- Would you like to buy a
PS5 that retails at $500? No, you can't actually do that right now. That's gonna actually be $900 and some sort of hype
shoes to go along with it. I'm not sure why, but
that's just how it is. How about mirror regulator for your BMW that normally costs $54.99? Not today. That's gonna be a
five-month wait and $179.99. And it's like sick, but it's not. And it's a bummer, okay? It's kind of like when
the Mitsubishi Eclipse crossover thing was unveiled, and everybody was like, "Ahh!" And I will not stop the
slander. It's terrible. Okay, I'm Alex, @alex.fi Instagram, and today we're talking about
another itsy-bitsy category that's going through that a bit, like a little bit of the
issue of supply and demand. And if that's the reason that
teenagers, the young bucks, the TikTokers, the
astrology-loving 16-year-olds, just cannot seem to find, for
the absolute life of them, any sort of decent cars
for a decent price anymore. We're gonna be talking
about what happened, and why you can't actually
buy cheap cars anymore. (upbeat electronic music) And drop a comment on what
you'd like to see us cover in the newest series of "What Happened" in the comment section below. Because while I could use the idea, and I don't know what to do with my hands, but I'm stretching. Oh! Need more big-boy-brain ideas. And if you're looking
for aftermarket wheels, tires, suspension, be sure to check us out over at fitmentindustries.com. And we have quick delivery on our own wheel and tire packages that we have in stock with free shipping. So you don't have to wait
six months for wheels. You can get them in as
little as seven days. Specifically Artisa ArtForm
Wheels, our brand new wheel line that is our stuff that we made for you. And yeah, it's a plug, but
what do you want me to say? What do you actually
want me to talk about? A link for Squarespace code? You want me to talk about Clash of Clans? You want me to talk about, ugh. You want me to talk about that? Yeah, that's what I thought. - [Male Narrator] No need
to squeeze wheel boxes and loose tires in your
car just to drive around and spend even more money for them to get mounted and balanced. Hey, make sure to check out
our wheel and tire packages. And not only that, you can save on the mounting and balancing. Not only that, but we
got free shipping, too! Get to work, what are you
doing, get out of here! Come on now! - [Alex] Cheap cars have
been the founding stage for nearly every new enthusiast that gets their license, okay? It's one of the first things you could ever possibly
do at 16 years old. And my first car was
1989 Mercedes-Benz 300E that was baby blue with
some big old wheels on it and I got it for $3,000. But my first enthusiast vehicle was a 1994 Mitsubishi 3000 GT SL with 80,000 miles, manual for 3,200 bucks. And that's not so bad, baby. And even a few years ago, there's quite a few vehicles
I used to be able to pick up for a couple, two, three,
maybe thousand dollars. And then now they're
going for, like 10, okay? And I'm not kidding. I
could get a Mazda Miata. And I bought one for $600, S 2000 for 10k. I've bought B5's for $4,000. Ask Sean, what he got is E55 AMG for, and it was lovely or it was, and now you can get two steering
wheels, a box of Altoids, and a rusted shell of a 300
ZX, non turbo, automatic for like $10,000 and that'll
actually sell in a day. Why, why can nobody
find cool cars anymore? Now it's easy to think
back to the old 2020 thing that's going on, but it actually started a few years before that. And I would argue that
a lot of this started happening right around 2015. See every decade or so, there's a new, interesting platform that
seems to take on the industry. There are these cars,
these groups, people, or lifestyles that people
become infatuated with and ultimately drive up prices. Here's an example, the air cooled bubble of the late 2000s and
early 2010s is what caused air-cooled 911's to now be more like worth more than a hundred
thousand dollars when you used to be able to snag one of these
things for like 16 to $20,000. A lot of that had to
do with just the drive of wanting a classic air-cooled motor. Diesel trucks went through
this in the early 2000s. And it's the reason that
you can still sell one with 300,000 miles for $35,000. I know the motor is good bro, but like you're missing a fender and it doesn't have a tailgate. You can't sell it for 35,000. I know what I got. Yeah like I don't want to deal
with those sorts of people, but those sort of people exist. There's another relatively
popular category of cars. That's now getting that amount
of attention and is like the Japanese sports cars specifically, JDM. If you've got the extra cash, you want to buy something for
exclusive something with a steering wheel on the other
side of the car, okay. Because of driving interest
in the cars, like the NSX, the S 2000, the Honda SIS,
the Integris, the Supras, the 3000 GTS, the RX sevens, and more, This is initially lifted the
water for nearly all prices in the industry, even if the car is trashed. A few exceptions have been
the 350Zs for some reason, but they will likely go up too. They just have a massive volume
of cars still sitting in the market that haven't blown up yet, which means that they're
still relatively cheap. Lots of enthusiasts that
have an increased amount of disposable income and
collect cars have literally shifted to match the interest
in buying Japanese cars versus buying European cars. A few years ago, they'll buy
an air cooled 911 for $60,000, that looks really good
but is marginally better than any newer $25,000
Mustang because they like it. So what really stops them from
thinking that paying for a Type R for $60,000 from
the late 90s is really that out of place when you're
putting out, you know, 60 grand here, 70 grand there. Honda fans now scream at those prices. And even when you talk to some of the biggest imports in the
industry like Toprank, they see those same people
that were once buying Ferrari's now just buying Nissans. They're just shifting the focus. And when that sort of thing happens, it's gonna lift and raise the water prices for nearly all prices of that type of car. Yes, it's because of the rich bourgeoisie but that's not the only
thing there's something else. And it hurts a little bit
more than the rich taking your based model versions of their
cars and hiking the price up $4,000, because that also kind of sucks. Another reason is it's kind
of just a sh- time to be 16. Let me grab an old overhead projector. We're gonna put it like
here and wish the editor, the best of luck. Heres time on the X axis and
on the Y is the price of cars. Now in a typical sports car
where I had it when I was 16, the cars from the mid
90s and early 2000s were like realistically priced,
maybe a bit expensive, but it could be achieved as a second or third car with a loan. Go to a credit union, by the way. Okay, just, I'm getting
that out of the way. It's way better than a normal bank. Anyway, this graph would
go down in price over time. Maybe you'd have a little bubble, have a little pickup in a generation, but for the most part, it
was a nice steady curve downward until you got to a
point where you could buy one, cause you were, you know, in
college and you were cheap and you had to pay for FAFSA. Let me show the cars
your competing against, which is in like 2010. Now, 2010 out of the reception, the world's getting back to
normal and prices actually rebounded on products
in overarching love for everything SUV, CUV, and crossover. The cars that were available
were either $40,000 new or those same nineties cars grew up like you, you wanted to have that we grew up with, but now you're competing
against us actually buying those same cars as well and
we're older than you. And technically, usually
speaking people that are older, have a little bit more money. I mean the cars of today
aren't really being built for people like us outside
of like some BMW Porsche and some domestic stuff, okay. CVT looking ass transmissions are garbage. And what happened is,
is your graph went up and then stayed flat because you had this drive of demand
on cars that you want. But also that other people want, like the older people,
like the millennials and it just keeps going up
because of the water level. And now when you look at 2019 and 2020, it even inflated even further
because of how much money you had circulating into the market
because of everything that was going on last year and
everybody being stuck at home. Prices on cars that you really wanted never have come down yet. Unlike most historically
generations have been able to pick up cars because the prices
have come down over time. You could snag a Grand Am GT with Ram Air and pretty, Ram Air is pretty good, man. That's that's, it's. Ram Air, it's got the plastic
inserts in the engine bay. It comes through the front of
the Pontiac and its Ram Air. It's so good, you should
buy that one, that's cheap. But maybe not what you're looking for. And because Japanese cars
specifically used to be, literally used to be the
budget sports car to buy and still is, paired with the
romanticizing of the platform over the past three to five years because of things like TikTok, YouTube, and famous people buying them because they have interest in cars like the NSX, the demand only increased and the supply really didn't match it. The supply is dwindling
because the cars are older, the demand is increasing. So what do you think's gonna happen? So does that mean you're out of luck? I mean, after all, everything is expensive and we're living in a world
where cash value is made up and the points just don't matter anymore. And to be honest, the answer
would be yes, but you just got to enter in a couple of cheat
codes and you could easily find some cheap alternatives
that aren't as hyped up as like an S 2000 that you
found on the marketplace, that for some reason it's
$25,000 at 200,00 miles. That stuff, it just don't make no sense. Number one, if you're
looking for a cheap, fun car, stop looking at platforms
and start looking at what you enjoy with the car and shop by that thing. There's a slim chance that
you're gonna be able to snag a Toyota Supra, specifically in your first, second, or even third purchase. But there are plenty of
Lexus IS, LS, and GS models out there with similar
platforms, similar engine stuff, similar communities
that can make you happy versus the $80,000 Supra price, or even the $25,000 FC
price that's coming around. Look at what other platforms
have for like an engine or body cell or features that you love from the overpriced cars,
because the chances are that they're in another
platform are extremely high. Want a pop-up headlights, just go look at a
Corvette instead of an FC. I'm telling you, people are
sleeping on domestic cars. Now Miatas, not at Miatas prices anymore. You may have to start checking
out like a Toyota MR2. 300 ZX turbos costing more than
the down payment on a house. It sounds like you really still
need a Mitsubishi 3000 GT, because guess what, they're
gonna give you the same amount of problems and they're
just as difficult to work on regardless on which one you pick. Look elsewhere, there's a ton
of cool sh- that you could definitely pick up and have a blast with. And I'm so glad to see other
people taking off meta builds and doing something fun with them. Like the new balance
kid with the Corvette, and the big wheels, I
think it look f-ing sick. Maybe it won't get the same
attention as a minty fresh NSX, but those prices aren't
coming down any time soon. And if anything, maybe time
for you to start looking at some domestic options and
apply some Japanese style love to it because I'm pretty sure
that's gonna be the only way a lot of people are gonna
be able to go for a couple, two to three years. If you heard anything in this,
learn that Corvette steal. But what do you think? Can you find cheap cars
where you're at right now? If so, let me know what
it is and how much it was in the comment section below. I think the best deal I
recently found was a 92VR4 with 160,000 miles for 10 grand
and I will not pay that. Anyway, if you do end up picking up a car and need wheels, tires, or suspensions, be sure to check us out over
at fitmentindustries.com. I'm Alex from Fitment Industries. And if you haven't yet also
leave a comment on what you'd like us to talk about next in
the comment section below of our new series, "What
Happened", which is this one. I'm Alex from Fitment Industries. We will see you later, peace. I also picked up a 94VR4 one
time for a hundred grand or a 100,000 miles for $3,800
and all of it works. (upbeat music)
