Why new cars and trucks cost more than they have in a decade

If you're walking into a new-car showroom on a shopping trip, you should brace yourself for a little sticker shock. Not only have prices reached a new high, they're outpacing inflation -- and reversing the deals Americans grew accustomed to over the past decade.

Thanks to a renewed demand for new wheels and a brace of new models replacing aging products, the average price for a new car or truck rose to $28,341 in 2011, up 11% from 2008, according to data from J.D. Power. Those increases weren't just limited to luxury sedans and big SUVs; as of today, there are no new cars for sale in the United States for less than $10,000. Many new models forgo stripped-down versions for ones with far more expensive options; the previous generation Ford Focus could be had for $15,000 with generous incentives, but the newer version comes in a "Titanium" edition that can carry a sticker price of more than $30,000.

But dollar figures alone don't tell the whole story. Thanks to inflation, all dollar amounts rise over time, and only by adjusting new vehicle prices for inflation can we tell whether cars and trucks just seem more expensive or are truly taking a larger bite from our wallets. Doing so reveals that you're right in thinking these numbers seem high: