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Senate Committee to Challenge Auto-Safety Mandates That Hurt ‘Affordability’ | Republicans question value of automatic braking, rear-seat reminders (www.wsj.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
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The safety features are worth millions of crashes prevented and thousands of lives saved, making them remarkably cost-effective.

Capping the luxury features and size of passenger vehicles would do a lot more to bring down costs than removing safety features.

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[–] 4 points 11 months ago* (5 children)

Compact cars are all in the low $20,000 range, so I don't know what affordability problem they're talking about for vehicles. Oh, that's right, many Americans have an insatiable desire for mobile fortresses that cost $100,000. Well, I'm sure not having ABS or rear cameras on those will turn out well for everyone else and shave off $500.

And I've never been inconvenienced by an alert that I had stuff in the back seat after a trip to the grocery store. It keeps forgetful parents from leaving their kids in hot cars, especially in the aforementioned parking lot tanks.

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  • [–] 8 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    I basic light truck ran $19k in 19. A sedan, $14k.

    Wages haven’t gone up.

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  • [+] -9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 child)

    Wage increases have outpaced inflation every year since 2020 (first year I checked) except 2022. MSRP has not changed significantly for compact cars, adjusted for inflation. MSRP has actually dropped for all vehicles in the last year (at least). This means that compact cars have actually become cheaper, at least by a small amount.

    The people complaining about affordability aren't buying these cars.

    Edit: I guess it's easier to down vote than researching it yourself. None of this implies affordability isn't a broader problem.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago

    The same basic, 2x4, light trucks, no frills, Nissan Frontier and Chevy Colorado have increased from $19k to $29k, last check, between 2019 and 2024. 4 cylinder, “truck shaped sedan” models, in terms of capacity and the ability to fit in any parking space.

    That’s quite a reduction in MSRP.

    Wage increases are not there. You typing it feels like a Mike Johnson sound byte. Jobs that paid $20-$24 in 2019 still pay $20-24 in 2025. Federal minimum wage remains at $7.25/hr, or $1160 a month for 40h/wk.

    I’ll grant you, healthcare saw a jump, but with Covid, had it not, more of the work force would have switched careers. Most of those hourly personnel had not seen much in the way of pay increases since pre-2008, until Covid.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Buddy my whole car was $500 and I have an insatiable desire to keep it that way. Less components not more across the board please. I don't know what kind of bougie-ass bubble you're living in where a cheap car is $20k, but I sure hope it pops while we've still got a planet

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

    I'm talking about new compact car prices, not used car prices, because the article is talking about attempting to bring down new car prices by removing safety features.

    Car prices have always been around that much, adjusted for inflation.

    Popular car prices over time

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