I'm about 3hrs from Sydney and there's good cars, popular models, that have been up for sale for months and have had several price drops, some of them by over a third. People don't have the money. I'm in the market myself and I'm not paying 10k for a 15 year old shitbox with 250kkms on it, and it looks like I won't have to soon. People can't afford the fuel upkeep on second or third cars.
I drove to Torquay which is only an hour and a half outside of Melbourne and bought a used car for $12k which would have been around $15k in Melbourne.
What model did you buy? I’m searching one for a long time and don’t my budget is same as yours. Most cars on FB marketplace looks dodgy and good cars sold out immediately
They’re just establishing their place in the market, getting people to realize that the quality isn’t as bad as it used to be, before they also raise their prices.
Just like the Korean makers did.
Unlike the US though, we have no local car industry. It would be pretty stupid for Australia to preferentially tariff more expensive cars from other countries. Plus, unlike the US, we have to follow WTO rules.
Feel free to personally spend your $ countering the Imaginary Dragon.
Yep I agree, I’m regional and swap cards quite often. Got $5k of sticker for used bmw x5, so things have changed since the ‘we don’t need to negotiate’ covid days
Out of interest; What if any was the discrepancy between the advertised on-road cost from Toyota website and the price quoted? Keen on a Corolla Cross Hybrid myself but my spec was closer to 40k — you getting one with plenty of extras?
Inflation my man, I feel like anything that went up in Covid never really came back down. Even the things that we know cost a fraction of what they used to to make/transport still are going up because that’s the “norm” now and unfortunately people are willing to pay for it so they have no real incentive to ever bring prices back down
Value of labour often goes up more.
In 1990 a corolla was $21850 when minimum wage was $214 (100 weeks labour). While it might cost more to buy the same car minimum wage is now $882 and a 44k car is half the work to purchase.
If you're interested the good figures to look at there are CPI vs WPI, for a long time WPI was growing faster than CPI but recently we took a pretty massive hit and undone a lot of that trend. It's a better measure than minimum wage because most people aren't on minimum wage and it's also fairly unique in how it grows (government regulation).
Wages of ~3m people are linked to minimum wage. Even mine on a salary because I worked in logistics and saw forklift drivers pay increase by 85%.
Could also do average income. 1990 it was $534.10 for 40 weeks of labour. Anything less than 74k is relatively cheaper.
WPI index has definitely taken a big hit recently, back to 2010 levels when adjusted for inflation but its still up in real terms and I think it's starting to pick pack up again.
Obviously picking a key cpi line doesn't really reflect a cost of living but fuel is another hot button issue and I think historically it's been approx 6 mins labour per litre (10% of 1hr). Fuel is effectively free if you consider the total cost of owning a car.
Cpi data is super interesting. The effort to regularly adjust the basket and keep it relevant. IE they adjusted recently to consider the increasing prevalence of **overseas travel!**. Clothing used to be 21.60% of household expenditure.
https://twitter.com/DrCameronMurray/status/1716264255492907451?t=WneFQ8zRpes0EpmeskD-Kw&s=19
Another crazy thought is a carton of beer used to represent 16% of average wage. The equivalent of $294!
> IE they adjusted recently to consider the increasing prevalence of overseas travel!.
I personally don’t think this one is as crazy or luxurious as it sounds given the proportion of immigrants as part of our population combined with a general proportional reduction in aviation prices over the last 20-30 years.
Totally agree. It reflects spending for most households but it's also not reflective of the cost of living for someone on welfare. They might not get the discount that the savings represent. If you're spending 2% on international travel and your wage doubles and travel doesn't inflate then you have a 1% "saving" to spend on other categories. Someone on welfare might not get the benefit of car prices falling.
It's why the selected living cost index data could be more useful. Other government transfer recipient living cost index increased by 4.4% vs cpi of 3.6%.
I think CPI/WPI is fine for most households as the majority have have a fulltime worker. Quite a few have multiple wages and other sources of income.
Yeah the 2024 corolla is markedly better. Safer, cheaper to run with many more features and yet despite "paying more" it's relatively cheaper when compared to wages.
Often I think people think the car ownership experience is worse because of how disposable they're made but what also reflects how we value them. A car (or a fridge/phone/TV) cost so much that people often replaced engines, fixed them, bought second hand etc. Same for clothes. If you're spending $600 of your wage (30%) on a shirt & a pair of pants then you're more likely to repair them etc.
Yes it is crazy to pick just one line in a basket of goods and services and claim that it is reflective of the cost of living. According to the RBA a basket of living expenses valued at $
11000 ($214)
in calendar year
1990
, would in calendar year
2023
cost $
25,738.47
Total change in cost is 134.0 per cent, over 33 years, at an average annual inflation rate of 2.6 per cent.
House prices have definitely increased but so too has the CBA share price. Maybe it depends on our capacity to pay and what we consider good value. 2024 prices reflect 2024 capacity and 1990 prices reflected 1990 capacity. I often wonder if a household on minimum or average wage really had that much spare money. Maybe their wage was 27k but the cost of living was 28k.
lol there’s no way you can get $11,000 worth of goods in 1990 for $25,738 today. The CPI is cooked to make the inflation situation look better than it actually is for the government.
> Value of labour often goes up more.
your example doesn't really prove that, it just proves that cars are cheaper to build now. Televisions are now too, but i don't correlate the cost to build a television with the value of labour.
Cars are more expensive I agree but linking it to labour is an accurate way to calculate the relative cost to buy it. Someone on minimum wage ~~nearly~~ gets **over** 4 times as much as they used to in 1990. Anything that hasn't quadrupled is relatively cheaper.
Maybe we can refer it to cpi?
A week of labour in 1990 bought $214 worth of goods.
A basket of goods and services valued at $
214
in calendar year
1990
, would in calendar year
2023
cost $
500.73
Total change in cost is 134.0 per cent, over 33 years, at an average annual inflation rate of 2.6 per cent.
A week of labour in 2023 buys $882 worth of goods and services. The basket from 1990 is 43% cheaper for somone on minimum wage.
Yep. You’d have been silly not to spend hard during covid. Feel bad for all the people that locked themselves away for 3 years - saving their pennies - to emerge from their caves with less money (by purchasing power) than they went in with.
Glad I didn’t take your advice mate .. I saved hard and bought property
how did all that frivolous spending going whilst you complain about COL on other posts ahaha
feel sorry for clowns commenting utter nonsense on reddit post’s pretending to be big time and then complaining on other posts ahaha
No, the reason why cars cost so much is due to idiots taking out large loans that can not afford it.
These idiots won't stop.
Prices won't stop rising.
But I need my Super large BMW/Audi/Porsche SUV to show off to my neighbour that I got ahead. Sure I can't really make payments in my oversized mortgage but that's not the point. I need to show that I'm rich
Hey now, I can’t afford payments on my mortgage *or* the deposit for my auto loan. That’s why I took out half the moneys I’ve thrown into my offset over the past 8 years to pay for the down payment! The interest on my mortgage is lower than on the car loan so I’ve done a good thing for my future by paying interest on a quickly depreciating asset! I’m a genius.
Genuine question: If what you're saying is true, shouldn't these cars be back on the market soon as a lot of these people will struggle to payback the loan they took for these?
I personally know about 3 people who have taken a car loan ranging from 50k-70k when they are on a salary of 80k-100k. My brain couldn't process this, as I see these loans as half or more than half of their annual income.
You’d think so, but the process kinda goes like this:
1. Idiot A with somewhat high income takes out unaffordable loan on new car.
2. Idiot A realises after a year that they’re bleeding money, but they’re just doing accounting gymnastics in their head to justify their lifestyle to themselves.
3. Interest rates rise so Idiot A can’t afford to replace the car with something similar if they get a new loan, so they genuinely hold onto the car until their ability to service their car loan, home loan and credit cards becomes unignorable.
4. Idiot A reluctantly sells car, which has now significantly depreciated, and either needs to cover the balance of their loan from the cash from their offset, sell other investments, or keep paying a loan on a car they no longer have.
5. Car is is bought as a “near-new” car by Idiot B, who has a lower income than idiot A, and who is also leveraging themselves to shit, but probably doesn’t have any equity in a home to back themselves and instead is paying 80% of their income between their rent on a place bigger than they need, and their car loan on a car more expensive than they can afford.
6. Idiot B repeats the steps of Idiot A, but is usually even worse off by the end of it.
The thing is that there just as many, if not more, Idiot Bs out there than there are Idiot As. Until the Idiot Bs wake up and realise what they’re doing isn’t good for them, or there aren’t enough of them that can get loan approvals, the used car market isn’t going to crash, it’ll only trend down slowly over time. I don’t see many idiot Bs having epiphanies of their own volition.
The Macan is a legitimately good car though, yes most will buy it as a flex but it's in the same price bracket (probably even less than) a competing merc or bmw so they aren't the worst buys if you're in that kind of market.
I quite liked the Macan and when I was shopping around, the starting price was the same as the GLC I looked at. Until I ticked like 4 things in the online configurator and then it was 30% more than a fully loaded GLC. Noped out of that real quick. This was well before covid though, no idea what it's like these days.
I live a couple of blocks away from an elite private school. Can confirm. The queue of cars to pick-up has gotten longer just from the increase in size of those luxury SUVs.
Had a wifes friend driving a 320i base model bmw and just recently bought a tesla. Here I am driving a 9th gen civic.
I dont care what my wife thinks or what they think. All I know is they cant afford to buy into the area we live in. And they are trying hard a few suburbs away. Goes to show more money than sense.
My wife wants a bmw. I told her. Im getting a civic type R, when we can afford it. I dont care about the badge, all I care about is the value and engineering in the car.
Bmws cost alot to maintain because they are engineered to be compact. If your water pump is stuffed. The engine needs to be removed to get to it. Thats why it costs so much to maintain or service.
Your comment about showing off to the neighbours reminds me of an old television ad for barbecues (of all things) that proudly proclaimed “be the envy of your friends” (with our super deluxe six burner blah blah blah)…. Real friends don’t try to make their friends envious; I would think they do exactly the opposite in fact. Advertisers suck.
I’ve noticed more ads for ridiculously priced fully kitted out landcruisers that have barely any use. It’s like some people lost their mind during COVID and decided to spend 3-4 years of savings on a 4WD that is now a terrible vehicle for the daily grind. Meanwhile, house prices have gone up 40-50% and they are screwed.
I have a 2018 X-Trail. I do not really like the car, we are a family of 4. I need to get a roof pod for the planned larger trips this year. But the best thing about this X-Trail is I own it and I do not have a car payment every month. I would love a new Triton or dual cab ute but I cannot bring myself to get a large loan for it, even with a trade in
God no
[2019 Kia Picanto GT-Line Auto MY19 (carsales.com.au)](https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2019-kia-picanto-gt-line-auto-my19/OAG-AD-22951245)
I bought this in 2019, brand new for $17k, look at how much it is now
The dogs want you to log in for price
For anyone reading it’s listed $22k WITH 46k on the clock.
Yeah but inflation is only 3.6 percent PA the RBA says.
BULLSHIT
Yeah but you don't get this sweet exhaust /s
[2019-Kia-Picanto-GT-Line-exhaust.jpg (2400×1606) (performancedrive.com.au)](https://performancedrive.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2019-Kia-Picanto-GT-Line-exhaust.jpg)
Instead you either get these fake exhausts and an ordinary exhaust hidden underneath
[https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp8818911.jpg](https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp8818911.jpg)
Or no fake exhausts and an ordinary exhaust again hidden underneath
[https://careta.my/sites/default/files/inline-images/foto---kia-picanto-2023%205.jpg](https://careta.my/sites/default/files/inline-images/foto---kia-picanto-2023%205.jpg)
I bought a top of the line CX5 just before Covid for $38k. I sold it 3 years later with 60k on clock for $44k to the same dealer who sold it on the floor for almost 50k. That was during the car shortages. So much for new cars loosing value.
2017 plated? - was an ex demo previous year plated and end of financial year 2018 so got a 3 in 1 discount. Regardless I made 4K on it many years on and the dealer made even more when they sold it
You answered your own question with 'there are still supply issues and long waitlists'. Basic supply and demand should explain why there's high prices.
Yeah its bugging me too. I bought a car for 12k used full cash 10yrs ago. Now i cant find a similar version or age under 20k. So i just sit back and wanna run mine into the ground cause no way do i wanna spend that or get a loan to do it on a depreciating asset.
It's what pushed me into buying a new car against all of my own principles - these $10k cars were going for $20k, so might as well pay $30k for the new version and get the warranty etc
We just did the same. Just got a 2024 Camry Hybrid for 42k, no wait. I could save 10 grand, but 2017-2018 ones with 50k km going for 32k ish so felt like a no brainer.
Since we’ve had no local car manufacturers it’s an outrage that the LCT comes into effect at such a low price. It should be a true luxury car tax, not a “tax on something a little fancy that was made overseas”. There are no other options now.
Used cars have come down a little. New cars still pretty crazy but that's going to be the norm. Supply chains are still disrupted, demand remains high, so there you have the ingredients for high prices.
Get a second hand car for best value for money.
I don't think it is supply chains, just companies sending out less cars than before. You use to have like 5/6 of each car sitting on the lot now you gotta wait 6 months.
Supply chain issues still? A full three years after the very worst of COVID?
Nah, no way. It just so happened that companies found out that the best way to make bulk profit was to intentionally manipulate the supply and demand curve. Turns out that people were pretty willing to absorb the price increase and what we have now is the price that the market is willing to bear.
“Supply chain issues” doesn’t mean the same supply issues as COVID.
Now you’ve got the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia was a key exporter of nickel, palladium, aluminium and neon, which are all used in car manufacturing.
You’ve also got the Houthis launching missiles at cargo ships (inc car carriers) in the Mediterranean. And while our stuff doesn’t go that way, there are only so many cargo ships designed for cars. If a bunch are now taking longer trips (to avoid being shot at) there are fewer ships available to come down here.
Local quarantine checks on cars have been stepped up (which slows things down). Why? Because with delays last year manufacturers/transporters ran out of space in their normal holding spots (factory or dock parking lots) so a bunch of cars ended up being temporarily parked in paddocks. Paddocks have grass seeds and insects that could mess up local eco-systems.
There’s also some industrial port action at the moment. (Though to be honest, feels like there’s *always* someone striking at the ports, so its just about built in now.)
Seeing as supply chain issues existed before covid, during covid and will exist after covid its still very likely and is still happening..
A few things at my work have massive delays getting in. It takes months for production to make the items. They are at capacity. The current batch is pre sold. So they will take ages till demand dies down. Plus freight delays. Port workers going on strike. Whatever. All adds to further delays..
Might not be for any and all items but still plenty of things have supply issues.
Tesla has been cutting their prices for new vehicles, so that may be an indication the used car market is rebalancing.
Or perhaps some brands, like your Toyota are popular, and therefore expensive. Whereas brands like Tesla may have lost status, for various reasons, and prices need to be cut.
I do see that Chinese brands seem cheaper and seem to have plenty of cars available. So, it might be that more robust brands in the market just can’t supply all their customers. Hence the higher prices?
Tesla is also cutting their prices as they have lots more EV competition now than they did a few years ago.
The likes of BYD are popping up everywhere on the roads.
I don’t think it’s all RAV 4’s don’t seem to have gone up much from covid. I bought a car just pre covid in January 2020 - came down to a Mazda CX-30 G20 Touring for $40k on the dot, or a RAV4 Hybrid GXL 2WD for $46k. Went with the Mazda because it was cheaper and no wait, vs 6 months for the RAV4. Quick check on Toyota shows the same RAV4 is $48k drive away, and the Mazda is still about $40k drive away.
Probably depends on the car, but cars have been getting more expensive for years for a variety of factors. For example, all the mandatory safety tech, and standardising expensive tech on Australian builds chasing ANCAP ratings (which are flawed imo).
No. I got a VW Gold GTI in 2017 for ~$45k. I looked at upgrading to the mk8. ~$62k. I thought, "WTF?". Well, $45k in 2017 is $55k today. So, realistically, no, prices won't come down because money is consistently worth less and cars keep getting more expensive to produce according to ever increasing safety standards and customer demands.
Toyota make excellent, reliable vehicles and they know it. Toyota vehicles new and used are at a premium price in Australia too. The waiting list for a new Toyota is proof. Maybe look at another brand?
They’ve come down heaps, used car wise. Still nowhere close to pre-covid levels.
New cars will continue to get more expensive. Tech, size, features etc all keep on adding up. Not to mention hybrid and all that other shit.
Chip shortages don’t help, neither does the demand for hybrid vehicles.
Also, Toyota dealerships in Aus are massively overcharging for their products. In 2022 they quoted me $96K for a hybrid kluger, purely coz that was the only one available to drive off in.
One of my uncle’s been on a waitlist for a hybrid rav 4 since 2022 as well, people are paying 5-10K extra to drive off in them ASAP. That’s why their prices are crazy.
Would be the same for other hybrid cars too, petrol and diesels are cheaper and relatively quicker to obtain as well.
I mean, clearly they aren’t overcharging as that is what the market will bear. They have an incredibly popular product that is severely supply-limited. It’s going to cost a lot.
No. I got a VW Gold GTI in 2017 for ~$45k. I looked at upgrading to the mk8. ~$62k. I thought, "WTF?". Well, $45k in 2017 is $55k today. So, realistically, no, prices won't come down because money is consistently worth less and cars keep getting more expensive to produce according to ever increasing safety standards and customer demands.
I think I have a simple solution to fix this; folks should stop giving them money. Watch the prices come down either getting a brand new last year model or wait for a fire sale
> Toyota CEO Koji Sato this week announced the carmaker's results for the 2024 Japanese fiscal year (April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024), posting profits of 5.35 trillion yen – equivalent to A$52.3 billion, and a 49 per cent year-on-year increase.
Toyota will keep on profiteering until we shop around. Instead of RAV-4, give GWM H6GT a chance.
The thing that scares me about GWM is the potential longevity. This is my personal non scientific study-
I’ve only just returned to Australia after 10 years living overseas. Before I left the Great Wall utes and 4x4 were very aggressively priced and I was seeing a fair few on the roads here in WA. Fast forward to now and it’s occurred to me that I very very rarely see one of these original utes or 4x4’s on the road. They’re so unusual that I always notice them when I see an old one. In my mind this doesn’t correlate well with the numbers I was seeing from 10 years ago, not even close. Which has drawn me to my own conclusion that you’re lucky to get a decade out of a GWM.
Maybe the new ones are much better but it would give me second thought about buying one personally
Agree. People are obsessed with Toyota's so the brand is hyped up.
They are sure decent cars. But there are several other brands which are just as reliable.
Toyota charge more because you are getting that brand
As a serial Toyota purchaser I agree there’s many suitable alternatives that are just as good but I don’t think Toyotas have a price premium in the dealership, they definitely aren’t “expensive”. You get a lot of car for the money and it’s the same value as many others. Second hand yes - definitely a premium paid (rip off) but brand new they line up nicely.
Toyota interiors can be full of cheap, hard plastics and the smaller yaris runs out of puff easily on the highway. It pays (pun intended) to shop around and keep an open mind.
I agree with most reasons listed here, re value of money , inflation , supply issues . But to me a big factor in current AUS prices is also related to the Aussie dollar being in the mid 0.60s cents for a while now. Manufacturers set a price in USD and if you have AUD in the 0.80s or 0.70s vs current price they need to adjust prices way higher than they otherwise would be.
I honestly hope all the idiots with large car loans gets financially smited. Ruining it for everyone else with half a brain that don't want a loan on a depreciating asset.
A precedent has been set and the manufactures + private sellers know people will pay it.
People were paying 10-30k over what a brand new car was worth just to get it "today" instead of in 8 months.
Toyota knows people will pay the extra, so they may as well just skip the middle man and charge more themselves for bigger profit margins.
Same thing goes for all the older hero cars, M3's, GTR's, Supras, hell... Even Celica's and other mid range cars have gone stupid on money.
I can only speak to the car I drive - I upgraded my 2014 Outlander for a 2022 one. The price point was about $10k higher, but the inclusions were far more. I suspect other companies might be doing the same
As long as you wage increases many things like cars are relatively cheaper.
https://www.carsales.com.au/research/toyota/corolla/1990/csx-seca/4f5159d5-0386-43b7-9f3c-a5b507a79255/
Back in 1990 a top spec corolla was 21k but to buy that someone on minimum wage had to work 101 weeks. Anything less than 89k requires less units of labour. A corolla at 50k is effectively half the price.
There is a huge delay with new cars. My husband brought new back in December the car finally arrived in March.
That’s why buying second hand cars are expensive now due to the massive delays in shipping.
I doubt Toyota prices are about to fall at all. A Tough Yaris that was under $20,000 4 years ago is now starting at $30,000 as it is hybrid only.
Toyota are pushing hybrid hard. As more models become hybrid only, Toyota have increased prices.
Add all wheel drive and it is easy to see how the price has increased.
A lower trim Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid that is fwd is a lot cheaper.
Don't forget manufacturers are spending a lot of money on developing evs. They are cross subsidising the development of evs by increasing the price of petrol hybrid models.
Cheap new cars are finished in Australia. We will have one new car around $20,000 soon. Expect most new cars to start around $30,000 due to hybrid
I went to a Toyota dealership near where I live and asked for a corolla cross quote, the guy pulled up the website, selected what I want then told me that's how much it is, 6-months wait, no room for haggle. I then went to 3 car broker services, 1 told me straight away they don't do Toyota because of how crazy the demand is currently and they couldn't get any discount, 1 never get back to me. Only 1 came back and showed me 2 offers that they had: first one was $500 cheaper then my quote, also 6-month wait but the dealership is 200km away, the second one was about $1000 cheaper, located even further with a 12-month wait time. I went back to my first dealership and put a deposit down. It is crazily hard to buy new Toyota atm and by the experience that I had, it will likely be the same for years.
Toyota tax plus inflation. Toyota can increase their prices above inflation because people will pay it as demonstrated by the waitlist.
Inflation particularly on cars have historically been subsidized by government subsidies e.g. china and electric cars and Thailand and petrol cars.
If people keep paying the price, why would they ever come down? People are buying into the supply, creating a demand. As soon as you take demand away, it's all "oooh prices have dropped". Inflation plays a part too though. A new Yaris or w/e at 20k 10 years ago won't be 20k today.
You get a lot more in a new car than you used to.
They’re overcomplicated, partially for safety, partially for emissions, and partially for planned obsolescence.
Supply constrains let them push prices up and now they know you’ll pay them.
The real issue with Toyota is during COVID they watched people buy the car retail and sell it 2 days later for 10k more. Toyota said, "If people are prepared to pay that much, we can ask that much." They lifted the prices and people kept ordering cars.
New car prices won't come back too much. Used cars on the other hand are already correcting. The issue is there won't ever be cheap, good-quality, auto cars under 10k again. There is so much demand in that market.
I hope so! I know a few people who have been caught out by their cars being under-insured (by 2024 prices) and then having to choose between buying an inferior car or spending several thousand extra after being crashed into. Insurance costs in general are going up too, which makes things more difficult.
Regionally? Yes. Used car marked where I live has come down 10-15% this year. We poor out here.
How regional you talking? As in, can I just drive out to regional areas, buy a car and drive it back to the city and save 15%?
I'm about 3hrs from Sydney and there's good cars, popular models, that have been up for sale for months and have had several price drops, some of them by over a third. People don't have the money. I'm in the market myself and I'm not paying 10k for a 15 year old shitbox with 250kkms on it, and it looks like I won't have to soon. People can't afford the fuel upkeep on second or third cars.
I drove to Torquay which is only an hour and a half outside of Melbourne and bought a used car for $12k which would have been around $15k in Melbourne.
What model did you buy? I’m searching one for a long time and don’t my budget is same as yours. Most cars on FB marketplace looks dodgy and good cars sold out immediately
Nice one! Love Torquay
They will when the market share of Chinese brands at $30k become dominant and the others will need to compete on price.
They’re just establishing their place in the market, getting people to realize that the quality isn’t as bad as it used to be, before they also raise their prices. Just like the Korean makers did.
Kia was the worst quality and cheapest car you could buy. It's now good quality and charges according.
Kia was basically what MG, Haval etc are now. It’s like Haier kitchen appliances. Once the cheapest, now respected
I’d expect that once MG and haval start doing that, we’ll see another new wave, maybe from Vietnam or also India
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Unlike the US though, we have no local car industry. It would be pretty stupid for Australia to preferentially tariff more expensive cars from other countries. Plus, unlike the US, we have to follow WTO rules. Feel free to personally spend your $ countering the Imaginary Dragon.
Yep I agree, I’m regional and swap cards quite often. Got $5k of sticker for used bmw x5, so things have changed since the ‘we don’t need to negotiate’ covid days
Out of interest; What if any was the discrepancy between the advertised on-road cost from Toyota website and the price quoted? Keen on a Corolla Cross Hybrid myself but my spec was closer to 40k — you getting one with plenty of extras?
Inflation my man, I feel like anything that went up in Covid never really came back down. Even the things that we know cost a fraction of what they used to to make/transport still are going up because that’s the “norm” now and unfortunately people are willing to pay for it so they have no real incentive to ever bring prices back down
The value of money went down.
Took too long to find this comment.
Value of labour often goes up more. In 1990 a corolla was $21850 when minimum wage was $214 (100 weeks labour). While it might cost more to buy the same car minimum wage is now $882 and a 44k car is half the work to purchase.
If you're interested the good figures to look at there are CPI vs WPI, for a long time WPI was growing faster than CPI but recently we took a pretty massive hit and undone a lot of that trend. It's a better measure than minimum wage because most people aren't on minimum wage and it's also fairly unique in how it grows (government regulation).
Wages of ~3m people are linked to minimum wage. Even mine on a salary because I worked in logistics and saw forklift drivers pay increase by 85%. Could also do average income. 1990 it was $534.10 for 40 weeks of labour. Anything less than 74k is relatively cheaper. WPI index has definitely taken a big hit recently, back to 2010 levels when adjusted for inflation but its still up in real terms and I think it's starting to pick pack up again. Obviously picking a key cpi line doesn't really reflect a cost of living but fuel is another hot button issue and I think historically it's been approx 6 mins labour per litre (10% of 1hr). Fuel is effectively free if you consider the total cost of owning a car. Cpi data is super interesting. The effort to regularly adjust the basket and keep it relevant. IE they adjusted recently to consider the increasing prevalence of **overseas travel!**. Clothing used to be 21.60% of household expenditure. https://twitter.com/DrCameronMurray/status/1716264255492907451?t=WneFQ8zRpes0EpmeskD-Kw&s=19 Another crazy thought is a carton of beer used to represent 16% of average wage. The equivalent of $294!
> IE they adjusted recently to consider the increasing prevalence of overseas travel!. I personally don’t think this one is as crazy or luxurious as it sounds given the proportion of immigrants as part of our population combined with a general proportional reduction in aviation prices over the last 20-30 years.
Totally agree. It reflects spending for most households but it's also not reflective of the cost of living for someone on welfare. They might not get the discount that the savings represent. If you're spending 2% on international travel and your wage doubles and travel doesn't inflate then you have a 1% "saving" to spend on other categories. Someone on welfare might not get the benefit of car prices falling. It's why the selected living cost index data could be more useful. Other government transfer recipient living cost index increased by 4.4% vs cpi of 3.6%. I think CPI/WPI is fine for most households as the majority have have a fulltime worker. Quite a few have multiple wages and other sources of income.
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Yeah the 2024 corolla is markedly better. Safer, cheaper to run with many more features and yet despite "paying more" it's relatively cheaper when compared to wages. Often I think people think the car ownership experience is worse because of how disposable they're made but what also reflects how we value them. A car (or a fridge/phone/TV) cost so much that people often replaced engines, fixed them, bought second hand etc. Same for clothes. If you're spending $600 of your wage (30%) on a shirt & a pair of pants then you're more likely to repair them etc.
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In 1990 we had local manufacturing. In 2024 we don’t.
Cars haven’t increased anywhere near the price of houses
Yes it is crazy to pick just one line in a basket of goods and services and claim that it is reflective of the cost of living. According to the RBA a basket of living expenses valued at $ 11000 ($214) in calendar year 1990 , would in calendar year 2023 cost $ 25,738.47 Total change in cost is 134.0 per cent, over 33 years, at an average annual inflation rate of 2.6 per cent. House prices have definitely increased but so too has the CBA share price. Maybe it depends on our capacity to pay and what we consider good value. 2024 prices reflect 2024 capacity and 1990 prices reflected 1990 capacity. I often wonder if a household on minimum or average wage really had that much spare money. Maybe their wage was 27k but the cost of living was 28k.
lol there’s no way you can get $11,000 worth of goods in 1990 for $25,738 today. The CPI is cooked to make the inflation situation look better than it actually is for the government.
> Value of labour often goes up more. your example doesn't really prove that, it just proves that cars are cheaper to build now. Televisions are now too, but i don't correlate the cost to build a television with the value of labour.
Cars are more expensive I agree but linking it to labour is an accurate way to calculate the relative cost to buy it. Someone on minimum wage ~~nearly~~ gets **over** 4 times as much as they used to in 1990. Anything that hasn't quadrupled is relatively cheaper. Maybe we can refer it to cpi? A week of labour in 1990 bought $214 worth of goods. A basket of goods and services valued at $ 214 in calendar year 1990 , would in calendar year 2023 cost $ 500.73 Total change in cost is 134.0 per cent, over 33 years, at an average annual inflation rate of 2.6 per cent. A week of labour in 2023 buys $882 worth of goods and services. The basket from 1990 is 43% cheaper for somone on minimum wage.
Yep. You’d have been silly not to spend hard during covid. Feel bad for all the people that locked themselves away for 3 years - saving their pennies - to emerge from their caves with less money (by purchasing power) than they went in with.
Glad I didn’t take your advice mate .. I saved hard and bought property how did all that frivolous spending going whilst you complain about COL on other posts ahaha feel sorry for clowns commenting utter nonsense on reddit post’s pretending to be big time and then complaining on other posts ahaha
So you spent money. To buy a house. Exactly what they were referring to...
Because too much supply was created in the last few years, right? Stimulus, low rates encouraging borrowing (this creating new supply), etc.
People don't have any choice to pay for it tho.
No, the reason why cars cost so much is due to idiots taking out large loans that can not afford it. These idiots won't stop. Prices won't stop rising.
But I need my Super large BMW/Audi/Porsche SUV to show off to my neighbour that I got ahead. Sure I can't really make payments in my oversized mortgage but that's not the point. I need to show that I'm rich
Hey now, I can’t afford payments on my mortgage *or* the deposit for my auto loan. That’s why I took out half the moneys I’ve thrown into my offset over the past 8 years to pay for the down payment! The interest on my mortgage is lower than on the car loan so I’ve done a good thing for my future by paying interest on a quickly depreciating asset! I’m a genius.
Genuine question: If what you're saying is true, shouldn't these cars be back on the market soon as a lot of these people will struggle to payback the loan they took for these? I personally know about 3 people who have taken a car loan ranging from 50k-70k when they are on a salary of 80k-100k. My brain couldn't process this, as I see these loans as half or more than half of their annual income.
You’d think so, but the process kinda goes like this: 1. Idiot A with somewhat high income takes out unaffordable loan on new car. 2. Idiot A realises after a year that they’re bleeding money, but they’re just doing accounting gymnastics in their head to justify their lifestyle to themselves. 3. Interest rates rise so Idiot A can’t afford to replace the car with something similar if they get a new loan, so they genuinely hold onto the car until their ability to service their car loan, home loan and credit cards becomes unignorable. 4. Idiot A reluctantly sells car, which has now significantly depreciated, and either needs to cover the balance of their loan from the cash from their offset, sell other investments, or keep paying a loan on a car they no longer have. 5. Car is is bought as a “near-new” car by Idiot B, who has a lower income than idiot A, and who is also leveraging themselves to shit, but probably doesn’t have any equity in a home to back themselves and instead is paying 80% of their income between their rent on a place bigger than they need, and their car loan on a car more expensive than they can afford. 6. Idiot B repeats the steps of Idiot A, but is usually even worse off by the end of it. The thing is that there just as many, if not more, Idiot Bs out there than there are Idiot As. Until the Idiot Bs wake up and realise what they’re doing isn’t good for them, or there aren’t enough of them that can get loan approvals, the used car market isn’t going to crash, it’ll only trend down slowly over time. I don’t see many idiot Bs having epiphanies of their own volition.
The base model Porche Bmw are always the funniest flex attempts, followed closely by fake designer clothes.
Base model 911s are damn expensive, it's the boxters that are a bit funny.
Macans are the funniest, you see them more than Camrys nowadays.
The Macan is a legitimately good car though, yes most will buy it as a flex but it's in the same price bracket (probably even less than) a competing merc or bmw so they aren't the worst buys if you're in that kind of market.
I quite liked the Macan and when I was shopping around, the starting price was the same as the GLC I looked at. Until I ticked like 4 things in the online configurator and then it was 30% more than a fully loaded GLC. Noped out of that real quick. This was well before covid though, no idea what it's like these days.
I live a couple of blocks away from an elite private school. Can confirm. The queue of cars to pick-up has gotten longer just from the increase in size of those luxury SUVs.
Macan is so much better car than Camry though
Boxsters drive better than 911s though
Base model Model 3s with custom number plates like "LE4S3D" or some shit like that, to me, are just pathetic
Recently saw a Range Rover velar? With plates rrvlr.. I don’t understand when people get plates of their car spec.
Had a wifes friend driving a 320i base model bmw and just recently bought a tesla. Here I am driving a 9th gen civic. I dont care what my wife thinks or what they think. All I know is they cant afford to buy into the area we live in. And they are trying hard a few suburbs away. Goes to show more money than sense. My wife wants a bmw. I told her. Im getting a civic type R, when we can afford it. I dont care about the badge, all I care about is the value and engineering in the car. Bmws cost alot to maintain because they are engineered to be compact. If your water pump is stuffed. The engine needs to be removed to get to it. Thats why it costs so much to maintain or service.
Oh the BMW 1 series are legit the funniest.
Unless is it an M140i, anyone buying one of them knows it’s a bargain M3
Your comment about showing off to the neighbours reminds me of an old television ad for barbecues (of all things) that proudly proclaimed “be the envy of your friends” (with our super deluxe six burner blah blah blah)…. Real friends don’t try to make their friends envious; I would think they do exactly the opposite in fact. Advertisers suck.
I’ve noticed more ads for ridiculously priced fully kitted out landcruisers that have barely any use. It’s like some people lost their mind during COVID and decided to spend 3-4 years of savings on a 4WD that is now a terrible vehicle for the daily grind. Meanwhile, house prices have gone up 40-50% and they are screwed.
Ah yes, the people who bought cars built for outback sand dune driving in the middle of nowhere, but the closest they come is driving on the M2
A lot of tradies trying to sell barely used setups built for the zombie apocalypse at $150-200k+. It boggles the mind.
I just want a reasonably priced Mazda that will run though
Best to can do is an overpriced suped-up Golf
I have a 2018 X-Trail. I do not really like the car, we are a family of 4. I need to get a roof pod for the planned larger trips this year. But the best thing about this X-Trail is I own it and I do not have a car payment every month. I would love a new Triton or dual cab ute but I cannot bring myself to get a large loan for it, even with a trade in
Ha ..I’m still driving the x-trail bought in 2003.
There are only so many idiots in any market, that’s why we’re are now importing so many to keep to scam alive
Or Australians are richer than ever and can easily afford new cars and demand outstrips supply.
Australians are *more in debt than ever* That's the Australian Way!
You know they can just import more
100% this. Prices WILL come down.....once we stop paying stupid prices for things. Sadly the stupid will keep paying.
> can not afford it. so wait for them to default, and buy it second hand off them (after being repossessed)!
there were always idiots, and yet this started happening since covid
Cars aren’t worth more, money is worth less post Covid.
If there is deflation: yes If there is no deflation: no
Still up to 12 month wait on Toyotas. So, no.
Your money is worth significantly less than it was pre-covid, sorry
God no [2019 Kia Picanto GT-Line Auto MY19 (carsales.com.au)](https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2019-kia-picanto-gt-line-auto-my19/OAG-AD-22951245) I bought this in 2019, brand new for $17k, look at how much it is now
The dogs want you to log in for price For anyone reading it’s listed $22k WITH 46k on the clock. Yeah but inflation is only 3.6 percent PA the RBA says. BULLSHIT
WTF! When did this happen? I'm not signing up to look at whats for sale.
They seem to be rolling it out randomly. It's something you can see fairly often with UI changes these days (YouTube does it a lot).
A B testing, luck of the draw..
Works okay for me. Probably hiding prices to limit bots or scrapers.
I didn't log in (I've never had an account with carsales), and it shows to price clear as day as $21,990 too me. And the 46,293 km's on it.
thats a completely unrealistic asking price, you can get a new picanto for that price with heaps of new tech
Yeah but you don't get this sweet exhaust /s [2019-Kia-Picanto-GT-Line-exhaust.jpg (2400×1606) (performancedrive.com.au)](https://performancedrive.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2019-Kia-Picanto-GT-Line-exhaust.jpg) Instead you either get these fake exhausts and an ordinary exhaust hidden underneath [https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp8818911.jpg](https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp8818911.jpg) Or no fake exhausts and an ordinary exhaust again hidden underneath [https://careta.my/sites/default/files/inline-images/foto---kia-picanto-2023%205.jpg](https://careta.my/sites/default/files/inline-images/foto---kia-picanto-2023%205.jpg)
I got a good resale on my car I bought in 2018 as a dealer trade in! I'm impressed.
If you want a bargain buy a secondhand EV Prices are dropping a lot
People don't feel confident gauging the health of a battery in a second hand EV.
Absolutely. It's like playing hot potato on who will be holding it when fails.
That's ignorant AF.
When did the Honda Civic become a $48k luxury vehicle? To me this is an example of manufactures exploiting the market!
I bought a top of the line CX5 just before Covid for $38k. I sold it 3 years later with 60k on clock for $44k to the same dealer who sold it on the floor for almost 50k. That was during the car shortages. So much for new cars loosing value.
Wow 38k for top of the line cx5?! What year was that? Did you buy brand new?
2017 plated? - was an ex demo previous year plated and end of financial year 2018 so got a 3 in 1 discount. Regardless I made 4K on it many years on and the dealer made even more when they sold it
You answered your own question with 'there are still supply issues and long waitlists'. Basic supply and demand should explain why there's high prices.
They're not coming back down. With year long waits for Toyota's they're not struggling to sell them.
Almost nothing ever goes down once it's up. Fuel, sometimes but never to the same historical price. You paid the price once, you'll do it again.
Yeah its bugging me too. I bought a car for 12k used full cash 10yrs ago. Now i cant find a similar version or age under 20k. So i just sit back and wanna run mine into the ground cause no way do i wanna spend that or get a loan to do it on a depreciating asset.
It's what pushed me into buying a new car against all of my own principles - these $10k cars were going for $20k, so might as well pay $30k for the new version and get the warranty etc
Yea its a consideration, though we cant put it in a garage so i gotta get over that it will be outside alot
This is what I'm looking into now. My choices are buy the car new for 25-30k. Or a secondhand 2018 model with over 50kms for between 20 and 25k.
Technically it’s now an appreciating asset
We just did the same. Just got a 2024 Camry Hybrid for 42k, no wait. I could save 10 grand, but 2017-2018 ones with 50k km going for 32k ish so felt like a no brainer.
I bought a 2009 corolla with \~40k in 2012 for $13000, sold in six months ago with \~110k for $9500. It's insane.
Since we’ve had no local car manufacturers it’s an outrage that the LCT comes into effect at such a low price. It should be a true luxury car tax, not a “tax on something a little fancy that was made overseas”. There are no other options now.
Used cars have come down a little. New cars still pretty crazy but that's going to be the norm. Supply chains are still disrupted, demand remains high, so there you have the ingredients for high prices. Get a second hand car for best value for money.
I don't think it is supply chains, just companies sending out less cars than before. You use to have like 5/6 of each car sitting on the lot now you gotta wait 6 months.
Supply chain issues still? A full three years after the very worst of COVID? Nah, no way. It just so happened that companies found out that the best way to make bulk profit was to intentionally manipulate the supply and demand curve. Turns out that people were pretty willing to absorb the price increase and what we have now is the price that the market is willing to bear.
“Supply chain issues” doesn’t mean the same supply issues as COVID. Now you’ve got the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia was a key exporter of nickel, palladium, aluminium and neon, which are all used in car manufacturing. You’ve also got the Houthis launching missiles at cargo ships (inc car carriers) in the Mediterranean. And while our stuff doesn’t go that way, there are only so many cargo ships designed for cars. If a bunch are now taking longer trips (to avoid being shot at) there are fewer ships available to come down here. Local quarantine checks on cars have been stepped up (which slows things down). Why? Because with delays last year manufacturers/transporters ran out of space in their normal holding spots (factory or dock parking lots) so a bunch of cars ended up being temporarily parked in paddocks. Paddocks have grass seeds and insects that could mess up local eco-systems. There’s also some industrial port action at the moment. (Though to be honest, feels like there’s *always* someone striking at the ports, so its just about built in now.)
Seeing as supply chain issues existed before covid, during covid and will exist after covid its still very likely and is still happening.. A few things at my work have massive delays getting in. It takes months for production to make the items. They are at capacity. The current batch is pre sold. So they will take ages till demand dies down. Plus freight delays. Port workers going on strike. Whatever. All adds to further delays.. Might not be for any and all items but still plenty of things have supply issues.
Tesla has been cutting their prices for new vehicles, so that may be an indication the used car market is rebalancing. Or perhaps some brands, like your Toyota are popular, and therefore expensive. Whereas brands like Tesla may have lost status, for various reasons, and prices need to be cut. I do see that Chinese brands seem cheaper and seem to have plenty of cars available. So, it might be that more robust brands in the market just can’t supply all their customers. Hence the higher prices?
Tesla is also cutting their prices as they have lots more EV competition now than they did a few years ago. The likes of BYD are popping up everywhere on the roads.
I don’t think it’s all RAV 4’s don’t seem to have gone up much from covid. I bought a car just pre covid in January 2020 - came down to a Mazda CX-30 G20 Touring for $40k on the dot, or a RAV4 Hybrid GXL 2WD for $46k. Went with the Mazda because it was cheaper and no wait, vs 6 months for the RAV4. Quick check on Toyota shows the same RAV4 is $48k drive away, and the Mazda is still about $40k drive away. Probably depends on the car, but cars have been getting more expensive for years for a variety of factors. For example, all the mandatory safety tech, and standardising expensive tech on Australian builds chasing ANCAP ratings (which are flawed imo).
People don’t understand the long lasting effect of inflation
No. I got a VW Gold GTI in 2017 for ~$45k. I looked at upgrading to the mk8. ~$62k. I thought, "WTF?". Well, $45k in 2017 is $55k today. So, realistically, no, prices won't come down because money is consistently worth less and cars keep getting more expensive to produce according to ever increasing safety standards and customer demands.
Toyota make excellent, reliable vehicles and they know it. Toyota vehicles new and used are at a premium price in Australia too. The waiting list for a new Toyota is proof. Maybe look at another brand?
FYI: June traditionally is the time to get good prices from dealerships for demo/ preloved.
Corolla Cross didn’t exist pre-Covid. It was introduced in late 2022
Do you think the global economy will do a reversal on inflationary trends to deflation? Probably not.
They’ve come down heaps, used car wise. Still nowhere close to pre-covid levels. New cars will continue to get more expensive. Tech, size, features etc all keep on adding up. Not to mention hybrid and all that other shit. Chip shortages don’t help, neither does the demand for hybrid vehicles. Also, Toyota dealerships in Aus are massively overcharging for their products. In 2022 they quoted me $96K for a hybrid kluger, purely coz that was the only one available to drive off in. One of my uncle’s been on a waitlist for a hybrid rav 4 since 2022 as well, people are paying 5-10K extra to drive off in them ASAP. That’s why their prices are crazy. Would be the same for other hybrid cars too, petrol and diesels are cheaper and relatively quicker to obtain as well.
I mean, clearly they aren’t overcharging as that is what the market will bear. They have an incredibly popular product that is severely supply-limited. It’s going to cost a lot.
No. I got a VW Gold GTI in 2017 for ~$45k. I looked at upgrading to the mk8. ~$62k. I thought, "WTF?". Well, $45k in 2017 is $55k today. So, realistically, no, prices won't come down because money is consistently worth less and cars keep getting more expensive to produce according to ever increasing safety standards and customer demands.
I think I have a simple solution to fix this; folks should stop giving them money. Watch the prices come down either getting a brand new last year model or wait for a fire sale
Ah yes, of course, the great Rav 4 clear out and fire sales that I’ve seen everywhere.
I’m not talking about rav4… there are other car manufacturers
> Toyota CEO Koji Sato this week announced the carmaker's results for the 2024 Japanese fiscal year (April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024), posting profits of 5.35 trillion yen – equivalent to A$52.3 billion, and a 49 per cent year-on-year increase. Toyota will keep on profiteering until we shop around. Instead of RAV-4, give GWM H6GT a chance.
I’d rather give a 90s hilux a chance
The GWMs are horrifically unsafe though.
Toyota’s results are strongly driven by the weak yen.
The thing that scares me about GWM is the potential longevity. This is my personal non scientific study- I’ve only just returned to Australia after 10 years living overseas. Before I left the Great Wall utes and 4x4 were very aggressively priced and I was seeing a fair few on the roads here in WA. Fast forward to now and it’s occurred to me that I very very rarely see one of these original utes or 4x4’s on the road. They’re so unusual that I always notice them when I see an old one. In my mind this doesn’t correlate well with the numbers I was seeing from 10 years ago, not even close. Which has drawn me to my own conclusion that you’re lucky to get a decade out of a GWM. Maybe the new ones are much better but it would give me second thought about buying one personally
Agree. People are obsessed with Toyota's so the brand is hyped up. They are sure decent cars. But there are several other brands which are just as reliable. Toyota charge more because you are getting that brand
As a serial Toyota purchaser I agree there’s many suitable alternatives that are just as good but I don’t think Toyotas have a price premium in the dealership, they definitely aren’t “expensive”. You get a lot of car for the money and it’s the same value as many others. Second hand yes - definitely a premium paid (rip off) but brand new they line up nicely.
Toyota interiors can be full of cheap, hard plastics and the smaller yaris runs out of puff easily on the highway. It pays (pun intended) to shop around and keep an open mind.
That is true! Definitely no “luxury” in a Toyota. To be fair though it’s not their aim. They’ll gladly point you in the direction of Lexus.
Corolla cross hybrid wasn’t out before covid
Yup! Paid 45k for AWD rav4 in 2022. It’s insane.
But have you looked for a 2004 camry?
New EV prices continuing to fall, petrol cars continue to rise, price equalization is not as far off as we think.
I agree with most reasons listed here, re value of money , inflation , supply issues . But to me a big factor in current AUS prices is also related to the Aussie dollar being in the mid 0.60s cents for a while now. Manufacturers set a price in USD and if you have AUD in the 0.80s or 0.70s vs current price they need to adjust prices way higher than they otherwise would be.
I honestly hope all the idiots with large car loans gets financially smited. Ruining it for everyone else with half a brain that don't want a loan on a depreciating asset.
Yes. Peak demand may have been passed. I expect a fall in prices in the next 2 years.
lol nothing ever goes backwards, ever.
Used cars went backwards from Dec '22 to Feb '23
For 10 years Perth house prices went backwards.
>there are still supply issues and long waitlists. Yep - people still busting their bums to spend money despite interest rates.
Really I found a 2014 Lexus for $30k is that expensive? I thought that’s good value for a Lexus?
Here’s a $20k 2014 Lexus for you: https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2014-lexus-is-is350-sports-luxury-auto/SSE-AD-15889294
Wrong body type was looking for SUV thanks though
A precedent has been set and the manufactures + private sellers know people will pay it. People were paying 10-30k over what a brand new car was worth just to get it "today" instead of in 8 months. Toyota knows people will pay the extra, so they may as well just skip the middle man and charge more themselves for bigger profit margins. Same thing goes for all the older hero cars, M3's, GTR's, Supras, hell... Even Celica's and other mid range cars have gone stupid on money.
I can only speak to the car I drive - I upgraded my 2014 Outlander for a 2022 one. The price point was about $10k higher, but the inclusions were far more. I suspect other companies might be doing the same
No. next question.
As long as you wage increases many things like cars are relatively cheaper. https://www.carsales.com.au/research/toyota/corolla/1990/csx-seca/4f5159d5-0386-43b7-9f3c-a5b507a79255/ Back in 1990 a top spec corolla was 21k but to buy that someone on minimum wage had to work 101 weeks. Anything less than 89k requires less units of labour. A corolla at 50k is effectively half the price.
All the second hand garbage has came back down its just desirable cars that are still inflated
There is a huge delay with new cars. My husband brought new back in December the car finally arrived in March. That’s why buying second hand cars are expensive now due to the massive delays in shipping.
I’m checking my crystal ball 🔮
I saved 8k on a brand new BT50 at the start of 2023
Never heard of inflation?
I doubt Toyota prices are about to fall at all. A Tough Yaris that was under $20,000 4 years ago is now starting at $30,000 as it is hybrid only. Toyota are pushing hybrid hard. As more models become hybrid only, Toyota have increased prices. Add all wheel drive and it is easy to see how the price has increased. A lower trim Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid that is fwd is a lot cheaper. Don't forget manufacturers are spending a lot of money on developing evs. They are cross subsidising the development of evs by increasing the price of petrol hybrid models. Cheap new cars are finished in Australia. We will have one new car around $20,000 soon. Expect most new cars to start around $30,000 due to hybrid
For some cars, they already have. If you are not married to a Toyota, you can get immediate availability and pay much less.
prices rarely go down in an economy
I went to a Toyota dealership near where I live and asked for a corolla cross quote, the guy pulled up the website, selected what I want then told me that's how much it is, 6-months wait, no room for haggle. I then went to 3 car broker services, 1 told me straight away they don't do Toyota because of how crazy the demand is currently and they couldn't get any discount, 1 never get back to me. Only 1 came back and showed me 2 offers that they had: first one was $500 cheaper then my quote, also 6-month wait but the dealership is 200km away, the second one was about $1000 cheaper, located even further with a 12-month wait time. I went back to my first dealership and put a deposit down. It is crazily hard to buy new Toyota atm and by the experience that I had, it will likely be the same for years.
Toyota tax plus inflation. Toyota can increase their prices above inflation because people will pay it as demonstrated by the waitlist. Inflation particularly on cars have historically been subsidized by government subsidies e.g. china and electric cars and Thailand and petrol cars.
Nominally, no. In real-terms, yes.
If people keep paying the price, why would they ever come down? People are buying into the supply, creating a demand. As soon as you take demand away, it's all "oooh prices have dropped". Inflation plays a part too though. A new Yaris or w/e at 20k 10 years ago won't be 20k today.
You get a lot more in a new car than you used to. They’re overcomplicated, partially for safety, partially for emissions, and partially for planned obsolescence. Supply constrains let them push prices up and now they know you’ll pay them.
The real issue with Toyota is during COVID they watched people buy the car retail and sell it 2 days later for 10k more. Toyota said, "If people are prepared to pay that much, we can ask that much." They lifted the prices and people kept ordering cars. New car prices won't come back too much. Used cars on the other hand are already correcting. The issue is there won't ever be cheap, good-quality, auto cars under 10k again. There is so much demand in that market.
Not for Toyota's
have you ever seen a price come down?
Got a gxl 2wd corolla cross hybrid back in march for 45k brand new.
I hope so! I know a few people who have been caught out by their cars being under-insured (by 2024 prices) and then having to choose between buying an inferior car or spending several thousand extra after being crashed into. Insurance costs in general are going up too, which makes things more difficult.
only if you're talking about EVs, everything else has one direction, up
Good to see.
New cars up only. Thank inflation.
Haval is having 2k off on hybrid models
RAV4 hybrid still has a wait list so don't get your hopes up on any price drops
Just don't buy it.... if everyone adopted the same mentality, prices would come down. Oversupply, low demand = cheaper prices.
New, that ship has sailed…don’t think they will come down…
More govt prints money more the currency debases. Prices up forever