New Car Buying

[HeatherC]

I think the only places negotiating now are Chryslers, Jeep and GMC. Apparently, (from what I have read) they are the only ones with extra inventory. Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, etc are still very short in inventory and will be for at least 2023.

 

[slo]

I hate hate hate hate hate buying a new car - hate it!

We just bought a new Ford Bronco for DD19 and had no issues in Indiana.
The dealership gave us a better than expected amount for our trade in and the car was not marked up. We had a good experience. This dealership is close to DD’s college.

I do know that dealerships close to us are marking cars way up over sticker, which is why we looked elsewhere.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Reading this and wondering why on earth are there still not enough cars? What is that about? Inflation is a market correction, like ripping off a bandaid, painful but brief. Natural Inflation, as a market correction, doesn't stick around unless the market is being manipulated via supply being kept artificially low or demand being kept artificially high. But Market manipulations are illegal. Since manufacturing is elsewhere, that elsewhere gets to decide what shows up here and how much shows up. It's not a great situation, we need to be making cars here, top to bottom the whole thing is bananas & that goes for everything. Inflation corrects markets in very particular ways and none of those things are happening.

 

[SC Minnie]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

I drive a 2007 Toyota and have 88,000 miles on it. I have a 4 mile commute to work (when I have to go in) so that helps keep mileage down. DH has a 2014 Toyota Highlander that has more miles than my car but we drive it on the longer trips.

 

[Suzabella]

The reason car dealers have fewer cars on their lot as of late is because the cars are selling before they reach the lot. In many cases, months before they reach the lot. That's the case with our Toyota dealer here in KY.

Supplier issues are affecting production so there are fewer vehicles being manufactured. Most auto manufacturers in the US use a lot of the same suppliers including Honda and Toyota. They're having issues with hiring and with component part supplies.

The means it's a seller's market. They can and also need to get MSRP to keep the lights on, so to speak.

Her best bet if she needs to do this now is to expand her search to outside her area and maybe try for a demo. Those are vehicles that the automaker supplies employees (corporate and local) for a limited amount of time. Most are turned in with under 10K miles on them and the maintenance is kept current since that's a requirement to having that car to use.

Good luck!!

 

[rwdavis2]

Rav 4s are overpriced compared to a Honda CRV. We had a CRV that was 12 years old when we traded. No problems ever.

 

[RoseGold]

I checked our Costco, no used vehicles.

You might want to update the title of this thread, which is literally about new car buying.

 

[sam_gordon]

You might want to update the title of this thread, which is literally about new car buying.

But @mjkacmom didn't start the thread. Why would she change it?

 

[SandyinMonterey]

The market is still hot, so I’d wait it out …interest rates are starting to work and soon enough dealers will be looking to move cars. And hopefully rates will start to drop. As far as selling above MSRP, if you‘re looking at a car on a lot, they’re going to get all they can. You almost need to be looking for a car with a specific trim so they’re forced to order the car from the factory to gain an advantage. I just ordered a Ford Bronco, which is a difficult truck to get right now because capacity can’t meet demand, and I point blank asked the dealer if they will work for MSRP. Yes, they have a sale(in 6-12 months). No, I walk. The truck should be here in a couple weeks ….at MSRP.

My sister hasn't found a new RAV4 on the lot. When she looks at a dealerships website, it often says "we have 16 in stock/on lot" or whatever number, but that hasn't been the case. She's told they're in transit. The last dealership she went to, the saleperson went over what was coming in and what was available because some of them are already marked for other customers who put deposits down. My sister is in a good position to buy, she can pay cash and doesn't have to trade in her other car.

 

[gmi3804]

Costco had a great car buying service when I got my Mazda CX-5 in 2016. I went in ready to negotiate, but they quoted $1,000 below what I was prepared to pay (just a bit over dealer cost), so I was happy. It was like buying something off the shelf in a store.

I also got a coupon for half off accessories (up to $200 savings) with the Costco deal.

I don't know how they work these days.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I hate hate hate hate hate buying a new car - hate it!

So, you do not like new car buying?

 

[DLgal]

Reading this and wondering why on earth are there still not enough cars? What is that about? Inflation is a market correction, like ripping off a bandaid, painful but brief. Natural Inflation, as a market correction, doesn't stick around unless the market is being manipulated via supply being kept artificially low or demand being kept artificially high. But Market manipulations are illegal. Since manufacturing is elsewhere, that elsewhere gets to decide what shows up here and how much shows up. It's not a great situation, we need to be making cars here, top to bottom the whole thing is bananas & that goes for everything. Inflation corrects markets in very particular ways and none of those things are happening.

The car shortage is due to a microchip shortage. Newer cars have a LOT of on board electronics and a reduced supply of microchips is a big problem. No one is purposely manipulating the market.

And we will be manufacturing chips domestically soon, but that's not going to happen overnight.

 

[leahgoogle]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

DH drives 100 miles round trip just for work. His 2017 Camry has 150K miles on it! I feel you. We are loyal to Toyota vehicles because they have been so good to us with high milage driving.

 

[tvguy]

I think the only places negotiating now are Chryslers, Jeep and GMC. Apparently, (from what I have read) they are the only ones with extra inventory. Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, etc are still very short in inventory and will be for at least 2023.

At least here, Subarus never were in short supply and prices weren't jacked up because Subaru basically told their dealers that if they sold cars for over sticker price, they would no longer be Subaru dealers.

 

[tvguy]

The car shortage is due to a microchip shortage. Newer cars have a LOT of on board electronics and a reduced supply of microchips is a big problem. No one is purposely manipulating the market.

And we will be manufacturing chips domestically soon, but that's not going to happen overnight.

Well, I saw an interesting article on chips and it argued the big issue is the auto industry has designed their cars to use chips that are dated technology and so far the auto makers are not redesigning their cars to use state of the art chips so chip makers aren't going to build a new plant to produce a dated chip.
And if they redesigned their electronics, they could use fewer chips, having more advanced chips means a chip can control more than one function.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My sister hasn't found a new RAV4 on the lot. When she looks at a dealerships website, it often says "we have 16 in stock/on lot" or whatever number, but that hasn't been the case. She's told they're in transit. The last dealership she went to, the saleperson went over what was coming in and what was available because some of them are already marked for other customers who put deposits down. My sister is in a good position to buy, she can pay cash and doesn't have to trade in her other car.

That's pretty much how you buy a car now. You test drive the demo and then put down a deposit on one of the ones they have coming in.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Back in May/June 2021 when we were shopping for a new car the chip shortage was becoming the biggest issue. Back then there was inflated pricing and negotiation would begin at MSRP so generally you weren't really getting it for any sort of deal.

Generally the issue is they know someone will buy it so there's no incentive to move on the price. Them not budging sounds like that may be the culprit too.

I wouldn't think to even mention a trade in TBH on that old of a vehicle. I say that having a 21 year old car. The thing isn't worth anything and even though the used car market is still good a 17 year old car isn't going to be very desirable. My husband's 13 year old car is pushing it on that too. It doesn't matter the condition, nor mileage at that point. You'd be better off trying to either sell it to a pick n pull place, private selling, or like you mentioned donating.

Maybe shop around without her mentioning a trade in and see if they are more amicable to negotiation. Unfortunately it still probably is the case that there's less incentive to negotiate knowing people will still buy.

 

[HopperFan]

When DS was car shopping he wanted the Rav4. It is a HIGHLY POPULAR car and they don't need to negotiate at all on that model. Especially if they are in transit ... they likely will sell for top dollar before they even arrive. If she is stuck on that model they likely have the upper hand.

She might want to look at other options or wait a year if she can. At least where we live the once empty lots are now full of new cars. DS ended up going for Hyundai - the dealership was great to work with. I picked him up when he dropped for maintenance appt last week and they had so many cars they bought the property next door to expand. Until they have too much inventory they don't have to negotiate.

That's pretty much how you buy a car now. You test drive the demo and then put down a deposit on one of the ones they have coming in.

Yup. Every car advertised when DS went to look they said it was pre-sold. They just advertised to get you to the lot. He ordered his and took 3 mos to arrive - and then it was the wrong car.

 

[tvguy]

I wouldn't think to even mention a trade in TBH on that old of a vehicle. I say that having a 21 year old car. The thing isn't worth anything and even though the used car market is still good a 17 year old car isn't going to be very desirable. My husband's 13 year old car is pushing it on that too. It doesn't matter the condition, nor mileage at that point. You'd be better off trying to either sell it to a pick n pull place, private selling, or like you mentioned donating.

At least here, that isn't the case. As my mechanic puts it, if it runs and passes a smog check, it's worth at least $5,000 without regard to age or mileage. I'm old enough to remember when a new car dealer would never have a used car on their lot if it had over 40-50,000 miles. The Toyota dealer I bought my new Camry from in 2020, most of the used cars have over 100,000 miles on them, I see one with 189,000 miles on it!!!! And some are 15-18 years old.

https://acceleride.folsomlaketoyota.com/inventory/used

 

[kymom99]

For the last couple years, the defunct Kentucky speedway and adjacent parking lots were covered with ford vehicles waiting for chips. They are now finally mostly gone.