Three Options at $90,000
Luke and I started car shopping online at work this week. Just browsing, nobody's been to a dealership yet. He read me his wish list:
- $90,000 or less
- Trailer and tow package
- Captain's chairs
- The 5.3L V8
- Three rows
Nothing crazy on it. He's got toys to tow up north, kids to drive to football practice, and he wants something a little nicer than what he's driving now. Luke does not have seven kids. This is a pretty normal family car purchase.
Somehow, in this day and age, there are three options. Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon.
And the engine isn't him being greedy. He specifically didn't want the 6.2L. He turned down the bigger motor and still ended up with three trucks, all from the same company.
Here's how the field shrinks. The V8 knocks out most of it on its own. Toyota's Sequoia is a hybrid twin-turbo V6 now, and it's a bit too small where it counts: the battery sits under the cargo floor and the third row doesn't fold flat. Nissan's Armada and Jeep's Grand Wagoneer went turbo six too.
The Expedition and the Navigator are the interesting ones, because they fit the bill for towing. The Navigator is rated to pull 8,700 pounds, more than the Tahoe on paper, and the Expedition sits comfortably inside his budget. But style wise, Luke is looking for something different. They're more of a soccer mom car than a Luke car. That's just his personality. I do think the Expedition checks most of the boxes, but you gotta love the car you're gonna buy.
Then there's the Escalade, which quickly jumps out of the price range. It starts at $93,995. Four grand over, one tab away.
Here's the thing. The interior on all three of the finalists is basically the same. Leather inside, nice big screens, entertainment in the back seats. They're the same truck underneath, too. So is it three options, or one option in three outfits? (At least they all still have CarPlay.)
Growing up as a kid, $90,000 could get you almost any car you wanted, and then some. So I ran the numbers, and this is where it got interesting. $90,000 today is about $46,000 in 2000 money. In 2000, a Cadillac Escalade cost $46,225. Today's starts at $93,995. After inflation, the top of the market barely moved.
The plain Tahoe is what ran away. It was $25,629 in 2000, which is about $49,900 today. The sticker on a new one starts at $63,495. The fancy truck held its price. The regular one is the one that got expensive.
So maybe the feeling is right and the target is wrong. $90,000 still buys roughly what it used to at the top. It's the middle that's gone.
Look at it from the bottom. If you're a single guy buying a new car, you can spend about $30,000 and have a few cheaper options and a lot more expensive ones. Edmunds counts 21 new cars that start at or under that number. The average new car sold for $50,089 in August, according to Kelley Blue Book. A family of four now spends somewhere around $90,000 on the family car.
There are in-between options. The Explorer, the Traverse, the Telluride, the Enclave all run from about $40,000 to the low $60,000s. But families looking for three rows want more space, bigger back seats, more cargo. And those tow about 5,000 pounds, which is not getting the toys up north. That in-between spot keeps creeping up too.
It's the same argument I keep making from the other end. The Slate at $24,950. The Fathom at about $30,000. A reader's 1993 Ranger at $10,500. Everything is getting more expensive. It blows my mind not to have everything you could want in a car for $90,000.
Luke hasn't signed anything yet. My prediction is the Yukon AT4. It starts at $79,395 with the 5.3L standard, which leaves him room under the line for options. It combines the looks with his needs. He's seen them around and he likes the style of the AT4. I'll let you know if I'm right.
Windows down.
What's on your family car wish list, and how many trucks made the cut? Write me: jp@bauerdrive.com