Toyota Yaris costs €8,000 more in four years

The Yaris that cost €19,200 financed now costs €27,200

According to a price and financing comparison shared in the thread, microcars—the most basic tier of the catalog—no longer fall below €20,000. The hybrid starts at €21,000. Those who finance it with a €9,000 down payment, €150 monthly payments for four years, and a final balloon payment of €11,000 end up paying €27,200 for the same car that was financed for €19,200 in January 2020. An €8,000 difference in four years. That is significant.

Why a basic utility car already costs €20,000

The payment structure hasn't changed—down payment, installments, and final balloon—but the figures have: where it previously stated a €5,000 down payment and a €7,000 final balloon, it now states €9,000 and €11,000. The monthly payment remains fixed at €150, a detail that masks the impact: the extra cost is concentrated at the contract's extremes, so the customer doesn't perceive it until signing. Net €8,000 for an identical vehicle, brand, and segment.

Is it pure inflation? Partly. Monetary expansion explains part of the increase, but not all, according to the thread. The rest is attributed to the pricing discipline of a handful of manufacturers who stopped competing as they once did. The thermometer is in the used market: a mid-range model that cost €15,000 new nine years ago is now advertised for €13,800 second-hand, barely €1,200 less after almost a decade.

The car organización criminal and the cheap fine

The competition file on the automotive organización criminal provides ammunition. It is argued that the sanctions imposed on brands—almost all operating in Spain—were peanuts compared to the profits obtained, and that these procedures generate more appearance of punishment than real penalty. The comparison with banking is recurrent: a fraction of what was charged is returned, and price inertia persists.

There is also an uncomfortable reading regarding regulations. The adaptation costs for Euro 6 emission requirements, it is argued, were not absorbed by the manufacturer: they were passed on to the final price. The environmental label was paid for by the buyer.

From €14,000 to €28,000: the hit to freelancers

The basic van is another thermometer. In 2008 it cost €14,000; in 2024, €28,000. The combi van segment already approaches €30,000, and for those living off their tool—freelancers—the hit is direct. Leasing appears as an exit, although standard conditions—60,000 kilometers in three years—restrict those who drive long distances.

Added to this is the mechanical distrust expressed by several participants: oil-soaked timing belts, problematic AdBlue, and three-cylinder engines that do not convince those coming from four-cylinder blocks.

Used cars are no longer a refuge

Those who tried to escape to the second-hand market found another closed door. A 2007 diesel with B label and over 300,000 kilometers does not drop below €4,000. A common petrol compact from 2003 was bought for €1,800, a bargain price that today is celebrated as a find. Those who could stretch their budget went for a semi-new urban SUV—10,000 km, €16,500—or a zero-kilometer registered car one year old for €23,000. With one condition: four-cylinder petrol, C label, no electrification.

Fewer manufacturers and cars that look like appliances

The structural explanation points to concentration: after the 2010 crisis, mergers reduced the number of global manufacturers to fewer than ten, a scenario that, it is argued, pushes towards organización criminal dynamics and harms consumers. It is the same pattern as banking, energy companies, insurance, or gas stations.

And then there is the product. The underlying complaint is not just the price: it is what you buy for that price. Smaller engines with systems that reduce manufacturing costs but increase maintenance. One owner summarizes his case: 120,000 km in 18 years, 7,000 annually, garage and exhaustive maintenance; his 2005 car runs like new. What is offered today for €10,000 more has three cylinders and an oil-soaked belt. I don't see it.

There is an open front: the arrival of manufacturers with aggressive prices. The thread awaits the clean price, without financing, of a model from an emerging brand which, if confirmed, would hurt brands with exorbitant prices.

What might happen with prices

Relief, if it arrives, points to the second-hand market. This season, vehicles that rental companies disposed of in 2020 and rebought en masse in 2022 and 2023 will start entering the used circuit. If that flow materializes, used prices would drop before new ones. If it doesn't arrive—or arrives slowly—the alternative for half of Spain will be to squeeze the old car until it breaks, repair instead of replace, and wait sitting down for something to drop that doesn't.