"Up 40% from last year" This is according to The Car Pro Jerry Reynolds in this week's newsletter. For those that don't know him he has been in the vehicle business for several decades and had podcasts and a three-hour weekly radio show. Just FYI in case you are thinking of selling one of your rides.
It's insane. That market got screwed up when "Cash for Clunkers" was imposed on us and it's not been right since. I was car shopping in mid-2018, and discovered that when I calculated the payment on a low-mileage used car, I could get a new car at 0% Dealer Financing for maybe $30 more per month because the value of used was so inflated. The funny thing about all of this is the "experts" were predicting that the price on used cars was gonna crash because COVID killed business travel and all the major rental car companies liquidated their fleets. In fact, it caused a storage crisis when so many cars hit the market in bulk-lots. I'm on a Mazda forum and we all kept watching and waiting as the experts kept saying "Any day now," and that "crash" never happened. I have no idea what externality perverted the law of Supply and Demand as it relates to Price. I don't know who had their thumb on the scale (or how it was applied) in order to keep prices propped up. I'm gonna take my 2019 in for service next month and might see what they can do for me on trade-in. I always keep my cars for a decade or longer, but there may be a deal there I can't refuse. I know someone who just got a great offer on his trade in, and the local dealer is not price-gouging on their new inventory (there's probably more margin in used vehicles.)
Maybe the experts didn't foresee the shortage in microchips. Have you tried to buy a new car lately? I had to wait 4 months for a 2021 Ranger to get fully built. Some models took even longer. And it's still going on. They are predicting manufacturing of new cars won't get back to pre-pandemic levels until 2023.
The whole thing is strange. I agree regarding microchips and the new car supply issues. But this glut of used cars hitting the market well preceded that. There was talk of all those used cars pulling down the price of both used and new at the time. None of it makes much sense. I drive by that Mazda dealer once a week. It's sad to see all the empty spaces in the lot. I'm glad you were able to get your truck when you did. I wonder if supplies have tightened up even more since then.
The only bad experience I had with the dealership where I bought the truck, was with the guy in charge of used cars and trade-ins. Another dealership wouldn't even look at mine because it was 25 years old. The transmission was bad, and the odometer had stopped long ago. I told them all of this. They gave me $900 trade in. That was what a "cash for clunkers" place made as a final offer. I was just glad to get it off my hands in a way that made picking the new truck up so easy—get out of one, get into another. Done. The next day they advertised it for sale in their used car lot asking $10,000 with the (incorrect) odometer reading advertised. It didn't sell for at least a few weeks. Then I quit checking because it made me too angry. I felt like I should have reported them for false advertising or something. But where? I just hope no one ever bought it at anything near that price. Sorry I got so long winded. I still feel bad about it.
I really, really hate that industry. The one reason it has not changed, and "a better way" has not displaced the scum, is because being scummy works. I bought my new car and the "finance guy" (he was really the Add-Ons Salesguy) had all the extras he was trying to sell me. One of them was tire & wheel insurance, so if I hopped a curb and popped a tire or bent a wheel, I was covered. The graphic he showed me was of an entire front suspension with the cost of repairing each component listed (tie rod ends, control arms, shocks.) I pointed out that the insurance was just for tires & wheels, and he replied "Yeh, I hate that pic." I just looked at him. The salesguy who picked me up to get my new car was talking about how much he liked the "Paint & Interior Protection Package" he got when he bought his car. I pointed out that my car has sealed leather seats, and the manual says to wash them with a mild detergent and then rinse with clean water...exactly what "protection" had they planned on applying to them? His response: "I'll get back to you." As you said, it still makes me angry. Kinda back to the topic: I am hearing of dealerships globally tacking on surcharges to the list price because of general shortages. I know we've both heard of this happening before with specific popular models when there's the equivalent of bidding wars on the part of buyers, but this is across the board. The process for buying cars and houses--the two most expensive purchases we ever make--shall forever disgust me.
We had the same sales talk when we bought our brand new car 2 years ago on 20/2/2020. Our is a Nissan SUV @John Brunner Window tinting / cloth seats treatment / Paint treatment / all added up to $3500 extra …we got the windows tinted but only after haggling with the salesmen for a better price ….all of a sudden he remembered the special window tinting price for anyone who took out finance to buy the car …. …. but we paid cash ..so with further haggling we eventually got the windows tinted for $250 and not the $750 that was quoted to us while trying to sell us all the other “ essential extras” (in their eyes ) If they are essential they should be included with the car not as an extra. Prior to buying our Nissan we both had cars Hubby had a Holden rodeo he used if , and when we took out the caravan out / away so we decided to sell both cars and the caravan which was 30+ years due to increasing registration/ insurance costs , it was costing us $120 a month in rego and insurance just having hubbies car sitting under the carport. ( it was a fuel guzzler ) I had a Toyota Corolla
We found out, very fast, how much a used Durango SLT V8 can cost. We were really amazed. V8's aren't nearly as popular as they used to be, but we sure love ours. It's a 2005, with a Magnum 4.7L V8 (265hp) and a whole lot of room inside, especially when both rear seats are laid down. It pulls our 20' boat extremely well, and the boat has a large 5.7L I/O V8 in it. Largest engine that can be in a 20' boat. It has 175,000 on it, but we are keeping it. Just put $1,000 worth of All Terrain tires on it. We won't drive it a long distance, or up in the mountains, but we do drive it. We'd love to have a "back-up camera" on it, but that equipment wasn't even thought of in 2005.
Our van is a 2005 also. Great milage for a V-8. We were going to make a camper out of it but no need now that we seldom travel. This is the queen size bed we started with, it's still in the van along with camper table ,potty and a few storage drawers.
Obama's Cash for Clunkers program was intended to take affordable cars off the market, as part of the plan to restrict regular people from traveling.
Good luck, Teresa. I'm wondering if the price of fuel will kill RV sales for the foreseeable future. We thought about selling ours but I don't really want to.