this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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Buying 2nd hand reduces demand for new goods, which reduces prices in the broad sense.
That's not what happened when demand for used cars skyrocketed a few years ago
Demand for new vehicles didn't drop, supply for new vehicles stopped.
Also, demand for cars can't drop because Americans don't have basic freedoms like access to quality public transit, walkable cities, or infrastructure to protect bikes from car drivers who watch movies on their phones while they drive
Yup, the US has managed to turn cars from a luxury item to what's essentially a necessary good.
Like there aren't cars outside of the US.
You know full goddamn well that's not what I mean. If you're going to argue in pithy whataboutisms then take that shit back to Reddit.
Check your attitude. And no, I have no idea what your point is. Lots of non-US places are auto dependent and cannot be served by transit.
There are over 1.4 billion cars in the world, and less than 1/5 are in the US. Most vehicle sales are outside of the US.
Do you even travel??
Okay, first, go fuck yourself with this holier-than-thou attitude. You started this shit, not me.
Second, my attitude comes from smarmy little fucks like you who I thought to god I left behind when I left Reddit.
Third, I very much doubt you need an explanation as I believe you are not arguing in good faith, but I'll humor you anyway, for posterity. Your comment is what's know as a whataboutism. This is essentially an argument which ignores the accusation at hand (the overreliance of the US on cars) and instead makes an unrelated accusation (that I deny overreliance elsewhere).
Now, I ask you, where did I state that nowhere else in the world is there a country overreliant on cars? I can't find it. As a matter of fact, I can't seem to find anywhere on this post about tariffs in the United States, in this thread about used goods in the United States, in the comment I replied to discussing more specifically used cars in the United States, where anyone has said one goddamn thing about a country other than the United States. You make arguments in your head then ascribe them to me. I have said nothing about the state of cars elsewhere in the world, because it is several times removed from the subject at hand.
Fourth, yes I travel. Most of my family lives abroad. It is through my travels that I know there are better ways of doing things than the US is doing now. (Oh, and as long as we're talking about logical fallacies, that's an Ad Hominem). This point has especially stuck in my craw. Don't act like you know anything about me you shitstain.
Finally, if it seems like I'm being harsh or overaggressive, it's because I'm well sick of this shit from the days of Reddit, and I won't tolerate it here. If I see someone using shitty tactics to start shit online, I will do my best to nip it in the bud. Frankly I probably wouldn't be this irrationally angry if you hadn't not only doubled down on your shit take, but try to drag me down in the process as well. Now, do us both a favor and cut that shit out.
Your reading comprehension is disturbingly poor.
People with cars a couple years old were being asked to trade for a new one just to bolster used inventory. Don’t understand the economics but I know two people who traded their 3ish year old cars for brand new ones (and a little cash on top) at the behest of the dealer during that time.
I bought right after the lockdown. Six months later I was being offered more for my car used than I paid for it new. I'm still driving it, and it's been paid off for quite awhile, three year loan.
I don't know the economics either but I bought a used truck in Dec 20 and after 6months or a year the dealer started calling me every month or so with an offer to buy it back at more than I bought it for. It was really crazy.
My parents bought a their car when their lease was up then sold it back for a profit around the same time. Just to add to the anecdotes.
You mean when carvana started overpaying for used cars to build inventory to test their product and inadvertently crashed the used car market (from a buyers perspective)?
How complicated economics is!
But increases demand for used goods means the price increases for them, which means the deal isn't as good so buying new becomes more interesting...
I think we just invented economics
And we just realized how silly it is!
Only those that are uneducated in the miserable science think it is silly.
There's alternatives to the capitalist system that leads to the situation we're in right now.
And those systems use economists too. There are whole economic departments in universities in socialist economies studying economics. The science does not change just because the system you use to allocate goods changes.
Yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize this. I say as I wait for my econ 101 class to start.