>We purchased a Subaru Outback right around the first round of tarrifs. We were in the market for the base trim, no bells & whistles. We ended up getting the highest trim bc all the remaining base trims were post-tarrifs and and cost $3.5k more than the pre-tarrif higher trim that was already in the lot.

The average car on the road is ~15 years old. The actual lifetime is likely higher. Therefore for proper tariff accounting, your subaru's contribution to this year's tariffs should be 3500/15 = $233, not $3.5k. Not to mention much of the items people buy are either:

1. domestically produced (this includes housing, the biggest cost for most people)

2. tariff exempt (think oil)

3. produced abroad, but have fat markups

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sagarm 14 hours ago | parent [-]

Where are you getting this 15 year old average? That seems highly unlikely to be accurate.

	▲	QuantumNoodle 10 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Gruez was spot on, our last car was 15 years old. Though I don't know if his stat considered resold cars. We wouldve kept it too but the work it needed was $8k. Parts were available and already imported, just that mechanics in the area had all raised their labor rate. I support liveable wages but that points to tarrifs having higher order effects than just the goods that they apply to.
	▲	gruez 13 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2025/05/28/average-passen...