Car prices

[spiders]

Who would service their cars then, and do warranty work? Kid across the street works for Tesla service, and their service system is a mess.

I don’t think the dealerships are doing any better right now. I know I’ve heard stories about various ones and I can tell you that mine won’t see you for 3-5 weeks. Even stupid things like oil changes require advanced planning. I get so many free but I am wondering if it’s really worth the hassle to save $60.

 

[MillauFr]

Most people aren't familiar with or don't understand dealer franchise laws. Many aspects are there to protect the dealership/owners. No one would ever invest the money to build a dealership (land, buildings, people, parts, equipment, inventory) if a vehicle manufacturer was able to open a 'company store' a few miles away and undercut the price. Selling direct sounds like a great idea until you need service. Doubt most Tesla owners think about that until their car needs service/repair/warranty work and requires access to the vehicle when the nearest authorized service location is hours away or they have to wait months to get needed repair parts. Buying a car isn't like buying a toaster or coffee maker.

Many products are sold direct and through 3rd parties. Often the direct sales are sold at a price that does not undercut the 3rd parities. Cars are not a unique product. The customers are harmed by the dealer franchise laws as many customers paying thousands of dollars over the sticker price on the cars. Glad Tesla is disrupting the market and hopefully will cause the current system of selling cars to collapse. There is a reason that car salespeople have a lousy reputation.

 

[Southernmiss]

Regarding dealers and car sales- our family has purchased 3 new to us cars since May of 2020.

We used Carmax because of the no haggle, no hassle experience. So much easier and less stressful than dealership shopping.

When my now 2008 toyota sienna hit 100,000 miles, the dealer tried to upsell me on a lot of maintenance that was not necessary and tried to talk me into trading it in.

I went straight to our local long-trusted mechanic with the list of problems the dealer identified and was told nope don't need all of that.

Our next auto to replace will be the 2008 Toyota Sienna now with 186,500 miles, you can bet I will not visit the dealership to buy another vehicle.

Carmax is across the street and I've already been looking at their website.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Not sure why the car manufacturers start buying out stealerships and moving towards a direct sales model like Tesla. No reason why you shouldn't be able to buy online and have it delivered to your house cutting out the middle man. Everytime I think of stealerships I think of Jerry Lundegard from Fargo ripping off the rubes on the Trucoat.

Well, we've never done this before. But seeing as it's special circumstances and all, he says I can knock a hundred dollars off that Trucoat
Bonus points for Jerry Lundegaard!

 

[MillauFr]

Bonus points for Jerry Lundegaard!

He's fleeing the interview.... Probably figured out that Marge wasn't there to find out the benefits of Trucoat.

 

[Colleen27]

Many products are sold direct and through 3rd parties. Often the direct sales are sold at a price that does not undercut the 3rd parities. Cars are not a unique product. The customers are harmed by the dealer franchise laws as many customers paying thousands of dollars over the sticker price on the cars. Glad Tesla is disrupting the market and hopefully will cause the current system of selling cars to collapse. There is a reason that car salespeople have a lousy reputation.

The problem I see with the direct sales model is that without dealerships with inventory, you're basically buying sight unseen. I don't like doing that with a pair of jeans, never mind a $45K car! The value a dealership brings to the equation is the ability to sit in a vehicle, take it for a test drive, fold down the seats, touch the fabrics and finishes. You can't do that if you're buying direct from a manufacturer without the benefit of brick-and-mortar showrooms, and if those things are going to continue to exist, I don't see how the ownership of those stores makes much difference. You're still going to have sales people and service departments and all of that.

 

[kymom99]

We bought 3 cars in the last few years, all slightly used. I felt like the salesmen we worked with were all informative and fair. It’s when you get into the financing office that things can go south. Now, we bought before the shortage so that worked in our favor.

Honda: bought a 2018 accord with 1200 miles in 2018. Price was fair. The salesman was very laid back. He had an iPad and used it to just explore some different scenarios. With trade/ without trade, etc. knew the different models I was interested in. Finance guy was not high pressure but did suggest some optional things. He offered a maintenance package that I turned down. Then he reduced the price so I took it. The service department was great in helping me maximize the value of the package.

Toyota: Again the salesman was helpful and we walked away to look at other places, returning the next day. We asked for the same guy. We tested a used Camry and while on the road heard a loud noise coming from the rear. Most likely a wheel bearing. The salesman seemed embarrassed that the car was out there for sale. He said he would find us another car and took that car back to the service area to be looked at. He came out with another comparable 2018 camry, one year old, which we ended up buying. Another person, a manager type, tried getting us to buy all kinds of crap. Then we get back to financing and the guy says you’ll want gap insurance. I said no I don’t. It was just constant push. I got home with that awful feeling like I hope I didn’t make a mistake. The Camry is not my favorite car either. 2 major recalls and it shifts hard, too.

Nissan: Husband bought a 2020 rogue. 3000 miles. Salesman was good. A classy guy. Helped us choose the one we wanted. He did have a list of some options like a paint protection package which we didn’t want. He wasn’t high pressure at all. We went to financing and the guy had a paper with a bunch of things written on it. He said let me show you the extended warranty options. My husband turned the paper over because he didn’t want any of it and the guy got pissed. I mean, we are the customers. Why sit and listen if we know we aren’t buying the warranty?

So overall I felt like the salesmen have been a bit different than what I’ve encountered in the past. They were there to help choose what car we might want without really trying to be overbearing. It’s after that point that things can be good or bad, depending on how these people choose to treat their customers.

I can’t imagine buying now, with the shortage. I’m thankful every day that we have what we need right now. I feel like the current situation is setting people up to be taken advantage of.

 

[Colleen27]

And the waiting times if you stick to your guns on MSRP are really prohibitive unless you're in the habit of planning car purchases way in advance. I'm looking at ordering my new - my very first brand new, actually!! - car sometime in the next couple weeks because I know I absolutely have to have it by *next May*. But I know what I want and a friend just got his, same make and model I want, 10 months after ordering it. The dealership we use is not upcharging, though I'm sure they could, but they aren't offering incentives either and delivery times are only an estimate. But right now, that same car is selling for more used than new... so if you want one right now, you can get it at 5-10K over MSRP with a few hundred or thousand miles on it.

In a perfect world, the plan was to buy the truck next year but with the way things are going, I don't want to wait too long and have to try to get one more cross-country trip out of my van when DD20 finishes school.

Coming back to this with an update. I ordered my new truck, but since the waitlist isn't even open right now it is unlikely that my order will go to the manufacturer for this model year. More likely, we'll convert it to a 2023 order on day one that new model year orders become available and hope for the best. The options I want are simple enough that they're coming in faster than the overall average - I'm not interested in a lot of techie bells and whistles like navigation systems and lane assist (Lord, how I hate the lane assist on my MIL's SUV!) - so I should hopefully have my new truck around this time next year. But even with an "I need it by" date 14 months in the future, the salesperson was careful to stress that there are no guarantees.

I could get a "used" 2021 with <1000 miles for just $18K over MSRP, though, if I want it right now.

 

[mrodgers]

I am well known here for being on the opposite end of spectrum. We traded in my wife's SUV that we had had for 20 years in July 2020 for a new Camry when car dealers still had full lots, and no customers because of the pandemic.
And in June 2018 we traded in my SUV that we had owned for 31 years on a new Ford Flex.
Barring a collision, these may be the last cars we every buy. Mechanical repairs are easy and in the scheme of things, less expensive that replacing a vehicle.

Same, although from Pennsylvania so I have winter road salt to deal with and only hold my cars for 10-12 years.

This last car though was a divorce car, something as cheap as possible that I didn't have to work on losing my garage. Now I'm looking to get out of it into something that is more than just an econobox go to work and home car. My car can't hold the speed limit on the highways with 2 other people going on vacation. 75k on it, it would normally only be half it's life or less. I just need something that fits more need than back and forth to work.