Like @lordkosc says, Costco is hit and miss. I looked at them, as well as at other buying services through USAA and my credit union, but no one had any dealers near here. Sites like TrueCar can be useful; I registered with them and got prices on comparable cars from the dealer I was going to buy from anyhow (only one in this half of the state) and the dealer instantly started the talking based on the rather decent TrueCar pricing.
How much you can get off is often a function of competition. Here, if there is a dealer for your car (many makes donât even have dealers here), itâs usually the only one in town. You can play off dealers from out of state against the locals, but itâs a harder sell and more work, and really, do you want to drive 150 miles to buy your car? If you are saving a bundle, maybe, but on a Mazda that would probably be silly.
Iâve heard only good things about the new Mazdas, though. Very nice cars.
Apparently sub-prime auto delinquencies are on the rise, as dealers try to sell as much as they can in a weird market. The average price of a car shouldnât surprise anyone, though, given all of the mandated safety features and the arms race in optional safety features. Last holiday seasonâs barrage of ads (we DVR stuff so weâre catching up on Wheel of Fortune recorded in December!) usually featured extensive comparison of sophisticated driver aids, and this is in ads for Toyotas targeting Hondas, or other similar mainstream matchups. All that lane keeping, adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation, etc. tech costs money, and its becoming one of the key discriminators between brands in the red-hot mid-tier SUV market. You can get scads of standard equipment now in mainstream vehicles, but of course the average price has skyrocketed as well.
Also, car companies make more money from SUVs than they did from sedans, for a variety of reasons, and the markup on tech and other add-ons is astronomical, so the rising base price means rising profits too. They can pay $100 for a feature that adds $200 to the MSRP, or something like that.
Itâs even better for them with options, which is often the route high end auto makers go for. This is doubly true when you build in the software for every tech option into every tier of a model, from base to fully loaded, and only have to add the few necessary hardware bits (a sensor, a camera, etc.) at the port or at the dealer when someone buys the associated option. Sometimes, the car comes with all of the hardware needed too and the âoptionâ is merely setting a flag in the carâs firmware. Ca-ching.
We just bought a Golf Variant (SportWagen for the US folks) at 33% below MSRP (mid range equipment, automatic 115CV). It was a great offer and the car handles so much better than my previous one (which had 410k km and 16 years, so no wonder).
It is though a stepping stone towards an EV. We went with one of those financings that allow returns in 4 years time, when I hope an affordable 600km range EV will be available (hopefully from VW to save more).
I had a Golf before, and I loved it. While this family version has less power, Iâm finding the automatic driving assistance (keeps the distance to other cars for you) a godsent in terms of allowing me to focus on the road and making me less tired. I think I took too long to change vehicle.
The automobileâonce both a badge of success and the most convenient conveyance between points A and Bâis falling out of favor in cities around the world as ride-hailing and other new transportation options proliferate and concerns over gridlock and pollution spark a reevaluation of privately owned wheels. Auto sales in the U.S., after four record or near-record years, are declining this year, and analysts say they may never again reach those heights. Worldwide, residents are migrating to megacitiesâexpected to be home to two-thirds of the global population by midcenturyâwhere an automobile can be an expensive inconvenience. Young people continue to turn away from cars, with only 26 percent of U.S. 16-year-olds earning a driverâs license in 2017, a rite of passage that almost half that cohort would have obtained just 36 years ago, according to Sivak Applied Research. Likewise, the annual number of 17-year-olds taking driving tests in the U.K. has fallen 28 percent in the past decade.
A decade ago the auto industry predicted annual global vehicle sales would top 100 million by now, but theyâve stalled instead, falling to 94.2 million last year, down 1 million from 2017. Researcher IHS Markit predicts the 100 million vehicle milestone will be surpassed in the next decade, but only because of growth in China, India, Russia, and other emerging markets. And even carmakers in China, the worldâs top-selling auto market, are starting to throttle back their projections.
Also helping to drive away car buyers: rising sticker prices. To boost their profit margin, automakers have been loading cars with expensive extras and high-tech touches, pushing the average price of a new car in the U.S. to a record $37,777 by the end of last year, according to Kelley Blue Book. Thatâs caused many people to hold on to their existing rides longer; the average age of autos on U.S. roads reached a record 11.7 years in 2018, according to IHS.
This has been one of the most unexpected things to me. The few teenagers I know either didnât bother getting a license or lagged seriously behind from when they could. Compare this to my generation where it was an eagerly anticipated right of passage.
In retrospect, thatâs great for everyone except the auto makers. Less cars, less problems.
Of course. But those are not what is selling, it seems. The cost of rolling out safety systems throughout the lineup has to be covered somewhere, and my guess is that the higher-trim models with more non-safety features are where they make their money. And I"m guessing, too, that dealers upsell like crazy. The cheapest vehicles available donât seem to be very numerous on the lots, either.
Sure. Thatâs why i mentioned the SUV and trucks. But these other cars are not bottom of the line, cheap cars either. Weâre not talking about basic Kia Souls here which you can easily get for under 20k and is largely marketed to the kids that donât even want to drive. Iâm just pointing out that while you say average price of a car⌠I donât think you actually mean car. I am pretty sure you are including the Trucks and SUVs in there.
Yes, you are correct. When I say âcar,â I mean âthat personal transportation vehicle people buy to get around in.â I suspect that the vast majority of people today do not see the word car as referring to just traditional sedans, but rather use it like I do, to refer to any vehicle, unless there is a particular reason to differentiate. As in, when someone says âI need a new car,â they may well end up with a SUV, a truck, a sedan, or whatever.
Wifeâs 07 Malibu engine lost compression and likely needed 1700+ in repairs. North of 150k miles on the car, it is a total loss. Gone. So we are car shopping.
Budget 15kish
She wants a small cute city car with lowish miles. I want a car that I can drive if needed. I am 6â5" and built like an offensive lineman.
Consumer reports loves the Kia Optima, and I am optimistic I might fit, my parents have a Cadenza and I fit well
Other option is a Honda Fit, as she likes their looks, fit our price range, and could haul a dog and luggage for a road trip.
Any thoughts? Anyone with experience at a Carmax? Should I get a loan from our bank? Joint loan? I have way better credit, as I paid off my student loans in full. How should I haggle? So many questions.
Cars a a big commitment, like one of the largest for us ordinary facts. Here is what i suggested to my sister before she purchased her last car, rent one for a day. Renting a car is fairly inexpensive, and since you have a unique need, it shouldnât cost a bundle. Sure you can test drive but sometimes you need a few hours to really know.
As for a loan, theyâre going to try and make money off you in their finance department. It doesnât hurt to have your finances ready, from your bank, credit union⌠whatever.
Iâm terrible at haggling, canât help you there.
Iâm no expert, so my personal rules of thumb are simple: minimize the amount of negotiation at the dealership and, if at all possible, make time to decide. Simplify the purchase. Reduce the pressure to buy.
Last car I bought, the first thing I did was visit dealerships and take a bunch of test drives, letting the sales folks know that I was in the market, but wasnât going to be buying right away. After a couple of enjoyable no-pressure days of doing that, I settled on the cars I could live with, and the one that I really wanted.
Then I did some basic research on pricesâKelley, Edmunds, and one of the âdealer invoice vs. MSRP vs. market valueâ calculators, which Iâm sure are completely different from when I used them mumblety years ago. I asked for quotes on models from different area dealers, just as a reality check.
Armed with that info, I went to my bank for financing, and headed back to the dealership knowing what car I wanted, how much I was going to offer, what my âout the doorâ price ceiling was, andâimportantlyâthat I wasnât interested in whatever smoke-and-mirrors financing they wanted to sell me. So we werenât haggling monthly payments or different vehicles: we were establishing the final price of the specific car I was interested in.
Knowing that I was buying on my terms, and being prepared to walk away from any deal I didnât like, was a big boost to my comfort level.
I canât speak to Carmax or the joint loan question. +1 to Nesrieâs point about dealership financing.
