A few people have mentioned that the prices of used cars are up lately. Maybe it’s true.
EDIT:
Shoot I didn’t mean to put this in the off-topic section…
Moved for ya.
Damn… I am buying 1 maybe 2 more cars tomorrow 
I just sold a used car on Craigslist. Sold it in 2 days, and got over “book” value for it too. I priced it about $500 over Edmunds “True Market Value” for a private party sale figuring I would get lowballed a little, but to my surprise that didn’t happen.
It is fascinating that during the best time to buy a new car, used car sales are up, and when things turn around people will go back to buying new cars at the worst possible time.
I can not find any really good deals on new cars that I like. I have found a couple killer deals on used though.
interest rates and offers are as good as they will ever be. so you if can’t find a deal now, you’ll never find one. Prices on cars like used civics are through the roof right now. If you’re looking for a used car that gets horrible MPG then right now is the time to buy because these are what people are unloading. . Buy fast before the gas prices fall back down towards $3
it’s all based around consumer confidence.
Yeah, I am trying to buy a Tahoe LTZ… I got a 2.4 Loan.
I did notice that econo car pricing sucks, but I am still not getting what I want on my trade a 4cyl Altima.
right now it is difficult for dealerships to get alot of used cars. We sell the ones that are on the lot, and the auction market is nuts. We were buying 2010 focuses for 11-12k a few months ago. now they are 14-15 or higher. Even new car market is nuts. I sold a new focus yesterday and with tax it was 30k+. thats alot of money for a new car. I always fight to give alot for trades. I just tell the managers they are getting more elsewhere.
Yeah, my father has been going to the auctions with our mechanic to help him drive cars back, and he has been saying for the last couple months that the used car market is going up. The mechanic even bought a couple cars at one auction, and took them to another a week later and made $1000-1500 on both.
Does everyone remember a couple years ago when everyone got out of leasing, this is the result. Less and less off lease vehicles hitting the market, I doubt this goes away any time soon.
Working for the one of the top suppliers of used cars I can say that with confidence.
The lack of near new cars in the market drives up demand on new cars and put a premium on cars that are still in warranty.
im so over buying new… let someone else take the haircut. maybe people are just getting smarter?
used cars are no less fuel effecient than new ones anyways…
Thanks for moving this Onyx.
Lots of interesting accounts of this happening to people on here that are in the business.
Anyone who works at a dealer know why this is happening? Is it really a limited supply? I’d like to hear from someone who does this day to day.
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You’re exactly right. Cars depreciate the most marginally in the first 3 years so financially it makes the most sense the buy one at that point. But I’m sure that that on this forum of all forums people here would understand the appeal of a new car that no one else has had their hands on!
i know for us it is lack of supply on new vehicles. Our new fords are difficult to find. Right now available i have 1 fiesta, and 0 focuses. The one i sold friday was the last one. She bought one for 27k instead of the 20k base model because it was the only one available. Explorers are 1 maybe a month on the lot. And the prices of them get jacked up. Our managers wont take anything off the sticker on a vehicle that is in limited supply, so the used car becomes much cheaper than the new one if the customer gets a sticker quote. And after going to 10 dealers and getting quoted at sticker they give up and flip to used.
Small cars in demand because of gas.
Few people are getting big trucks.
And there were delivery issues with explorers and other vehicles in the market.
It sucks when customers are here with cash in hand and i can’t get them a car.
I should get a couple grand more than I paid on trade-in on a new '12 SRT8.
Just waiting for the damn things to come out.
Used car 4cyl market is crazy
I sell toyota and Hyundai and right now Prius, elantra and corolla might as well be extinct!! It’s crazy but it’s def a sellers market instead of buyers right now
Thanks for the info man. That makes a lot of sense. No offense but 27k for a focus is crazy to me, regardless of how the market looks.
Not being able to get customers what they need when they’re willing to buy right then and there must really suck.
So you work at a Ford dealer?
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How often does that happen? haha
---------- Post added at 10:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 PM ----------
I can see it happening with gas being the way it is.
I still have all my cars priced below book value. Auction prices have been coming down in the past 3 weeks or so.
Considering the SAAR has stayed relatively steady in the mid 13’s I don’t think the used car prices are due to new car demand being up. Supply of new cars recently has been hurt due to the Japan quake, but used car prices have been trending up for the past 6 months if not farther back than that.
Your dealership should get better management. Overcharging customers due to error in predicting demand is not going to help retention/satisfaction. The dealer I work with, Toyota, stocked up with Corolla’s and other vehicles that are limited due to the Japanese events. We had about 15 Corolla’s in stock and we are able to cater to the customers by simply taking a $100-$300 off gross. It sells and makes customers happy. We are now under 10 Corolla’s in stock and I have sold 2 Corolla’s in the past two days personally.
Used cars are gaining huge momentum but Kia and Hyundai are offering +60 months with 0% financing and are dampening some of this.
edit: We have also sold 1 Tundra, 1 Tacoma, and a used F150 this week so the truck market in Canada is doing fairly well