear brake lights (1985), and front-seat shoulder belts required & airbags common (1987).
The only change from 1987 to 2007 was the introduction of five-star safety ratings in 1993.
We handed down our 2015 Mazda CX-5 to our son and he would be driving it today except that somebody else's drunk son hit our car while it was parked and totaled it. So we got him a 2024 vehicle that had all the safety features we could find. It helped that we have more money than my folks did, of course.
GM Marketing is absolutely concerned with secondary markets, as they prop up the initial buyers. Force every car owner to hold that car until it is scrapped and see what the demand for GM vehicles is. A small dip in interest from secondary buyers and all of a sudden lease rates shoot up, because that willingness of secondary buyers to get the car is the sole determinant of the single largest lease cost -- depreciation.
