Buying a car in this economy (7 Viewers)

[El Caliente]

After 12 years and 230,000 miles my car is at the point where it will take more to repair than it’s worth. We are debating buying a new/used car, or handling repairs to get us to a point where the car just dies.

The current state of the car market (prices are higher now than they were previously), we are hesitant to pull the trigger on anything new. With used cars the concern is, any required repairs may be more costly as components might not be available.

Has anyone bought or sold a car recently, and can offer any advice?

 

[superchuck500]

As of early this year buying a new car was tough - inventory was so low they are adding “market adjustment fees” and raising the prices well over MSRP just because they could. And this trickled down to the used market (increased demand increases price). We bought a car in December and had to pay a significant adjustment fee.

I have heard inventories are better now but I don’t know.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

I got a new car today, but I ordered it in March. Got it for MSRP though, so that was good.

 

[kansast]

Sold my car and truck at the height of the used cars raised prices. In like 5 minutes using Facebook to sell them. Made a handy profit and bought a nice used motorcycle. Work from home saving a bundle on gas

 

[ANKOMA33]

12/230k is quite impressive but I understand you totally as it relates to repairs.

Before you head off to a dealership, look around at your local bank or CU for repossessed vehicles, you could save a substantial amount if you are ok with a “pre owned” vehicle.

My wife purchased a repo (2019 Lexus GX 460 last year. Low miles, well kept and still under manufacturers warranty.

Great online alternatives for car buying would be Carvana, Vroom and Carmax.

Hope you find something !

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

“You should be fine”
- dtc
“What are you, nuts?”
- bclemms

and the debate rages on

 

[efil4stnias]

I can hook u up with a bomb arse 2010 Acura TL with 306 000 miles with another 300k to go.

Like you I'm waiting this market out. Eyeing ev and just not sure which way to go. I am like this with cars, don't pull trigger until absolutely necessary.

 

[Maxp]

If you are willing to travel, you can still find below MSRP.

 

[ChrisinNOLA]

I’ve hear good things about Carmax. Everything from not being pushy, to taking the car back within 7 days if you have buyers remorse, not happ with it.

 

[gboudx]

We got to this point recently too. The new car market and the used car market are out of whack. Forget what you used to know. As has been mentioned, there’s no negotiation. Take it or leave it because supply is so low. My wife wanted a Kia Telluride. I researched new and used. The price for used(2-3yro) wasn’t that far from new, so we went with new. Whenever the dealership gets a shipment of Tellurides, they‘re either gone within 2 days or already sold. We have one on order supposed to arrive early September. We put $500 down and the price was over MSRP. The only thing we could negotiate was them trying to add some cleaning package and Kahu. We got those removed.

Separately is us selling them an 05 Honda Accord with 150k miles. They want it pretty bad. I was honest and told them it’s leaking power steering fluid from both racks, the a/c has a leak, the drivers seat has a split in the leather and the aftermarket radio isn’t secured in place. They don’t care about those things and we’re probably gonna settle on at least $1800 cash in hand. Its a messed up market.

 

[bclemms]

“You should be fine”
- dtc
“What are you, nuts?”
- bclemms

and the debate rages on

Depends on the car. If you can find a car in stock at MSRP it’s probably a turd.

I think the biggest factor in buying new or used is whether it will be financed. Banks are allowing up to 40% over MSRP in the used market because used prices are so high and tacking on additional APR to cover their risk making for some really crazy payments.

3 more months and Im thinking car prices come down quite a bit but doesnt sound like he can wait. Tough spot.

 

[El Caliente]

Does leasing make sense?

 

[jrdbrn]

Not all dealers are adding market adjustment fees. I'd definitely not settle until you find something that makes sense to you.

Ford lets you build your vehicle now and lock in the price, but who knows how long it will take to get to you.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Does leasing make sense?

Ive leased two vehicles in the past but never will again b/c of the mileage limits.. i think the last one i leased had a limit of 12k miles per yr, and it sucks to always have to worry about exceeding that limit (knowing you’ll get charged PER MILE over the limit) if you want to go on a road trip or something.. i guess if you know for a fact that you wont put many miles on a car, then leasing might make sense .

 

[efil4stnias]

Does leasing make sense?

if you park it inside and drive less than 1000/mi per month.

get into a wreck with and all bets are off.