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Used car market gets even more bizarre

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Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#101

Post by lotsofpulp »

baggy_trough wrote: post #11
clavalle wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in the same boat. I usually avoid buying new but used cars are nearly the same price as new (if you can find a dealer that hasn't done ridiculous 'market adjustments'). So we bought new. We had to buy a car that was just off the delivery truck before the dealership had it inspected. The one we'd looked at two days before was long gone and they expected the one we bought to be sold the next day. My neighbor trad…

Why do you think those market adjustments are ridiculous? Isn't that how supply and demand will adjust?

If you are adversely affected by price changes, then price changes ridiculous, absurd, and ripoffs.

If you are beneficially affected by price changes, then price changes are a result of supply and demand.

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#102

Post by Loughla »

hedgehog wrote: post #46
dlmiller wrote: post #2

My car died, needing a new engine, so I was forced to get one in October. I usually only buy used, but prices are so inflated it didn't seem worth the premium. Used 2017-2020 Toyota Rav4's with 30-60k miles were the same price as a new 2021 model, if you could get one. I knew it was bad, but I was shocked of how bad it was. I went to multiple mega dealerships with 500-1000 cars that were all spoken for. Most had 0 ne…

I bought a RAV4 over the summer. There was no inventory (hint: dealer web sites will lie to you about what's actually available to purchase), I ended up reserving one that hadn't been shipped to the dealer yet and waiting for around a month for it to arrive. Autotrader shows zero of the same trim for sale used within 500 miles so not even sure what it would sell for.

Bought a new Subaru Impreza this spring. We had been saving for a couple years for my (close enough) dream car (wanted the WRX STI, but that maintenance is a real bitch).

We have now had 4 calls from the dealership where we bought it offering to buy it back for thousands of dollars more than we paid this spring. So far their best offer was $6500 more than what we paid.

It's outrageous.

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#103

Post by pengaru »

olyjohn wrote: post #91
pengaru wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but mine is a ~350k mile piece of shit with a salvage title after someone T-boned it at low speed, and I haven't made any real attempt to repair that damage. Nobody in their right mind looks at my Miata and thinks "collector car!"

Someone wants to build an Exocet or a Miata-kart out of it. I think that's where a lot of them have gone.

These are usually quite obviously parents with a newly licensed kid anxiously watching the interaction from the back seat.

But yeah, occasionally it's a gearhead who wants to do something like that - it's the exception though. Those instances we end up talking shop, and that's kind of always been a thing (I've driven Miatas for over a decade, this is my third).

The ~recent thing is the parents harassing me, it's like they can't find cheap first cars for their newly licensed children.

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#104

Post by lotsofpulp »

nathancahill wrote: post #40
carabiner wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My truck, a 2015 Tacoma, is worth $4k less than what I bought it for 3 years ago. So totally normal depreciation in my case.

Worth to whom? Have you listed it for sale? The market for used Tacomas and 4Runners is off the hook.

Someone left a post it note on my friends 2002 4Runner with their phone number in case my friend wanted to sell it. In northeast USA, after 20 years of salted winter roads.

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#105

Post by tobyjsullivan »

What would it look like if asset speculation hit the used car market? Would it look much different than this?

Normally that would be a poor investment because same-car prices steadily trend downward. But if the market changed such that used car prices were increasing - say, due to a shortage of new car availability - then would some investors be inclined to start hoarding used cars?

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#106

Post by NDizzle »

kspacewalk2 wrote: post #13
clavalle wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in the same boat. I usually avoid buying new but used cars are nearly the same price as new (if you can find a dealer that hasn't done ridiculous 'market adjustments'). So we bought new. We had to buy a car that was just off the delivery truck before the dealership had it inspected. The one we'd looked at two days before was long gone and they expected the one we bought to be sold the next day. My neighbor trad…

>Mechanics are about to make a killing. If you're a mechanic and already have plenty of business, I imagine it's a tough call: do you jack up your hourly rates and take advantage of the windfall, at the risk of customer loyalty in the future? This insanity will pass, after all.

Will the insanity pass, though? There's talk of putting cameras in all cars starting in 2026 to prevent... drunk driving[1]?! What's next?

I can't be alone in never buying a car that has this feature.

[1] https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-11-09/congre...

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#107

Post by erehweb »

symlinkk wrote: post #15

Used car prices have doubled, yet the “official” inflation figure is only 6%?

The average selling price may have doubled, but this is affected by the mix of cars that get sold, as outlined in https://publish.manheim.com/en/services/consulting/used-vehi... - correcting for that says prices went up 38% Y/Y

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#108

Post by neogodless »

All I can offer is an anecdote. I have a 2015 Mazda 3 (top trim level, with 34,000 miles on it.) Purchased 4.5 years ago with 8k on it for just under $20k.

Well over a year ago, I started checking KBB.com values to either trade it in or sell it. Back then, trade was close to $12k, and private party was a bit over $13k.

I've checked several times since then, and the price has basically grown and grown. As of today, it's showing $18k trade-in and $18.5k private party.

As little as I drive, I'm very tempted to sell. But at the same time, I could drive this car for the next 10 years easily. With remote work being a permanent fixture for me, I don't really need the car, but I'm still a bit emotionally attached to it. But am I more emotionally attached than I would be to $18,000?

I am curious, though, how well KBB aligns with real world transactions and what dealers are willing to pay. (It's always been a hassle negotiating dealers to give you anywhere close to KBB trade-in values.)

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#109

Post by OldHand2018 »

avn2109 wrote: post #53
OldHand2018 wrote: post #38

One of the other oddities of this market is that prices for "normal" cars have increased at a higher rate than prices for "upmarket" cars. There is now some pricing overlap that never used to be there.

This is interesting, can you give some examples?

I had an article that had a big list, but unfortunately I can't find it any more. You can do some web searches and see that the brands with the largest price gains are "normal" while the brands with the smallest price gains are "luxury" cars.

You may do best with some anecdotal evidence, however.

I moved from the city to the country this year and needed to buy a 2nd car to get me to/from the train station once work went back in person. We were targeted for an October return, so my plan was to buy a cheap used car starting around July. I quickly found that cheap used cars don't exist, but certainly the ones that were the least overpriced were luxury makes, which I associated with concerns over long-term reliability - but I now think that was incorrect.

Once I gave up on used cars, I started looking at new cars. "Normal" dealerships were an incredible pain, especially once they found out that I was not going to trade in the car I arrived in. They all wanted high prices above sticker price, long waits, all sorts of games with add-on packages, etc. The two closest dealerships to me were Mercedes and Audi, and when I went to them I found no games, no markups, no giant crush of buyers clogging everything up, etc. I ended up with an Audi Q5 at ~$2k below sticker price (~$46k), the same price range I was being quoted for a Honda Ridgeline (well over sticker - and not even the top model).

In normal times it probably would have been $5k below sticker, but whatever. The return to office got delayed again - maybe early 2022 - so it now just sits in the garage getting dusty. Still has the new car smell.

Re: Used car market gets even more bizarre

#110

Post by RandallBrown »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #95

Anyone know if this is happening with used cargo vans, e.g. the Amazon-branded delivery vans, or something larger e.g. the smallest Ryder box trucks? I was considering getting a new or used pickup in the next year or so, but one of those babies would serve me even better.

I've been trying to buy a new cargo van from Ford since May. They originally told me it would be ready in November but then there were so many orders mine got pushed to the next model year. I'm hoping to get it before the end of winter...

I'm not super sure about the used market but these vans have been very in demand for things like camper conversion.

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