Not a good time to buy a car

   / Not a good time to buy a car
  • Thread Starter
#81  
Those doc fees stick in my craw too. Didn't realize that those had gone sky high recently. Dunno about your state, but in mine the title application is done thru the DMV, total ripoff for them to charge that much money just to type up the application...might take them all of 5 minutes to do. Last 2 vehicles I bought were in a neighboring state where they didn't even have my state's forms, tried to charge me anyway. Told them it was a deal killer if they didn't drop those fees. This was pre-covid, and it was still a buyers market so they folded. I would have walked if they didn't.

We can only hope. Dealers are slimy enough in the best of times, the last couple years have brought out the worst. Used car lots are even worse.
Unfortunately, the game is rigged, and if the manufacturers intentionally keep the supply low customers don't have a lot of choice.
Are manufacturers colluding? I don't understand why one manufacturer wouldn't up their supply to take market share away from another if they could.
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #82  
Are manufacturers colluding? I don't understand why one manufacturer wouldn't up their supply to take market share away from another if they could.
It seems between the tax break shenanigans and Tesla ready to build almost 2 million vehicles this year, Dropping 13.5 K off of the price on Model Ys will light the fire under other EV makers that are trying to maximize the sales prices.

Impatiently waiting for my delivery date.

One thing with buying a Tesla- all of the dealer "games" go out the window and the price is the price.
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #83  
Fried the motor in my daily driver 98 Volvo V70R last year and decided not to fix it as I'm now able to afford something nicer. Been using my spare car, a 93 Volvo 960 wagon until prices become sensible again. Totaled it last week when some ice led me on an off road adventure. No way I'm putting my summer car (14 CTS-V coupe) on the road until April. Just paid 40K out the door for a 18 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 5.7. Thant's completely crazy to me but under the present conditions felt that it could have been worse. I'm an old fart (turning 75) and was totally uncomfortable only having my 90 F250 available to drive. We even considered spending 100K on a F150 hybrid until I found out you can't get it in a supercab longbox. I don't consider anything with a 5 1/2 foot box a truck. That is probably as close as I'll ever get to an EV
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #84  
Fried the motor in my daily driver 98 Volvo V70R last year and decided not to fix it as I'm now able to afford something nicer. Been using my spare car, a 93 Volvo 960 wagon until prices become sensible again. Totaled it last week when some ice led me on an off road adventure. No way I'm putting my summer car (14 CTS-V coupe) on the road until April. Just paid 40K out the door for a 18 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 5.7. Thant's completely crazy to me but under the present conditions felt that it could have been worse. I'm an old fart (turning 75) and was totally uncomfortable only having my 90 F250 available to drive. We even considered spending 100K on a F150 hybrid until I found out you can't get it in a supercab longbox. I don't consider anything with a 5 1/2 foot box a truck. That is probably as close as I'll ever get to an EV
That was the Only gas powered Rig I almost went with,.... A newish fully optioned Grand Cherokee, or even an SRT-8.

Will Always be a Fan of the Grand Cherokees and even Nice condition Old Wagoneer's
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #85  
I considered the SRT but decided that the CTS-V is enough of a hot rod and gas guzzler. I can afford the gas, just don't like wasting money and how much do I really want to spend on a winter car? Really wanted a Volvo V90T6 but decided that being more than two hours away from a dealer with one of these modern computers on wheels wasn't a good idea. I found reasonable deals on some similar SUV's but was shocked at how many had white interiors. Absolutely refused to buy one. The very light grey (oyster) on my CTS-V is bad enough. If a wrecker had a complete black interior I'd not hesitate to trade at $1000.00 or more and mine is spotless at about 67000KM.
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #86  
It is interesting that Ford's CEO, Jim Farley, has stated that the dealership franchise laws are outdated.

"....if the manufacturers intentionally keep the supply low customers don't have a lot of choice.." This is almost entirely a wrong way to think about it. The manufacturers don't control the available inventory unless its a special built $$$$$ halo vehicle. Its the dealer network that is keeping the supply low. We have been looking for a "Mid-Sized Truck," now for three years. And I really want a F-150. But not a new one with all the crap I don't want or need. Ford needs to make a complaint truck thats built not for comfort, but for work.
 
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   / Not a good time to buy a car #87  
As everyone probably knows, it's a terrible time to purchase a vehicle. We went SUV shopping yesterday and it was a joke. One new car dealer we stopped at straight out said, we are marking up all new vehicles a minimum of $4000 over MSRP. That was Hyundai and Honda. The Ford dealer claimed they weren't marking any new vehicles up except the top of the line full size Bronco.

We drove 1 1/2 hours to test drive a used Lincoln SUV only to find out the battery was dead. We drove it anyway and the battery didn't charge during the test drive. The vehicle was only 3 1/2 years old with 20K miles, still under warranty. We left and I don't plan on going back.

Kevin
I suspect that at some point, dealers will either get in line or fold.
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #88  
According to the manufacturers, they will not go back down. They never again want massive on the ground inventory. They like this lower inventory and more per customer order along with the sales prices at sticker cost. They are saying that we will likely never go back, there is far more money made this way.
I think that will depend on how many fold more than anything else.
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #89  
Are manufacturers colluding? I don't understand why one manufacturer wouldn't up their supply to take market share away from another if they could.
I hope you're right.
It is interesting that Ford's CEO, Jim Farley, has stated that the dealership franchise laws are outdated.

"....if the manufacturers intentionally keep the supply low customers don't have a lot of choice.." This is almost entirely a wrong way to think about it. The manufacturers don't control the available inventory unless its a special built $$$$$ halo vehicle. Its the dealer network that is keeping the supply low.
I don't follow you. You're saying the dealerships don't want any vehicles on the lot? Doesn't make sense to me.
It's the manufacturers that seem to be pushing the need to special order a vehicle on us.
One thing with buying a Tesla- all of the dealer "games" go out the window and the price is the price.
Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Remember Saturn tried that fixed price business model 30-odd years ago. How'd that work out?
Tesla's getting away with it because they're a special interest vehicle that's currently a status symbol in certain circles. No guarantee that's gonna fly if/when EVs become mainstream and they have to compete with other automakers building similar products.
 
   / Not a good time to buy a car #90  
I think that will depend on how many fold more than anything else.
What you quoted of mine was almost a year ago in 3-2022, that was the common perception at that time. Fast forward to 2023 under the Bidinflation period with increasing interest rates, the Covid joke is over, inventory is actually stacking up a bit, manufacturer promos are starting to be seen again to grease the wheels for sales... things are slowly morphing back towards a pre 2020 market. My next guess is that this return to "normal" will take another 1-2 years, but my crystal ball suggests that by 2025 we will be back to seeing the long-typical spring 1/2 ton truck promos that get you out around 10% off MSRP with no haggle work. That is my premonition.
 
 
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