A friend and I are having a discussion about Camaros and pony cars and why they cost so damn much. They were supposed to be affordable V-8 cars. Which led us to a thought exercise.
What is the cheapest 2015/2016 vehicle you can buy with a V-8? All other options are open but it must be v-8 powered passenger vehicle from a major manufacturer. What can you come up with?
It has to be a truck. I'm going to say either Ram or F-150.
Both base Ram 1500 and F-150 are within $100 of each other, but the F-150 is cheaper, so it wins.
Hold on, if I select the old 6 speed for the Ram, it's price falls to $25,665.
I didn't know you could buy a truck so cheap. Is that a 2wd fleet model?
In reply to D2W:
Absolute base. No 4wd, no painted grille, no power windows, no nothing.
Yea those are fleet models. Rubber floors, 2wd, no fancy options. Actually just what a truck should be. Not the new luxury standard.
And are we going off of MSRP or sale value locally? Found a fleet Silvyado for $21900 with a V8 and a Titan S for $23900
Cant a tundra base V8 be had for under $25k?
I think OP was saying cars though.....
DirtyBird222 wrote: Yea those are fleet models. Rubber floors, 2wd, no fancy options. Actually just what a truck should be. Not the new luxury standard.
Trucks aren't for working. Trucks are for driving because Real Muricans drive trucks.
Ok well I've kind of been in the market for a used truck (Tundra, V6 Taco, etc) Brand new Titan is falling in that category. Any reasons to stay away other than their huge depreciation curve?
JtspellS wrote: Cant a tundra base V8 be had for under $25k? I think OP was saying cars though.....
According to Toyota dot com, the base models start around $28k. Local search is showing almost $30 for the cheapest.
In reply to DirtyBird222:
Other than the fact that they're the least reliable truck on the market? None whatsoever.
G_Body_Man wrote: In reply to DirtyBird222: Other than the fact that they're the least reliable truck on the market? None whatsoever.
Note taken. New to trucks. Don't really give two s hits about them; but, I need a tow vehicle for my chumpcar and wanting something that can also be a family hauler. Toyotas seem to be the most reliable non-state owned truck brand.
On topic - found a Challenger R/T for $29k.
Wish we could get stipper model cheap v8 cars like "back in the day".. I know you could get a new z28, chevelle ss, or corvette for 3k in 69 which is 19k in todays dollar. What happened?
In reply to DirtyBird222:
I guy at work had one. He had to replace almost everything. He had a defroster vent door fail and the repair ended up in the area of $1200 with everything that had to come out and be replaced along the way. The dealer split the cost of it since he had already dropped a small fortune on a number of things including a rear axle. Once everything was working he ran out and traded it in on a F150 and couldn't be happier.
Wally wrote: In reply to DirtyBird222: I guy at work had one. He had to replace almost everything. He had a defroster vent door fail and the repair ended up in the area of $1200 with everything that had to come out and be replaced along the way. The dealer split the cost of it since he had already dropped a small fortune on a number of things including a rear axle. Once everything was working he ran out and traded it in on a F150 and couldn't be happier.
Yeppers they're horrible trucks.
Rear diffs are super undersized. It's a D44... Same as Jeep Wranglers but many one off application specific parts.
Last I looked, I thought a base+v8 challenger was the cheapest of the 3. I have a hard time thinking of what even has an available v8 anymore.
chiodos wrote: Wish we could get stipper model cheap v8 cars like "back in the day".. I know you could get a new z28, chevelle ss, or corvette for 3k in 69 which is 19k in todays dollar. What happened?
It's more profitable for companies to produce V6 SUVs, plus inflation and profits. Also, turbos happened.
In reply to Datsun1500:
Okay scratch the vette but the other I actually looked up to be certain. That said you cant get a new vette for 30k! What are they almost twice that?
It's cheaper to mass-produce all cars with all of the features than to offer people options. Offering a strippo car model wouldn't be significantly cheaper.
You can get strippo trucks because they sell fleet trucks in the hundreds of thousands, so they do get that economy of scale.
You know who does still offer cars a la carte and you build to taste? Porsche. Porsche doesn't have economy of scale at any level. You can also quite easily option up a Porsche to double its base price.
Datsun1500 wrote: Base price on a 69 Corvette was $4781. That's $31k in today's money. Right at Mustang V8 pricing now.
Who in their right mind would choose a Mustang over a Corvette for the same money!? 
In reply to Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock:
Thats what im sayin!
chiodos wrote: Wish we could get stipper model cheap v8 cars like "back in the day".. I know you could get a new z28, chevelle ss, or corvette for 3k in 69 which is 19k in todays dollar. What happened?
Air bags, ABS, AC, crumple zones, padding, bigger tires/wheels/brakes. The list goes on and on of things a modern car has that it's earlier counterparts just didn't have. And when you realize that there is no way to order the modern one without a TPMS you'll see that even "stripped down" modern rides aren't nearly as basic as once up a time.
In reply to KyAllroad:
That is because TPMS have been required by law for many years now. Around 2008 if memory serves.
You'll need to log in to post.
