New Car Buying

[SandyinMonterey]

I'm posting for my sister. She's thinking about buying a new car, a Toyota Rav4. She's been to 3 dealerships. The first dealership marked the car up $9k. MSRP was $32K and they wanted $41k. Would not talk trade, gave her a Carmax number to call and Carmax wasn't interested. She went to 2 more dealerships today and they would not negotiate price. 2023 Rav4's are all in transit. My sister has a 17 year old Honda CRV. It's in good condition with decent mileage. She's not hard on a car, takes care of it and works from home. The one dealership today she specifically went to because their website said "top dollar for your car, even if you don't buy from us." Donating her car is an option for her if it came to that. And she can pay cash for a new car. She doesn't tell the salesperson that though. I know experiences vary from state to state, but wondering if anyone has purchased a new car lately and does this seem to be the norm right now with car buying. My sister doesn't need a new car right away. She's thinking of waiting till Fall and maybe she can get a 2023 leftover or maybe the market will change by then and get a 2024?

 

[DLgal]

I'm driving around my 16 year old Honda CR-V and plan to do so for at least another 10 years. These cars will last forever. Getting to 300k miles is not unheard of. My car is only at 102,000.

She should keep the CRV. Buying a new car right now, when it's not really needed, is a terrible financial decision.

Newer cars are actually more prone to problems due to all the electronics on board. My CR-V is old school and reliable.

 

[china mom]

what state is she located in?

 

[TAX GUY]

I'm posting for my sister. She's thinking about buying a new car, a Toyota Rav4. She's been to 3 dealerships. The first dealership marked the car up $9k. MSRP was $32K and they wanted $41k. Would not talk trade, gave her a Carmax number to call and Carmax wasn't interested. She went to 2 more dealerships today and they would not negotiate price. 2023 Rav4's are all in transit. My sister has a 17 year old Honda CRV. It's in good condition with decent mileage. She's not hard on a car, takes care of it and works from home. The one dealership today she specifically went to because their website said "top dollar for your car, even if you don't buy from us." Donating her car is an option for her if it came to that. And she can pay cash for a new car. She doesn't tell the salesperson that though. I know experiences vary from state to state, but wondering if anyone has purchased a new car lately and does this seem to be the norm right now with car buying. My sister doesn't need a new car right away. She's thinking of waiting till Fall and maybe she can get a 2023 leftover or maybe the market will change by then and get a 2024?

The car market is still inflated, and there's no sign of that letting up soon. New cars all have various "market adjustments" based on make, model and availability. I'm seeing new Corvette's selling (actually selling) with as much as $100k OVER MSRP!

Many dealerships will entertain certain trades, that are also in higher demand. Unfortunately, a 17 year old compact SUV isn't high on the list so they wouldn't be able to flip it themselves. If the car is still trouble free to her, and she's ok with it, might be best to keep it.

 

[china mom]

have her put her numbers in here to find out if she is getting the best deal for her area. In my state, I am seeing $31-32K for the Rav 4


I agree with DLgal. If her old car is still working for her, she s probably better off waiting

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I'm driving around my 16 year old Honda CR-V and plan to do so for at least another 10 years. These cars will last forever. Getting to 300k miles is not unheard of. My car is only at 102,000.

She should keep the CRV. Buying a new car right now, when it's not really needed, is a terrible financial decision.

Newer cars are actually more prone to problems due to all the electronics on board. My CR-V is old school and reliable.

She's getting closer to retirement and may take it early. The other reason is that there is rust to under carriage. Nothing new, brought to her attention probably about a year ago (she takes her car in regularly for maintenance). Honda dealer she takes it to said not worth fixing and would give her $500 for her car. She also took it to an independent mechanic and said it's not that bad. Fast forward to present, she just received a recall notice about the rust.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

what state is she located in?

Central NJ.

 

[DisneyHardin]

No advice on the inflated MSRP, but as for her trade. She may find a dealership that will give her a courtesy $500-$1000 for her car just to get her to buy the new one from them, but no dealership wants a 17 year old used car - they will just be taking it to the auction if they give her anything for it.

We recently bought a 2023 Honda Pilot and the dealerships around here were not inflating the prices, but the MSRP was the price and there was no negotiation. The 2 Honda dealerships near me both had manifests of what cars they had ordered, but they don't know when they are going to be delivered. We were able to pick the one we wanted from the Manifest and put down a deposit. When it got delivered, it was saved for us. Luckily, ours was delivered just about a week after we committed to it, but he said generally people usually wait 6-8 weeks to get them.

 

[Liz]

We were at a Toyota dealership last Saturday to look at Camrys. We found the same thing to be true - they don't have a lot full of cars like the old days. They are all in transit with an expected date. We could negotiate a price and come in once the car arrives to see if we wanted to go through with the sale. We didn't buy anything. I am hoping to keep my Camry going awhile longer, but it is 19 years old and overheating (257K miles).

My son just bought a Subaru Impreza and he likes it. They seem less expensive than Camrys. Any thoughts on the Subaru and their reliability?

 

[DisneyHardin]

Any thoughts on the Subaru and their reliability?

My Mom has a Subaru Legacy, which seems to be their version of the Camry. She really likes it.

When we were buying our car, I had narrowed it down to a Subaru Ascent and the Honda Pilot. I asked my mechanic if he had any opinions. He said Subaru's are great cars, but they tend to start having engine issues at about 100,000 miles, so if it was reliability we wanted - go with the Honda.

 

[RoseGold]

In my area, Costco has a thing with local dealerships where they pre-negotiate the deal. Maybe not perfect, but you know it's going to be close.

 

[mjkacmom]

In my area, Costco has a thing with local dealerships where they pre-negotiate the deal. Maybe not perfect, but you know it's going to be close.

I checked our Costco, no used vehicles.

 

[design_mom]

My husband just bought a new car (Subaru Forrester). He's had it for about a month now.

They are selling before they get to the dealership, so he had to order one and then wait for it to come in (about 3 months), but he got exactly what he wanted. They were not negotiating below sticker price, but they also didn't upcharge him for it either.

We didn't try to trade anything in and we paid cash for the car. (We are buying because both kids will need transportation for next school year so they'll get our older cars: a 2007 Honda CRV and a 2010 Honda Civic. They both want the Civic because the CRV is a "mom car" but that CRV has been a *much* better car than the Civic has been. I love my CRV.)

For the person who asked about Subaru. We also have a 5 year old Subaru Outback. Knock wood, we have not had any problems with it at all.

 

[sam_gordon]

My local Toyota Dealership lists 16 2023 Rav4. 13 of them are listed as "Sale Pending". ALL of them are listed at their respective MSRP (between $31k and $40k depending on trim).

 

[china mom]

Central NJ.

Yeah, according to Edmunds.com, other people are paying around $31K for a baseline Rav4

 

[BrianL]

My husband just bought a new car (Subaru Forrester). He's had it for about a month now.

They are selling before they get to the dealership, so he had to order one and then wait for it to come in (about 3 months), but he got exactly what he wanted. They were not negotiating below sticker price, but they also didn't upcharge him for it either.

We didn't try to trade anything in and we paid cash for the car. (We are buying because both kids will need transportation for next school year so they'll get our older cars: a 2007 Honda CRV and a 2010 Honda Civic. They both want the Civic because the CRV is a "mom car" but that CRV has been a *much* better car than the Civic has been. I love my CRV.)

For the person who asked about Subaru. We also have a 5 year old Subaru Outback. Knock wood, we have not had any problems with it at all.

Man, I am trying to get a new car too, and it's rough. I kind of want a new Prius, but they won't even let me order what I want. They come as they are, all with all the bells and whistles added, plus some hefty fees. A 30K car goss to 40K like THAT! I had a chance to get one that the person who ordered it was not going to get, but it sold before I could get out there! They only have like a dozen actual new cars on the lot (one dealership had four!). There is a lot of used out there, but prices are still high too.

I am thinking about a Subaru - maybe I should go talk to our dealership. If I could order exactly what I want and they won't mark it up too crazy, it might be the way to go.

 

[Praying Colonel]

We were at a Toyota dealership last Saturday to look at Camrys. We found the same thing to be true - they don't have a lot full of cars like the old days. They are all in transit with an expected date. We could negotiate a price and come in once the car arrives to see if we wanted to go through with the sale. We didn't buy anything. I am hoping to keep my Camry going awhile longer, but it is 19 years old and overheating (257K miles).

My son just bought a Subaru Impreza and he likes it. They seem less expensive than Camrys. Any thoughts on the Subaru and their reliability?

Everybody seems to like their Subaru, so I must have the one Subaru (a 2015 Forester) that's a problem. The worst issue has been a battery drain issue that's currently the subject of class action litigation and settlement. I've owned it since 2018 and I'm on my 4th battery.

My next vehicle will be a Toyota, which I've always had great results with, or a Honda. DW loved her Honda, so it'll probably be a Honda.

 

[kdonnel]

My local Toyota Dealership lists 16 2023 Rav4. 13 of them are listed as "Sale Pending". ALL of them are listed at their respective MSRP (between $31k and $40k depending on trim).

Dealer websites are often completely inaccurate as far as availability and price right now.

Cars will be listed that are customer orders and the dealer addendum to the Monroney sticker will not be listed on the website.

It’s not unusual to show up and find there are actually no cars or that there is a huge markup.

 

[kymom99]

My Mom has a Subaru Legacy, which seems to be their version of the Camry. She really likes it.

When we were buying our car, I had narrowed it down to a Subaru Ascent and the Honda Pilot. I asked my mechanic if he had any opinions. He said Subaru's are great cars, but they tend to start having engine issues at about 100,000 miles, so if it was reliability we wanted - go with the Honda.

My sister and a niece and nephew had Subarus. I can verify the engine issues after about 100k. Sister did buy another one.

 

[tvguy]

Many of the so called auto experts I follow suggest waiting until 2024 or 2025 to buy a new car. Wait until things settle down.