Let's talk cars

[LuvOrlando]

How is the car situation in your household? Did you, your kids or parents get bruised by the vehicle market mayhem around 2021? Sell recently? Looking to buy?

In 2020 my favorite vehicle, a new Jeep Grand Cherokee, was totaled. This household went for a while with 3 vehicles but were forced to bite the bullet and get much higher end than we normally pick in 2021, when the world woke up pushing everyone back into day to day life, worst possible timing. OK, so while we love the nice car we ended up with payments more than two times what we normally select.

I just watched the news trumpting about car defaults and find myself wondering, first, no shock since we all got slammed in 2021 but second, I wonder why wouldn't people correct the issue and just sell the vehicles and get cheaper ones? I'm not in the market but I don't see or hear anything in the news that would feed this situation, yet, there must be something up if defaults are up. Is car financing impossible to get? Are people seeing their credit scored get twisted? How can it be that the people on the news keep saying the US has too much loose money and yet vehicles not be sliding from people who can't afford them to people who can? I also wonder are the defaults single missed payments being blown out of proportion or full on repossessions?

It just doesn't make much sense that people wouldn't have self corrected into their own financial lanes by now so I'm interested what other people see around them.

 

[fla4fun]

Well, car prices have gone down some here so you might not get enough to pay off the loan and then buy a cheaper one, especially if you’re long term unemployed like I am so I can’t get new financing for anything. Fortunately my car is paid off so barring an accident ( knocking on wood) I won’t be buying one any time soon since I would have to pay cash.

 

[Pooh2]

We bought a new car in 2021 and got way more than we thought we would on the old car so we were fine with the purchase.
Thinking about replacing our second car but just starting to look so will be interesting to see how the market is compared to two years ago.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

My car is > 10 years old but is going just fine, so it will probably be a few more years before I have to replace it.

I intend to buy an EV for my next vehicle, so I'm just hoping there will be more models available with less of a wait by then. There are some models I'm interested in that are only sold in certain states so far, and I've heard of there being nearly year long waiting lists to get other models. I guess if things haven't improved in a couple years time, I'll have to start thinking about going ahead and getting on one of the waitlists, because I don't want to get in a situation where my current car dies and I can't get the new one I want for months and months.

We don't finance our cars so I don't really have any knowledge of what goes on there.

 

[mikehn]

I could not hold out. Even though it was still running, my pickup had like 5 codes going at once and I did not want to chance getting stranded on the road so I ended up trading it in for a 22 honda suv back in August. The dealer wanted my truck so bad even though it had a quarter million miles on it. They sold me the honda for msrp and gave me thousands for my truck. In hindsight I think I did well considering inventory was non existent back in August. This is the biggest car payment i've had in my life.

 

[kymom99]

We are in the unusual situation of having 3 cars in good shape. Not planning to buy anything anytime soon. We have 2-2018s and a 2020.
I’m not sure a lot of people who get into money trouble act quickly enough to correct their situations. They wait until they are too far under. My step daughter had a new baby and was in default on her car loan. By the time she told us about it, it was repossessed in a matter of days. Before we could react.

 

[sam_gordon]

I bought a 2015 "new to me" car in 2020 (during Covid but before the prices exploded), handed down my 06 to DS.
July 22, the 2015 was totaled. The good news is because car values had gone up, we got enough from the insurance company to pay off the loan AND have enough for a sizeable down payment on a new car. I ended up with a 2020 car (purchased in September 22).

In ~October, my mom gave DD a chunk of money so she could get a car. Between mom's gift, money DD had saved up, and some from us, we found an 07 Camry Hybrid for her. It was running great until last month when the power steering ran out. That cost $4k to fix.

We'd love to replace DS' 06 and DW's 13 minivan, but waiting until my 2020 is paid off. Hopefully both of those last long enough.

 

[DLgal]

Well, the average cost of a new car is a record high $48,000. I was floored when I read that.

Thankfully, we are good for now. It pays to buy reliable vehicles. I'm still driving my 2007 Honda CR-V. It JUST passed the 100k mile mark. Still looks brand new inside. The outside has seen better days. But it's a fantastic vehicle. It still even has the original windshield. Shocked it has survived 16 years on the CA freeways.

We bought DHs Civic new in 2017 and it has more miles on it than my car does, but it's got a ton of life left in it. His commute has been cut in half, so he plans to maybe pass it along to our oldest son in a year or 2 and buy himself a "midlife crisis" car. He's eyeing a Toyota Supra in bright yellow.

Glad to not "need" a car right now, although you never know what might happen so we are prepared. We have the coverage through our insurance that boosts the reimbursement by 20% over fair market value in the event of a total loss. Given how much FMV has gone up over the last few years, we'd get a decent chunk of money if either car was to be totalled. That extra coverage costs us something like $10/year, so it's well worth it.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Well, the average cost of a new car is a record high $48,000. I was floored when I read that.

Thankfully, we are good for now. It pays to buy reliable vehicles. I'm still driving my 2007 Honda CR-V. It JUST passed the 100k mile mark. Still looks brand new inside. The outside has seen better days. But it's a fantastic vehicle. It still even has the original windshield. Shocked it has survived 16 years on the CA freeways.

We bought DHs Civic new in 2017 and it has more miles on it than my car does, but it's got a ton of life left in it. His commute has been cut in half, so he plans to maybe pass it along to our oldest son in a year or 2 and buy himself a "midlife crisis" car. He's eyeing a Toyota Supra in bright yellow.

Glad to not "need" a car right now, although you never know what might happen so we are prepared. We have the coverage through our insurance that boosts the reimbursement by 20% over fair market value in the event of a total loss. Given how much FMV has gone up over the last few years, we'd get a decent chunk of money if either car was to be totalled. That extra coverage costs us something like $10/year, so it's well worth it.

Whoops. In the 20 minutes since you posted it's up to 49, 388. Better get one fast!!!

The average has been jumping up rapidly mainly due to the much more equipped and expensive pick ups, full sized SUVs and sports cars hitting the market. The average compact is about 26k up 2% The average compact SUV about 35k up 3% The average mid sized car about 31k. That's actually down just a teeny bit from a year ago. I guess nobody likes mid sized sedans these days. Full sized cars jumped 15% to 47k and full sized pick ups jumped 8% to 64k Sub compacts jumped 8% to about 24k. Electric cars came down an average of 7% but are still some of the more expensive cars on the market averaging 58k.

If I bought new, I'd be in the 31k mid sized category. But new for me is 2017. HAHA. The makes and models I'd be looking for of that vintage are still compacts. Their new 2023 versions are mid sized.

To answer the OP. No. We really didn't get caught by the market mayhem. Instead of buying one at steep mark up, we gave our 99Accord to my son in another state and kept the 14 Altima. We sold the 96 Sentra and actually got good money for it. And before the Dis police accuse me of anything, I sold it to a willing buyer at fair market value after disclosing everything about the car's condition. There are several ways to make money in this world. Be faster, be smarter, work harder, or cheat. And I don't cheat.

 

[kdonnel]

I bought a car exactly a year ago today.

After my purchase the model saw massive price increases and then a small decrease. At the moment the MSRP is $7000 more than what I paid.

The plan is to buy my son a car in 2024.

 

[tvguy]

To OP's question. A lot of folks didn't trade down in 2021 and 2022 because new and used car prices were both up, and they would be getting less car for more money by trading. Because of the shortage of new cars, there is a shortage of used cars. And the quality of the used cars out there isn't very good. My mechanic says he is doing a lot of pre-purchase inspections on used cars where the cars are pretty well worn.
My daughter is considering going to school in Germany for two years and selling her car. It's a 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid that she bought from Hertz in 2018 with 16,000 miles on it for $16,250. It has 60,000 miles on it now, and blue book is $18,000.....and many dealers are asking $20,000 for that car on their lots That is how crazy the used car market is now.
My wife and I got lucky. We bought our Camry Hybrid new in July 2020, before the chip shortage, when dealer lots were packed with unsold cars, and the showrooms were empty of customers. Got a good price, and 0% financing for 5 years. We never have driven a lot, and we retired in 2021 and that car still has less than 14,000 miles on it. Our 2018 Flex was purchased new in 2018, it has less than 19,000 miles on it. Barring a car being totaled, and that we have a history of keeping cars 20 to 31 years, we may never have to buy another car again. The vehicle I traded in on the Flex I had purchased new and driven 31 years. If I keep the Flex 31 years, I'll be 92 when it needs to be replaced, and if I am still around, the odds of me still needing a car are greatly reduced.

 

[mrodgers]

I bought a car exactly a year ago today.

After my purchase the model saw massive price increases and then a small decrease. At the moment the MSRP is $7000 more than what I paid.

The plan is to buy my son a car in 2024.

I'll have my car a year next month. I bought it because they gave me double what it was worth for my trade. Then they put it online before I was even out of the parking lot for the price I paid 6 years earlier brand new.

Funny is when I showed up at work with a used Audi for a measly $300/month payment and all my coworkers getting out of their $700 truck payments all yelled out, "Oh, look at Mr. money bags coming in!" Money bags indeed, because they are driving around a house payment and I show up in a used Audi for the same payment as I paid for the lowest priced econobox I could find with the previous car.

They still harass me, but now it's because from a Union vote, they all got 7 years worth of our raises in one swoop while I didn't get to vote in a secret ballot like they did, and got nothing. "What do you do with all that money since you got a huge raise?" I just got that about an hour ago. Ah, what raise? I didn't get it because they didn't need to entice me not to vote for the Union. Everyone knows my vote.

 

[firefly_ris]

We had an 18 year old Town & Country with 185k that I loved so much. Last August 2022 we had some large cost replacement items come up (corroded wiring took out the A/C and radiator fan, we live in the rust belt and I stopped having the van rustproofed about 5 years ago). Cost was going to be more than value of the vehicle.

We opted to look for a replacement. Used van prices were ridiculous, and not much to choose from on top of it -- stuff was flying out of the dealerships for what I consider absurd prices -- I was looking for a van about 3 or 4 years old with about 40k on the clock and they were asking close to 30 grand. It was crazy.

We went to Toyota looking for a new Sienna instead since used prices were so crazy, and they told us a year wait for a new one, and used ones were only like 2 grand cheaper than new. We ended up with a 2022 Highlander instead, it does seat 7, but it is way way less utility than my van. It is way fancier and it's a Toyota and all the good reputation that comes with that, but the cargo space sucks, and it's just more fancy than I really need. And we paid more than I wanted to spend on a vehicle, but I also wasn't going up to some outrageously priced Tahoe or something and we just couldn't find a decent van. We also ordered a Maverick when the order banks opened in September but who knows if it will ever get built.

My plan at the moment is if the Maverick gets built, we unload the Highlander and get a 2016ish van for road trips and as just a general third vehicle since my oldest daughter will be driving in 2.5 years. But if the Maverick never materializes I guess hold on to the Highlander for a while. I am floored at the price of anything larger at this point.

We bought that Town & Country in 2012 with 50k miles on it from a guy on Craigslist for $6500 and we drove it everywhere and used it for so many things, it will be impossible to ever beat that deal again. Looking back I feel like we should have just fixed the van and drove it for another year and wait for some repo inventory but, hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

 

[tvguy]

Funny is when I showed up at work with a used Audi for a measly $300/month payment and all my coworkers getting out of their $700 truck payments all yelled out, "Oh, look at Mr. money bags coming in!" Money bags indeed, because they are driving around a house payment and I show up in a used Audi for the same payment as I paid for the lowest priced econobox I could find with the previous car.

They did well if their truck payment is only $700. Allegedly the average buyer of a new Ford F series truck in 2022 has a payment of $1,000 a month.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We were looking in May 2021 but stopped because that was when the chip shortage was really showing. Pricing on cars is probably still too high for what we're looking to spend even with it being not so upcharging as it was back in 2021 so for a while we've paused the look.

We have a 2002 and a 2010 car so we could stand to get new cars. Most of ours is that our needs have shifted. Our smaller compact cars aren't at useful to us. However, presently speaking we would be looking to replace my husband's 2010 vs my 2002. His car is also the primary car getting the most usage too.

 

[Southernmiss]

In May of 2020, we bought 2 cars. Our son had a 2008 Honda Civic that randomly died on him while driving. 3 different mechanics could not find the problem. Our daughter had just graduated high school and her car was a 2002 Accord. Running well, but not as safe as newer cars and she was going to college 5 hours away. We wanted her to have something newer and safer. So our son got a Corolla and DH got a Mitsubishi and gave DD his car. We got great deals on those cars.

Fast forward to 2022, another son needed a new car and got a 2016 Buick small suv. It has been a good auto for him and the price was higher than prepandemic, but not ridiculous.

In October 2022, we replaced our 2008 Toyota Sienna with 190,000 miles on it which was about to need new tires and expensive maintenance with a 2022 Highlander like the poster above. I wanted another van for the cargo and hauling ability, but the wait and price were ridiculous. I've been happy with the luxury feel of the car-much more than any car we've ever had. But do miss the cargo space.

We paid sticker price, which was almost as much as our first house. As we were test driving the car, another salesman called ours asking for the keys to the Highlander as he had other customers looking for it. While we were in the salesman's office discussing whether to buy or to have one built, etc. the other customers were hovering outside to see if we were buying that car. It was the only one on the lot. The salesman said there were 3 others coming at the end of the month and the only difference would be the color. We decided to go ahead and buy.

The dealer gave us $2,000 for the Sienna sight unseen, which we were fine with. Later that week I saw it on their website for sale for $7,900. I really didn't feel bad that we only got $2,000 as I knew the work it needed, including a new windshield and tires. The dealer seemed to be eager to get any used cars to sell.

I was at the dealer last week for maintenance on the car and they still did not have much in the way of inventory, new or used, and are still almost begging for used cars.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So it seems lots of people dug in with the vehicles that had at the time to ride it out. I guess we did the same, we actually kept two vehicles I NEVER expected to hang onto. Really thought we would be down to one new moderate SUV by now and would have been able to pivot to more train/subway use, all the unintended consequences of the uncertainty imbibed by Covid are still revealing themselves I guess, a very curious thing. Literally nothing we are doing now was anticipated or deliberate.

There really should have been a shift to new less expensive cars for everyone in a free-for-all explosion and the fact it didn't really happen is just wonky. Lack of market correction is totally unexpected to me. The US dollar has been robust so imported vehicles should have been flooding in from other places with different currency looking to solidify their balance sheets at a discount to Americans, which would have pulled the extra $ out of the system. Buying houses would do the same, adding cash to banks with interest income because if people are buying they are draining the system of excess. Whole thing is just out of whack.

The other day I heard a radio ad from a company looking to buy used cars which is I guess the first hint something is off followed by the statement in the news that defaults are up, again no shock if people can't buy cars in their financial lane. Still, why are there no cares in the moderate space 2 years later? To quote Liz Lemon, "What the what?"

 

[firefly_ris]

We paid sticker price, which was almost as much as our first house. As we were test driving the car, another salesman called ours asking for the keys to the Highlander as he had other customers looking for it. While we were in the salesman's office discussing whether to buy or to have one built, etc. the other customers were hovering outside to see if we were buying that car. It was the only one on the lot. The salesman said there were 3 others coming at the end of the month and the only difference would be the color. We decided to go ahead and buy.

The dealer gave us $2,000 for the Sienna sight unseen, which we were fine with. Later that week I saw it on their website for sale for $7,900. I really didn't feel bad that we only got $2,000 as I knew the work it needed, including a new windshield and tires. The dealer seemed to be eager to get any used cars to sell.

I was at the dealer last week for maintenance on the car and they still did not have much in the way of inventory, new or used, and are still almost begging for used cars.

It's crazy isn't it. The Highlander we actually purchased was sight unseen because it was still "in transit" to the dealership. It was silver. They did have a dealer vehicle to test drive at least. Three days later after we did all the purchase paperwork and put 90% of the money down they said "that one didn't come in" -- uhh, okay? Then they said they were getting a different color one in and would we take that. There were people waiting for these to come in so we just took it. So we ended up with "Opulent Amber" (which is like a super dark brown with sparkly bits in it) instead and there were people waiting for the next possible shipment.

Also there is totally nothing wrong with the Highlander, I do have a bit of buyer's remorse but it's a combo of it costing a lot and not being as useful for my personal situation -- I have 3 young kids who I have to drag all over for a million extracurricular activities plus 2 dogs; if they were all older and I didn't want to use this for long road trips I would probably like it a lot better. If one is able to keep the third row folded down then that solves the cargo space issue, but we're a full house all the time.

 

[Stratman50th]

I replaced a car that was 11 years old and in great condition. I got what I thought was fair for it, several thousand over what it would have been several years previous. Replaced it with a vehicle more practical for what we would use it for. I paid more than what I probably should have but it was kind of a wash when counting my trade in.
My wife still has her 2005 Camry. She was supposed to get the next new car but refused. She was parking in a parking lot and didn't want a new car to get beat up so she passed. While the new car is "my" car, it really belongs to both. I drive her around wherever she needs to go and we also use it for vacation, road trips, etc. I figure this will probably be my last vehicle.

 

[georgina]

My car is > 10 years old but is going just fine, so it will probably be a few more years before I have to replace it.

I intend to buy an EV for my next vehicle, so I'm just hoping there will be more models available with less of a wait by then. There are some models I'm interested in that are only sold in certain states so far, and I've heard of there being nearly year long waiting lists to get other models. I guess if things haven't improved in a couple years time, I'll have to start thinking about going ahead and getting on one of the waitlists, because I don't want to get in a situation where my current car dies and I can't get the new one I want for months and months.

We don't finance our cars so I don't really have any knowledge of what goes on there.

Similar, our cars are 15 and 12 years old, both running but i have had some expensive repairs. We would like to get rid of both and get 1 EV, since we now walk more than we drive. Have been holding out for more inventory to become available. At least DH's car is so old he didn't have to pay any personal property tax on it last year.