Except that's not true
My experience with AC was pre-tariff. Had to replace AC units on either side of Covid and the difference in cost pre-covid to post-covid was unbelievable.
Yeah, because we all know tariffs will fix it*
I get it, but the cost of a part is way cheaper than the price of a new automobile. I have been slowly rebuilding my 2005 pickup over the last 2 years, I'm ~$4500 in with a few minor things left to do. It'll be essentially a new truck for under $7k. Plus, it'll be better than any new truck on the market today.
Unless you eat beef.
The government changed the rules on what type of AC units can be installed and the coolant they use. So if you have an older unit and it’s to the point you need parts replaced on it, there are none and you have to get a whole new set up which cost stupid money. What’s even worse is the coolant they changed to is basically the same but with a different lubricant to be more “environmentally friendly”. The whole thing is a huge racket.
Try getting parts for farm equipment.
They’ve done a similar thing with water heaters, except they did it awhile ago. Greatly reduced capacity of the tanks that you can buy unless you get a commercial version. I have a 20 year old unit that will be pryed from my cold dead fingers.
If you want to piss him off, get a quote on what he'd charge to install a new HVAC system you bought from him that matches your existing unit. Be sure to ask how many guys and how many days it will take to install. Usually 1 & 1.
Yeah I don’t hire anyone that markets. You send me a shiny flyer and you are crossed off the list.
I got mine for at cost plus labor when it went out. I’m not going to be a díck and haggle with him more than that.
I had to replace my 75 gallon water heater in my restaurant with a tankless because of the new code. So instead of $1200 it was $7200.
C'mon man. Less people are falling through their floors and water heaters aren't exploding, so it's totally worth it...
In my case it was same to same. Old unit replace in 2017, 2019 and 2021…
2021 was roughly double for the same tonnage
They’re still going up, just not at the rate they were a couple of years ago. YoY grocery inflation has been around 3 percent the last 4 months.
Our cattle inventory is down and that's affecting beef prices. In a time like this we usually ease the supply shortage by importing more beef but I read that because of tariffs we shouldn't expect any price relief for at least another year OR MORE.
Imported beef is hard to come by with the ban on Mexican beef due to screw worm.
I understand shrinkflation is accounted for in CPI reporting.
It’s almost like a mostly free market economy is dictated by the consumers and businesses and not necessarily the politicians.
This was a few years ago during COVID. Crankcase vent went bad on wife's Mercedes. I took it to a local import shop that I've used multiple times. He said that it's a common issue with Mercedes and he does about one a month. He warned me it was expensive. He was able to give me a quote off the top of his head. $375 for the part and 5 hours labor. He calls the next day and told me he couldn't find the part anywhere but he's still looking. He calls back and said he found one part at a dealership in California and they wanted $2700 for it and it was the only part in the US. They would not budge on the price. He adamantly refused to pay that and said he would keep looking. Took about a week but he finally found one at a NAPA in Ohio for $375.
Lot of effort to set up a subtle brag that your ol' lady has a Mercedes.
Not sure it is free market any more when Black Rock is the majority shareholder in every listed corporation in the US. We need antitrust laws.
Is it gonna take more than politics to fix this. I wish I had the magic wand, but I don't. I told my mom about it the other day, and I said it feels like 1978. She agreed that things keep going up every week, no matter what they are.
Oh I don’t disagree that there’s some things unaccounted for and 3% is still high for groceries. And there’s shrinkflation in literally everything now. From vegetables to snacks to frozen foods, there’s less in the bag than it was before.
Yes, because the economy is doing spectacular and things don’t cost too much and anyone who says otherwise is obviously a dirty lib******
Just for the record, I'm not blaming Republicans... I'm not blaming Democrats...