Car salesman Bob Kain recalls the first time he saw a luxury car with a $25,000 sticker price at his family dealership. It was 1989, and the car was a Ford Crown Victoria.
“I remember thinking, ‘My goodness gracious, this is going to be really hard to sell,’” he said.
Today, the cheapest car for sale at Kain Ford, a dealership just outside Lexington, Kentucky, is a small SUV —the Bronco Sport — which has a $36,000 to $40,000 sticker price. The average sticker price on his lot is $54,000.
Ford no longer makes sedans like the Crown Victoria, with the Mustang muscle car being the closest thing to a sedan still in its lineup. If it were still available, the Crown Victoria from 1989, adjusted for inflation, would be priced above $65,000. But that wouldn’t be the most expensive vehicle on Kain’s lot. It has Expedition SUVs and Super Duty pickups with sticker prices above $80,000.
“It’s amazing how people adapt to changing prices,” he said.
