Buying a car in this market

So I totaled my wife’s car last night — not our fault and everyone is fine — and now have to buy a new one.

I don’t want to. This market sucks.

Our usual technique of buying a 4- to 6-year-old Camry (we have three between us and Baby MMSW) and driving it till the wheels fall off won’t fly. So hard to find them anyway, and we’ll pay a premium if we do.

Anyone have experience with navigating this in this era of shortages?

 

Ouch. A nightmarish market if there has ever been one.

Last time I went to the dealer to have my machine serviced about three or four weeks ago - usually a bad idea, but an exception to this dealer and one I dealt with in Fort Collins - I asked about how stuff on the floor in the lot was going. The message was abundantly clear: People are climbing over one another for mediocre machinery, and I don't even want to think what kind of premium dealers are getting for better machines.

If you've bought from anyone on a repeated basis, get in with them and hope that your volume business and charm might keep you from getting robbed come time to get thrown in the box. Because I cannot imagine that too many customers have the advantages we usually do. My concern is whatever they want is what they'll get in this market because if you won't pony up, someone else will gladly overpay.

If you don't have to be a "payments buyer," that will help. At least that takes out their four-square BS. But obviously, don't let them know that you're a vehicle short because that's dangling pounds of raw meat in front of the hungry tigers (though, at least in a sick sense, this one will be about the cost of the vehicle, not how badly they'll try to steal your trade-in. Relish the small victories.)

Know their relative value and hold the line ... somewhat. If you know the vehicle you're discussing has the clean CarFax, doesn't have corrosion from being a vehicle poorly kept in areas with snowy winters (underside, folks, NOT the parts of the vehicle you can see), figure out how much that premium is worth. See who is being reasonable and who is predatory ... wondering how much that line has moved with the massive chip shortage.

I wish I had something better. But there's no telling how much the scarcity has thrown things in favor of the dealership.

 

I’d look into a lease takeover with a couple of years left. Stopgap solution until things settle down, and a good place to find a desperate seller.

 

So glad I picked up my new car at the end of 2020 because this market is a nightmare. We just had to get a car for my soon-to-be stepson and ended up paying way more for a 2009 Honda Accord than I'd ever want to. And they're not moving on price because they don't have to. If I had to have a car right now I'd consider going on Facebook Marketplace Craigslist to just get some low(er) cost shitbox just to get me back and forth until this market improves.

 

Yeah, look for something to get you around for a year or two, until the market settles down.

I bought a new Ford Ranger pickup last year. I ordered it in February and took delivery in July. And that's before the computer chip shortage factored in.

I'd get out of the dealership orbit if you need wheels ASAP. Check used car lots, and if you find a deal you can live with, ask to have the car inspected by a shop of your choice. I would never buy a used car from a stranger without a pre-purchase inspection.

You can also look for private party deals. Facebook actually has a decent marketplace. Websites like cargurus.com and autotrader occasionally have private sellers trying to get rid of relatively late-model cars. Local car clubs and car internet forums have classified sections. I've bought cars off Craigslist (beware of flakes and scams) and eBay (seller was a dealer putting a car up for auction).

And you might want to broaden your search with regard to makes. Toyotas and Hondas (and Acuras and Lexii) are reliable Japanese appliances, but so are Mazdas and Subarus. I'd trust late-model Nissan products less, although others might disagree. Keep in mind that some older Mazda SUVs were actually rebadged Fords.

 

Yeah. If you look at Camrys, consider Accords and no way I'd turn my nose at a Subaru (AWD and more five- and six-speed options available with Subie). Might even consider an Altima with a V-6 ... could get really lucky and find someone willing to sell an Altima SE-R with the V-6 and manual that isn't ragged out.

Good note on some of the Mazdas of a certain age that are rebadged FoMoCos. Mazda has moved away from FoMoCos, and some of the MazdaSpeed vehicles were purebred Mazdas. The rest, for a few years, were badly compromised FoMoCos. Run ... fast ... now ... from those.

Find a good independent mechanic who you know will tell you if the private-party vehicle is a turd. Someone might offer a good private-party deal simply because the payments are too much or became a bigger issue than they ever envisioned. Of course, make sure your path to the title is clear in the process.

 

That is one benefit we have. We are paying cash for whatever we buy.

 

I'm a huge Mazda fan. Had a 2007 Mazda 3 that lasted 300,000 miles with only a couple of problems (the air conditioner went out twice and I needed a new alternator around 165K). Have bought two more 3s since and love them. Assuming they're in stock, they're a great mid-size sedan for the price. My current one is a 2021 with some options that I got for about $25,000.

 

Actually, a domestic like the Chevy Malibu with the 4-cyl might do for awhile. I don't hate US makes -- you can get more bang for your buck from them, and if you're only looking for a stopgap you don't have to worry that much about durability. I've rented Malibus and Ford Fusions and found them reasonably comfortable performers. Speaking of rentals, in better days Hertz & co sold off a lot of fleet cars with low miles -- they might have seen hard use, but they got regular maintenance. I doubt they're selling off many cars these days.

One plug for a specific model -- the Toyota Prius, the unsexiest car on Earth. They are stunningly reliable.

 

Same here. I had a 2018 Mazda 3 that got totaled last April, and I was able to get a 2021 model almost as soon as I got my insurance money. It sucked being without my own car for six weeks, but in hindsight the timing was a bit of a blessing. Now I drive by almost any new car lot and it looks like they've gone out of business. There is nothing on the lot, whereas two years ago they were overflowing. I keep getting Facebook ads for 2017 and 2018 Mazda 3s that are selling for about the same amount I paid for my 2018 when it was new.

Replacement parts are also hard to come by. My new car got rear-ended the week before Halloween and I didn't get it back from the body shop until the first week of January in large part because it was so hard to get parts. The parts manifest on the insurance estimate sourced them from a half-dozen different cities.
Ever since I got it back I drive on eggshells — not because I'm terrified of getting in another wreck, but because I have no idea how long I'd be without my car if I did.

 

I bought a 2017 Buick LaCrosse Premium AWD with 14,000 miles on it for $29,900 in November, 2020. Its the super duper luxury model with every stupid available option. I probably could have got it for less but I wasn't in the mood to argue after car shopping for 10 months.

Today, same Buick dealer I bought my car at sent me an e-mail push of their newly arrived used cars. They have a 2018 Buick LaCrosse base model, which is the entry-level model. Only has a four-cylinder engine and 25,000 miles.

They want $28,900. A year ago that same car would have been $5,000 less at least.

 

I'll take kind of the opposite approach ... maybe get a car that needs work and pay to get that work done. Are you set on having a "cool-looking ride", or is getting from Point A to Point B - regardless of aesthetics - the only thing that matters? If the latter, you might have a lot more, and more affordable, options.