Appliances are getting just as bad. I wanted to replace my '82 Frigidaire side-by-side with a new stainless steel model, but to find a new fridge without ice/water dispenser and all the other useless crap that will fit in the same spot where this one is is impossible! I hope the '82 holds out for another 20 years at least!

Would be great to get a vehicle without all the “frills and requirements. ... would lower the car cost substantially. Things I do NOT need in an auto or truck is: electric windows, computerized info center, screen displays, automatic lights, climate controlled ( simple heater and or a/c will suffice), power locks on doors, automatic sensors for stability control, excessive emission controls, heated seats and mirrors, eardrum shattering sound systems, fancy colors schemes, plastic bumpers that protect nothing, automatic changing rear view mirror, digital instrument panel, and of course vehicle gps monitoring systems and on star... With all the crap that is on the vehicles today, no wonder the cost of a vehicle has increased faster than inflation. I, too, want simplicity, not extravagances.

I got a 1968 Plymouth Sattelite Sports Coupe with a 383 engine for my birthday *present from my husband". It was loaded and cost a whopping $2900! brand new.

As a truck guy I can relate to this. I've always driven a truck of one sort or another. My last purchase was a 2013 Tundra which is still in like-new condition. I've decided I'm going to keep it the rest of my life and just rebuilt the drivetrain as needed. Why? Because this truck cost too much to replace anymore in America. My first truck was a small Toyota that cost about $6k. My current truck would run about 10X that now.

Part of the problem is the American paradigm of taking on debt for what you drive. That has driven the cost way up as math-stupid American's are willing to buy whatever they can afford the monthly payment for.

...another reason I kept my 07 ford ranger, the only thing it has is intermittent windshield wipers, which I like...everything else is bone simple but does have electronic fuel injection...still looking for an 86 ranger, standard shift, 4cyl like my first one.

If we could have seen forward back then we wouldn't have believed it.

My son cost $7 (Army hospital). My first child cost $250 for the doctor and $200 for the hospiital. My grandson just spent $10K for my great child's birth. Takes your breath away.

Does that answer the question? My Ford Explorer cost well over $30,000 in 2014. My first house I bought new cost $21,000 in 1971. Don't we love inflation?