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Comment by anovikov | Hacker News Reader

They do it because they can. Country is rich and money is really no object to most consumers, so they buy what they subjectively "want", a car does not need to be "optimal" for them. And they want ICE cars because average age of a new car buyer is 53, they are buying what they are used to. That simple.

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> Country is rich and money is really no object to most consumers

It's not that everyone is so rich they can afford these vehicles. Even people of relatively low income can walk off a lot with a big truck.

There are a ton of auto lenders out there happy to lend to people with long loan terms and less favorable interest rates. The average auto loan term is about 6 years, but 8 year terms are getting more common

If you see someone driving a big, brand new truck in the US, odds are they don't have a lot of money. Yes, they likely earn above average and didn't get it from a subprime lender, but they probably aren't "rich." They're just capable of getting a lot of debt, which is much easier to obtain.

https://youtu.be/GL_I6_0FcTg has a humorous take on it.

> Country is rich and money is really no object to most consumers

I take it you don't live here because that is an absurdly out of touch take. There's a massive stratification of wealth at present with a decent chunk of the younger population living paycheck to paycheck barely making rent (never mind hoping to ever own a home). On the far opposite side of the spectrum there's only a vanishingly small minority that sees money as "no object".

We certainly enjoy a high standard of living compared to much of the world and we're lucky enough to have cheap vehicles available but such specimens are far from what could be described as being in good condition.

Young people are irrelevant, they don't buy new cars at all. EV transition is about new car buyers. They are on average 53 and almost all 45+. These are doing just fine.

Yes, the exceedingly small fraction of people who are capable of purchasing high end luxury goods without a second thought are all doing just fine financially. That's a truism pretty much regardless of where you happen to be in the world.

I was young and poor once upon a time, drove a 20yr old Subaru that overheated constantly because the radiator fins had completely rusted out (when I drove through a large puddle, the rusted out front passenger footwell floorboard folded up as a gout of streetwater burst into the car), had CV joints made from recycled cardboard, had to push start the thing on flat ground, etc. I didn't buy my first home until I was in my late 30s. I saved money like miser.

fc417fc802, you too will be older someday (if bots get older, I don't really know), and you will shake your head at the youths too.

Yep America is so rich it cant afford free medical care for everyone, or paid holidays.

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