Americans Are Spending More Money to Drive Worse Cars

Commenters argued about why Americans are paying more for cars that many feel are worse. Sien and prmoustache pointed to Chinese brands sweeping markets like Australia, while otterley and john01dav blamed tariffs and regulatory barriers for keeping similar low-cost options out of the U.S. Jarjoura complained about app-first EVs and longed for tactile buttons and local instrument clusters, while tzs countered that affordable button-rich EVs (e.g., Hyundai Kona/Kia models) have existed in the U.S. FC417FC802 raised privacy and safety concerns about manufacturer-connected modems, and anovikov argued demographics matter: older buyers who prefer ICE cars and higher-income Californians make EV prices less of a barrier.

The debate widened into whether capitalism causes falling product quality. Blltprfmnk and others said industrialization made goods cheaper but lower quality, with modern furniture and electronics being disposable; strictnein and NackerHughes echoed that many devices are worse than a decade ago. Panzer04 and kurthr pushed back, saying authoritarian or captured markets - not free markets per se - produce poor outcomes, and kurthr described current U.S. markets as crony capitalism. WalterBright suggested a market opportunity for better, cheaper products, while fc417fc802 emphasized stark wealth stratification limits how many consumers can simply pay more for higher quality.