Why does Shouty Kilmer think used cars are so expensive?
 

I complain about him regularly, but I usually find him entertaining, if not informative. I think he has good points and they were not what I was expecting. He explains that AutoTrader bought Kelley Blue Book and J.D. Power bought NADA Guides. I do not know how convincing people that used cars were worth more would benefit either AutoTrader or J.D. Power, but it is a weird connection.

My understanding was that used car values seemingly increased over the last ten years because the economy crashed and Cash for Clunkers reduced the supply and artificially increased demand. You can watch his video here if you like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUwx3TEJuAs

I was surprised that the video was longer than a minute or two. He keeps releasing clips from his live streams which are more sound bites than anything else. I wish he would expand on them when he released these videos.

Have a great day! :)

My leaf is only about 8 years old, had less than 50,000 miles and lost over 80% of its msrp when I bought it.
I think vehicles are cheap if you know what to look for.

Cash for clunkers woukd onky have had a relatively short term effect on gas guzzling cars. I imagine the major reasons used cars are more expensive is an effect of lower supply relative to demand because people are keeping their new cars longer than ever. Also, relatively high demand might be a factor, since real inflation adjusted wages have been mostly flat, minimally growing, and often declining relative to expenses for decades. Lastly, cars are initial defect prone, but otheriwse much more durable than the 1970s or 1980s. They simply ARE more valuable from a longterm durability perspective.

The chart he embeds at 2:40 is flat from mid-2010 to 2016 and fell all through 2017. So what's he talking about? That deep low in 2009 is probably related to the bank bailouts while everyone was losing their homes.

NADA mid-book on my Superbeetle is up $3K over 5 years. But it's over eight years old.

Good suggestion on Craigslist, I should watch the prices there. The other interesting thing was Carmax buys cars. I should show the Superbeetle to them. Do they have local offices?

The thing I wondered about as I watched the video was how he manages the audio as he switches beck and forth between two locations. But then at the end when he pops out of the trunk of a car there is all the background noise you'd expect. Does he overdub the whole thing?

He has various trunk clips that he has been using for years, so those are like closing credits, apparently pre-recorded. He does tend to change locations mid-sentence without missing a beat. I think he must be good at editing.

He claims he lost some of his hearing in the Army, so he does not necessarily shout because he is obnoxious.

Used cars can be expensive if you intend to maintain them as though they have an additional intrinsic value.

The cts I had is reasonable example, it would have cost a fortune to maintain it at the dealer and replace/repair it as though it were a collectible (it may be one day, beautiful car).

Same with the Volt, the front bumper has a lot of chipped paint and the cover doesn't seem to fit just right. But it was under 5 figures, had 84k miles on it with another 16k miles of warranty, and gets 40mpg and 35+ miles of ev range.

Use it up, it's a car not a picasso.

Dealerships do not necessarily do better work than independent shops. They just charge more, but doing it yourself is often twice as cheap.

...with a helluva microphone. One of my off-topic favorites is Dr. Randomercam. He does drunken rants where he says extremely profound things, muttered under his breath. Turns out its all scripted.

Used cars are cars indeed much more expensive than even 10 years ago (if your trying to buy)

The reason is empty super tankers
The big boats need something to bring back hence
Increasingly massive numbers of used vehicles and junk vehicles get sent overseas where they sell for much higher prices.

This practice ruins the spare parts availability and cost,
Let alone making used cars more scarce than they once were.

It’s almost bad enough there should be a law.

Shouty said that they used to import used cars because it was still cheaper, but the rest of the world does not seem to match the EPA's standards.

Thanks Nixon!