(Yes, I know I'm using the same ad as a few days ago, but who watches them anyway? I have a few more points to make.)
The fully-equipped Toyota Capstone (shown being used to pick up coffee in this ad) has an out-the-door price of $83,000. That's not a misprint- the price starts with an EIGHT.
At 4.9% financing (available only to customers with credit scores in the top 10%) and no money down, this translates into payments of $1193 spread out over Seventy-Two Months.) The AVERAGE new car of ANY model carries a note of $775 per month for an average of SIXTY months. Buying this truck isn't a Declaration of Independence; it's the taking of a new mortgage.
I also love that this ad shows a young black woman buying the truck. The average black family in the United States has an annual income of $56,000 compared to just over $80,000 for the average white family. This truck is not a feasible purchase for white people; it's downright insulting to show a twenty-something black girl buying one. (BTW, how many twentysomething black girls in the United States do you think qualify for 4.9% financing? How many who AREN'T celebrities?)
I bet people who buy these things are sold on the fact that they are, after all, Toyotas and not Kias or Hyundais or (g-d forbid) Jeeps or Fords and therefore at least will provide reliable transportation and keep more of their value over the seven years they are going to be chained at the hip to them. But still- signing away money that could be building equity in a retirement fund for a depreciating asset that wasn't worth anything close to the price tag when BRAND NEW is shocking-stupid and definitely something I would expect an inexperienced, silly young person to do with a huge smile on her face while a salesperson (who absolutely has something to celebrate) shoots off confetti.
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