New & Used Car Market?

eljetfan

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I’m frugal, but the in-laws would like to buy our 2009 Highlander for fair value which is 12-15k - kind of crazy because we paid 38k for it (loaded) and haven’t had a car payment for 7 years.

Whats the new car market like right now? I looked at the KIA Telluride (very highly rated) and dealers are asking for $7k above MSRP. That’s nuts. Are all cars like this?

Our budget is $50k max but I hate paying this much for a car. Prefer for pay $40K or less. We’d like a 5 or 7 seat SUV with leather and heated front seats and a little pep. Some luxury is nice, but no need to go over the top.

We always have liked the Acura MDX and said this is what we would buy next go around. They used to be in high 40s for new. Now they are 25% higher than that. NFW I’m paying $60k+.

It’s a terrible time to buy, but it’s time. Given our requirements, what would you do? Leaning towards used.

Hate, hate, hate buying cars.
 
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I've never paid more than $44k for a car/suv. There are PLENTY of great deals out there under $40k on cars.com and autotrader.com if you're willing to look nationally and have a car shipped for $600 - $800. That's what I've done for every car the last decade.
 
I was at Toyota in Katy today getting a skid plate covering my catalytic converters on my Tundra(fing thieves). Their lot was maybe 10% full, probably closer to 5%. I didn’t look closely but only 5 or 6 Tundras available. They said it will probably be end of the year before they get a decent inventory. Now is not the time to buy.
 
My FIL took his F250 to the dealer today. He got offered 46K trade about 6 months ago. They offered him 54K trade today. Kicker is they told him that if he wanted to buy any new truck on the lot, add 7K to the sticker.
 
My FIL took his F250 to the dealer today. He got offered 46K trade about 6 months ago. They offered him 54K trade today. Kicker is they told him that if he wanted to buy any new truck on the lot, add 7K to the sticker.
Just wow…
 
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I've never paid more than $44k for a car/suv. There are PLENTY of great deals out there under $40k on cars.com and autotrader.com if you're willing to look nationally and have a car shipped for $600 - $800. That's what I've done for every car the last decade.

Typically I’d be inclined to agree with you, but right now the market just isn’t in favor of the buyers. Demand is high, supply is low and it doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon. Hopefully within 12-18 months we’ll see prices fall back to what we’re used to, but now is just a horrible time to be buying. You’re practically paying MSRP or above for any SUV that’s even somewhat coveted. Tahoe, Expedition, Telluride, Palisade, etc.
 
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I drive across Texas and see various dealers Log of empty spaces. Dealers have cars spaced out

I pass one dealership every other day and have a truck spotted I like. They’ve had it for 4 weeks now. Haven’t stopped by.

friends in the auto business have said low inventory. Dealers aren’t haggling.
 
I’m frugal, but the in-laws would like to buy our 2009 Highlander for fair value which is 12-15k - kind of crazy because we paid 38k for it (loaded) and haven’t had a car payment for 7 years.

Whats the new car market like right now? I looked at the KIA Telluride (very highly rated) and dealers are asking for $7k above MSRP. That’s nuts. Are all cars like this?

Our budget is $50k max but I hate paying this much for a car. Prefer for pay $40K or less. We’d like a 5 or 7 seat SUV with leather and heated front seats and a little pep. Some luxury is nice, but no need to go over the top.

We always have liked the Acura MDX and said this is what we would buy next go around. They used to be in high 40s for new. Now they are 25% higher than that. NFW I’m paying $60k+.

It’s a terrible time to buy, but it’s time. Given our requirements, what would you do? Leaning towards used.

Hate, hate, hate buying cars.
We got a 2016 MDX for my wife in and it has been a great car. It has over 150,000 miles on it and we have had no serious problems with it at all. Even the drop down wide screen DVD player in the back (we got it for our special needs son who rides in the back) works perfectly.
I always wanted to make sure that the wife and kids had a good, safe and dependable vehicle in which to drive around town. We did not want to deal with broken down cars and the attendant hassles, especially with kids.
You can't go wrong with the MDX in my opinion.
Good luck.
 
Why would anyone consider buying a car in this market?

Car dealers prey on stupid people, buying now is the definition of stupid.

The only thing that will ma4K you as a bigger target you is telling them you want to negotiate on payments.
 
We bought a 2019 Escalade in March. The trade value has gone up almost 10K since then. If I didn’t have to buy something else at a ridiculous price, I’d sell it back!

The dealer told me they are not expecting new inventory until August at the earliest. The lot is empty!
 
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Why would anyone consider buying a car in this market?

Car dealers prey on stupid people, buying now is the definition of stupid.

The only thing that will ma4K you as a bigger target you is telling them you want to negotiate on payments.
What do you propose I do when my lease is up in 4 months on my wife’s vehicle? Vehicle has transmission issues so it’s not worth buying the vehicle.
 
In the market for a car as well and refused to pay the crazy prices…ended up using the Swapalease.com to takeover someone’s Tesla Model 3 Performance for $730 per month for the next 18 months until the car market settles down. Just too crazy right now. Friend bought an F-150 for $7K over MSRP and was thrilled to get it because inventory was so low. I bought basically the same truck a few years back for $9,000 under MSRP. Absolutely no reason to pay 30% more on a vehicle right now.
 
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Now is not a good time to buy. It's a good time to sell of used car. We were $17K upside down in our two vehicles about 6 months ago and just sold both of them in the past few weeks and were only upside down $1,000.

New market is crazy because of the chip shortage and lack of inventory. Used cars are going for top dollar so there aren't any good deals there.

The used car market is going to crash and crash hard in the next 3-6 months. And when new car inventories come back, there will be great deals on new vehicles.
 
What’s causing this problem, and when can we expect it to end? Someone said something about a shortage in computer chips is delaying new cars. Does anyone know for sure?
 
Typically I’d be inclined to agree with you, but right now the market just isn’t in favor of the buyers. Demand is high, supply is low and it doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon. Hopefully within 12-18 months we’ll see prices fall back to what we’re used to, but now is just a horrible time to be buying. You’re practically paying MSRP or above for any SUV that’s even somewhat coveted. Tahoe, Expedition, Telluride, Palisade, etc.
There are deals out there for used cars. Not tons, but they're there. I run nationwide searches every week, looking at different cars, and there are some good prices to be found on low mileage Tahoes, Yukons, Suburbans, Expeditions, etc. You just have to be willing to buy & ship or fly in and drive it back.
 
I basically finance cars for a living.

I was told that by October or November the new car supply should be back. However since there was a nine month lag for lots of new cars were not sold - used cars will be elevated for quite some time. Well into 2021

lots of people that are really upside down in their cars are using this as an opportunity to get out from under some negative equity.

I am in the market for a new car but I’m choosing to wait for 4 to 6 months
 
When ended up getting a 2017 Lexus RX. Probably paid about $2000-$3000 more than we should have, but we got an extra $11K for our trades so it made sense to take advantage of the stupid used car market prices right now.
 
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There are 100's of thousands of new vehicles sitting at the plants just waiting to be shipped once they can get the chips. Once that happens and dealers start getting flooded with all these new models, used cars will tank and the new car deals will be great. Like someone said, probably this fall towards end of the year.
 
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I just want to buy a 1999-2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ for less than $10K

I'd buy it right now cash if I could find a decent one.
 
We are 29 months into a 39 month lease on a 2018 Expedition and my father in-law called me last week telling us we have a lot of equity if we’re ready to dump it early. Also my 2019 Ranger has $5k equity in it. Lol. Market is crazy right now.
 
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I just want to buy a 1999-2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ for less than $10K

I'd buy it right now cash if I could find a decent one.
The TJs and Wranglers in general hold their value. I bought an 06 Wrangler Rubicon new and got $3200 off MSRP and 0% financing. I traded it a couple years later because I needed a truck. Probably my biggest vehicle regret is getting rid of that Jeep.
Finding one in good shape without a ton of miles for under 10K is tough. For years the same model Jeep I owned were going for more than I paid for it new.
 
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Now is not a good time to buy. It's a good time to sell of used car. We were $17K upside down in our two vehicles about 6 months ago and just sold both of them in the past few weeks and were only upside down $1,000.

New market is crazy because of the chip shortage and lack of inventory. Used cars are going for top dollar so there aren't any good deals there.

The used car market is going to crash and crash hard in the next 3-6 months. And when new car inventories come back, there will be great deals on new vehicles.
I hope you are right on the used car market.
I had planned to buy one this summer but not after seeing the price increases.
Cars that were going for 24-25K in February are now going for 28-29K.
I need to replace my current vehicle but I can wait till next year .
 
a coworker had a 2020 GMC AT4, bought it last year for 56K. He sold it in 2 hours for $61.5k to a dealer that now has it listed for sale at 66k......nuts
 
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Traded my Truck in 3 weeks ago and got $2K over what I paid for it 3.5 years ago. Strange times my friends!
I got a similar crazy offer. I bought my 17f150 in early 2018 with 2k miles on it for $40k. I get my oil changed through them and my car only has 35k miles on it now. They offered me $44k “and probably more” for it last month. This is just nuts.
 
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The Ford dealeeship cut me a $7700 check to turn in my 2019 F150 lease a year and a half early. Leased a truck at my dealership (different brand) on the last day before they suspended employee pricing for $18 less per month. I liked my F150 better, but not $7700 cash better. Crazy times and a rough time to be shopping for cars.
 
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I’m frugal, but the in-laws would like to buy our 2009 Highlander for fair value which is 12-15k - kind of crazy because we paid 38k for it (loaded) and haven’t had a car payment for 7 years.

Whats the new car market like right now? I looked at the KIA Telluride (very highly rated) and dealers are asking for $7k above MSRP. That’s nuts. Are all cars like this?

Our budget is $50k max but I hate paying this much for a car. Prefer for pay $40K or less. We’d like a 5 or 7 seat SUV with leather and heated front seats and a little pep. Some luxury is nice, but no need to go over the top.

We always have liked the Acura MDX and said this is what we would buy next go around. They used to be in high 40s for new. Now they are 25% higher than that. NFW I’m paying $60k+.

It’s a terrible time to buy, but it’s time. Given our requirements, what would you do? Leaning towards used.

Hate, hate, hate buying cars.
Inventory is low due to the chip shortage
 
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Companies like CarMax and Carvana could be in for a world of hurt here in a few months. They are just buying up everything at ridiculously high prices.
 

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