It's All About the Ride
Even though we’re getting older, we would like to assume we’re still hip and minivans just aren’t hip. So the majority of people with young kids these days now drive SUVs. Those SUVs are only getting bigger, as evidenced by the gargantuan new Wagoneer.
Capital Thinking Issue #951 · View online
This past Saturday had an awesome slate of college football games.It was nice enough outside we could even put a TV on the screened-in porch and have the games on in the background while the kids played in the backyard.
That’s a perfect fall day if you ask me.-
Why Millennial Parents Won’t Drive a Minivan
Ben Carlson| A Wealth of Common Sense:
After 8-10 hours of games, you begin to notice the same commercials over and over again.Scoop there it is has seen an incredibly long run. It’s a song that has been stuck in my head since 1993 coming back to the surface.There was also a newer commercial that played on a loop throughout the afternoon for the new Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
This thing is massive.
And I just know I’m going to start seeing these things at my kids’ soccer games in the future. It’s inevitable.
We were in the market for a new SUV for my wife recently so I’ve been paying more attention to people’s vehicles of late.I’ve noticed something about my fellow millennial parents — there are very few minivans anymore.
Even though we’re getting older, we would like to assume we’re still hip and minivans just aren’t hip. So the majority of people with young kids these days now drive SUVs. Those SUVs are only getting bigger, as evidenced by the gargantuan new Wagoneer.
I get why this is the case. Kids these days require a lot of stuff. I don’t recall having this much stuff when I was a kid but times change.
We actually had a minivan for a few years when my twins were younger but opted to trade up to an SUV for a little more breathing room. So I’m talking my own book here.
My only worry is these SUVs are going to make it harder for parents to save for themselves or even their children’s college funds.
After my 17th viewing of the Grand Wagoneer commercial, I decided to give it a price check. I almost spit out my Blue Moon from the sticker shock:
I guess if you’re going for a luxury SUV you charge a luxury price.
Running the numbers on a vehicle that costs almost $90,000 works out to a payment just shy of $1,600 a month (assuming a 5 year loan at a 3% interest rate with no money down).
I’m not a huge car guy but that seems a tad steep for anyone not in the 1%.
Let’s put that monthly payment into context to show just how large it is.
Ben Carlson