Not quite. What I meant was that your $39k 1999 Tahoe would cost $55k in 2014 dollars. So the 2014 MY Tahoe is only about 9% more expensive ($5k).
But...
It's safer, more powerful, more efficient, has more standard features, etc.
I'd pay 9% more for all of that.
CPI Inflation Calculator
This is always true for higher end. In 1999, $39k wasn't a low end vehicle. If you want to gauge how the cost of vehicles have appreciated over time, you need to examine the lower end much like economist examine necessities such as gas, milk, food, clothing, housing.
In 2001, I purchased a Leica Noctilux lens for $1800. For those that don't know, this is considered the upper tiers of high end photographic optics. This IS a the equivalent of a high end luxury car for photography (not the highest though). It is currently worth $6000 USD on the used market. Its newest iteration is $10,000 USD. So can this be an indication of the over all cost of living? Nope. My friends (much more savy financially and more economically educated than I) would think I was joking with them. There are other factors involved. (emerging wealthy class in China and other parts of the world is one). My point is higher end stuff are not really a good starting point for a discussion around the rise in cost of living.
I do agree with preloader and others that the US dollar doesn't go as far as it did in the past. Paired with stagnant incomes in the lower and middle class incomes makes it even more painful. But specifically for vehicles, I think there is a larger thing at play here that has a more immediate effect. Here me out...
Today, most people lease. To the point that leasing is now the defacto way to make a car purchase over financing. Heck, they don't even advertise financing numbers in commercials anymore.
20 years ago, leasing wasn't extended to as large of a population as it is today.
30-40 years ago rarely did people lease. They financed and many bought cash.
50+ years ago. Most probably bought cash or not at all.
My year measurements may be off but you get the point. I am also not not talking about business entities but individuals. What is all this means? Financing and leasing can be seen as vehicles for increassing a consumer's purchasing power. Push it further, they can be a vehicle to "artificially" inflate the consumer's purchasing power. Inflate that and its a matter of time before the retailers of said product raise their prices. As a business, you sell your good or service at the highest price point that the market is willing to bear. As the majority of the people buying vehicles choose to buy on credit or even lease, the pricing of vehicles will be priced accordingly. They are priced to be leased.. not purchased or financed. IMO, that's the reason why the price of vehicles have gone up.
We've seen this already. The housing bubble that resulted in a rapid rise in housing prices.
PS> Somewhat related read:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100612622
http://www.moneynews.com/Personal-Finance/auto-loan-bubble-subprime/2013/10/11/id/530588
