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The Marketplace Inflation Calculator

Why you’d pay more for a car with hand-crank windows

David Brancaccio Sep 19, 2014
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The Marketplace Inflation Calculator

Why you’d pay more for a car with hand-crank windows

David Brancaccio Sep 19, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY

As Marketplace celebrates its 25th birthday this year, we are looking at the weird, delightful and destructive ways that prices have changed during that quarter century.

But first, let’s take a ride…back to 1989.

Back then, the cheapest Accord sedan had just 98-horsepower, hand-crank windows, no AC, and retailed for $11,770.

A commercial for the popular automobile posits that maybe one day, someone will build a better car than the Accord…maybe.

 

 

Since then, improvements have been made, and the Honda Accord is currently the best-selling car in America.

But how has the price changed? And when you adjust for inflation, is it more or less expensive than back in 1989?

We checked in with Joe Ciaccia, general manager of Honda Manhattan, to see how much the car will set you back with today’s prices. And as for how it compares to its 25 year old counterpart, the answer might surprise you.

Click the media player above to hear more on the surprising effect inflation has had on the Honda Accord.

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