So I've been driving in the USA for a couple of months now.

sammo62

sammo62

sammo62

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Silicon Valley, USA
This is my first post in Motors so I thought I'd put down a few random thoughts and questions I had about driving since I moved.

Firstly, why are new cars in the US so cheap, and at the same time why are used cars in the US so expensive? I see the kind of deals some of you are getting on used cars and it seems like madness.

What do people think of automatics? I'm starting to warm up to them to be honest. There is the odd time now and then where the power doesn't go down as I'd like when I'm accelerating from lights, but apart from that it makes things a bit easier and let's me keep both hands on the wheel at all times. We've got a 2010 Nissan Altima (not sure they sell it in the UK) and it's a pretty nice drive all things considered. When we get our next car we're getting a manual though just so I don't lose the feel if we move to the UK in future.

Driving test: My god it was the easiest thing in the world. I had to do a 30 question theory "test" which essentially came down to "Do you A)flee the scene of a crash or B)Call the police if the incident is serious". The road test was just as simple. I showed up on the day at 4.25 and was in my car doing the test at 4.30 which was nice. I had to drive for about ten minutes on empty roads - no manouevres or anything vaguely difficult to do. Actually scratch that, I had to pull into a driveway and reverse out. Compared to the British test it was a complete joke.

Financing cars: Maybe it was just my dad but I was under the impression that most people in the UK paid cash for their cars? My mum and dad both earned good wages and never bought a new car - whereas I might have two new cars in 6 months on 5 year payment plans. Seems crazy to do it, but with used cars being so expensive and new cars so cheap it really doesn't make sense not to.

Roads: two lanes each side the whole way through town in a grid system - it gets kind of easy and boring, but I've never sat in traffic even in rush hour. I miss cycling to work though - there's no way I'd trust cycling round here with the way SUV drivers treat cyclists.

Petrol: 60p a litre and the yanks are up in arms about "gas prices" :D

Feel free to respond to anything I've put there - just my mad ramblings for the morning.
 
if you read the US BMW forums, it appears everybody leases a new BMW.

Whats more, if you change your mind you just swap the lease over to somebody else and they can take it over !

I think low supply is the reason that 2nd hand cars are more expensive over there. The UK has dated plates, which leads to a "must have a 11 plate" mentality and people part exchanging their old cars to buy new ones a lot.

in the US, the plates aren't dated, and they always add a year to the "model year" so you don't feel so bad saying you have a 2010 Model year car in 2012, when in actual fact its 3 years old ;) So people feel less inclined to part exchange against a new model. Couple that with everybody leasing and the ability to swap leases, it all leads to low amounts of second hand stock.
 
MrLOL said:
if you read the US BMW forums, it appears everybody leases a new BMW.

Whats more, if you change your mind you just swap the lease over to somebody else and they can take it over !

I think low supply is the reason that 2nd hand cars are more expensive over there. The UK has dated plates, which leads to a "must have a 11 plate" mentality and people part exchanging their old cars to buy new ones a lot.

in the US, the plates aren't dated, and they always add a year to the "model year" so you don't feel so bad saying you have a 2010 Model year car in 2012, when in actual fact its 3 years old ;) So people feel less inclined to part exchange against a new model. Couple that with everybody leasing and the ability to swap leases, it all leads to low amounts of second hand stock.
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You could be right - I guess insurance premiums might play a role too. A lot of young people buy cheap used cars, and the amount they can afford to pay in the UK is pretty low as they know they will need to find £1500 a year for insurance. Maybe it also means it's hard to shift used cars over 2.0ltr in the UK and the lack of demand brings prices down.
 
thats true also.

the UK has become obsessed about MPGs and Road Tax.

As a result diesel is king and trying to sell a petrol car with a big powerful engine is going to be hard, which in turn pushes the values down.
 
Leasing over there can be pretty cheap compared to over here, a Charger RT was advertised as $369 a month with a lot of more mundane stuff half that price.
 
I was accused of speeding on my driving test (I wasn't), the printout to show I'd passed at the end of the 20 minutes driving around the block even had the speeding on it.

Most people will do a lease on the car, rather than a purchase.

Cars are cheaper, but they're lower specification and finish compared to European models.
 
6thElement said:
I was accused of speeding on my driving test (I wasn't), the printout to show I'd passed at the end of the 20 minutes driving around the block even had the speeding on it.

Most people will do a lease on the car, rather than a purchase.

Cars are cheaper, but they're lower specification and finish compared to European models.
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maybe, but you can get a brand new mustang for $22,000 which is less than £14k. that's entry level Focus money. :(
(a v6 true, but at 305 bhp it's nothing to be sniffed at)
 
Ev0 said:
Leasing over there can be pretty cheap compared to over here, a Charger RT was advertised as $369 a month with a lot of more mundane stuff half that price.
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200ish a month for a Charger RT! You would struggle to get a Clio on lease over here for that!
 
sammo62 said:
Firstly, why are new cars in the US so cheap, and at the same time why are used cars in the US so expensive?
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I am doing a PhD in environmental manufacturing (factory design to be exact). I was recently in Detroit visiting General Motors.

Now, the US has cheap everything, because energy and fuel is so cheap. We rape the environment just like the rest of the world, but the Americans take it to a whole new level. They don't have as many environmental regulations as us, the government subsidise electricity and they haven't the ELV directive. The ELV directive says that cars sold since 2006 have to be so many percent recyclable and they the manufacturer is responsible for that waste, but this is a European directive. With all of these things in Europe, the customer pays, because every manufacturer (like any business) must have a profit or they will go bust. The ELV directive literally says that a when a 2007 Focus comes to the end of it's life, Ford must deal with the waste, as this forces them to design cars with minimal materials, minimal hazardous materials (and easy removal of these), easy recyclability etc.

Used cars are so expensive because in the UK we literally sit there playing with ourselves over the thoughts of high mpg, low CO2 and the latest numberplate. We are obsessed all of these and as such our cars lose value quickly, which to be honest is a good job since the price of running a car is extortionate.

I posted this without reading the rest of the thread, but it seems others have made similar comments.

EDIT: In the future, leasing will be the way forward. This stops the manufacturer not caring about the car once the warranty has expires (although the ELV directive has somewhat changed this, but the manuacturers still want you to buy a new one every year!). Leasing makes the manufacturer's interests lie in the cars lasting for as long as possible. The 'car scrappage scheme' here was a load of rubbish - it is always better to keep a 'dirty' car on the road than scrap it and to build a new one!
 
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Tailgating is a really annoying issue while driving here, particularly around town - insurance scammers (the type who slam their brakes on in front of you to claim whiplash) in the UK would love it. The other thing that really irks me is the sheer number of people who sit in the passing lane on a 2 lane highway going under the speed limit. I hate undertaking but sometimes it can't be avoided with a mile tail back behind some oblivious moron.

Cristian said:
maybe, but you can get a brand new mustang for $22,000 which is less than £14k. that's entry level Focus money. :(
(a v6 true, but at 305 bhp it's nothing to be sniffed at)
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I'm looking at buying a new entry level focus for around £10k. Even the expensive one with all the trimmings barely touches £16k.

OpenToSuggestions said:
I am doing a PhD in environmental manufacturing (factory design to be exact). I was recently in Detroit visiting General Motors.

Now, the US has cheap everything, because energy and fuel is so cheap. We rape the environment just like the rest of the world, but the Americans take it to a whole new level. They don't have as many environmental regulations as us, the government subsidise electricity and they haven't the ELV directive. The ELV directive says that cars sold since 2006 have to be so many percent recyclable and they the manufacturer is responsible for that waste, but this is a European directive. With all of these things in Europe, the customer pays, because every manufacturer (like any business) must have a profit or they will go bust. The ELV directive literally says that a when a 2007 Focus comes to the end of it's life, Ford must deal with the waste, as this forces them to design cars with minimal materials, minimal hazardous materials (and easy removal of these), easy recyclability etc.

Used cars are so expensive because in the UK we literally sit there playing with ourselves over the thoughts of high mpg, low CO2 and the latest numberplate. We are obsessed all of these and as such our cars lose value quickly, which to be honest is a good job since the price of running a car is extortionate.

I posted this without reading the rest of the thread, but it seems others have made similar comments.

EDIT: In the future, leasing will be the way forward. This stops the manufacturer not caring about the car once the warranty has expires (although the ELV directive has somewhat changed this, but the manuacturers still want you to buy a new one every year!). Leasing makes the manufacturer's interests lie in the cars lasting for as long as possible. The 'car scrappage scheme' here was a load of rubbish - it is always better to keep a 'dirty' car on the road than scrap it and to build a new one!
Click to expand...

Interesting stuff! Thanks for the reply.
 
Agree with all points, I've been driving in the US almost 2 years now (although I'm currently back in the UK for a couple of weeks - awww look at all the cute little baby cars everywhere! :p )

Automatics suit the US driving experience down to the ground, stop start, stop start, stop start...cruise control......stop start etc. I wouldn't worry about forgetting how to drive a manual, it's like falling off a bike :D Seriously though if you've driven a manual for a while you'll never forget how to drive one. :)

Yes re: driving test I recall the most complicated maneuver I was asked to do was 'reverse in a straight line' :eek:

Yes agree (I think my thread mentions this) on how there is basically a market of absolute bashed-in dogs of cars for say, $2k, then a jump to around $5k minimum for a 'decent' car of any description.

And finally - just accept that having 2 trucks side-by-side for 10 miles as they are both on cruise control at 45 mph is 'just the way it is' - you will eventually realise that for any given route at any given time it is either:

a) A rare occurrence - just blast by and undertake
b) A common occurrence - stick it on cruise control, kick back and relax - there's no point blasting by only to get stuck behind another retard 2 minutes later which means that you will take around 5 minutes later than normal to get where you're going but with much lower stress levels :p
 
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cm1179 said:
did you turn right on a red light when you came back to the UK?
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This was one of the very few things I liked about driving in the USA. That and playing fast and furious weaving in and out of traffic on the highway following a faster car, all perfectly legally, apart from the breaking the speed limit thing... only to them come up to 4 cars, doing 40 in a 60, parallel to each other.
 
One of those moments you wish you had bumper-mounted rocket launchers to blow up the retards ahead and blast through the flaming wreckage :p
 
Zbornak said:
What's their rule about turning right at red light or something like that? I've heard about it but I don't know the details.
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Some intersections will allow you to turn right on a red light. This is because you are able to see any traffic oncoming from the left or ahead, so if it is clear you can turn.
It is a general rule for most junctions, and it will be indicated by signs when you cannot turn on right.

Pretty simple.
 
hurfdurf said:
Unless it says otherwise, you can turn red on right.
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Long day?

bsoltan said:
Some intersections will allow you to turn right on a red light. This is because you are able to see any traffic oncoming from the left or ahead, so if it is clear you can turn.
It is a general rule for most junctions, and it will be indicated by signs when you cannot turn on right.

Pretty simple.
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Well if it's safe and calms a bit of traffic, so be it.
 
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