Posted on 05/14/2017 10:23:23 AM PDT by ameribbean expat
Three years ago if a customer walked onto Dan Reel's used car lot seeking a late-model off-lease Ford Escape, his answer was short: tough luck.
The supply of lightly-used cars and trucks was tight because automakers had drastically cut back on bargain leases during and after the Great Recession.
Recently, though, a computer search for available used vehicles within 150 miles of Reel revealed an eye-popping figure: 668 Escapes. That's enough to put more than 40 percent of the inhabitants of this small northeastern Ohio town, population 1,600, into the popular crossover.
A search for the Chevrolet Equinox, a comparable crossover, showed 461 available.
"The automakers have flooded the market," said Reel, owner of Reel’s Auto in Orwell, Ohio, about 40 miles east of Cleveland.
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By the end of 2019, an estimated 12 million low-mileage vehicles are coming off leases inked during a 2014-2016 spurt in new auto sales, according to estimates by Atlanta-based auto auction firm Manheim and Reuters.
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Major automakers have relied heavily on leased vehicles to boost sales of new cars in the last few years. But with anywhere up to 12 million of these relatively low-mileage vehicles due to hit the market over the next three years, they are likely to depress prices and cannibalize new car sales.
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.reuters.com ...
We need another “Cash for Clunkers” program to get these cars off the street before poor people buy them!
Government policy to encourage car sales has a price.
From autotrader searching model years 2014 through 2017
Used Ford Escape for Sale Nationwide Enter Location
18,521 matches
I’m looking for a car right now.
And I’m not joining a “sharing” site.
I want my own ####ing car regardless o what silicon valley wants.
And it’s gonna be fast and eat gas and spit it out :)
In Colorado there are used car sales by all of the major rent a car name brands. Hertz, Avis, Budget, to name a few. Usually, 1 or 2 years old and 18,000 miles to 45,000 miles. Big discounts for 1 year old cars.
Did that here in California. Bought a one year old Toyota Corolla from Hertz with 39K miles. According to Edmunds and Blue Book it was about 3K under market price.
2015 I got in an accident, the used market was functionally dead. Cars with 50,000 miles on them selling for only a couple grand less than new. Which worked out well for me as I opted to spend the extra 3 grand got a new car with the maintenance for life and massive warranty. But then it feeds into the normal cycle, with all those new cars being sold then they’ll be a glut of used cars, which will dump new car sales, which will hurt the supply of used cars a few years later, which will drive up new car sales... Lather, rinse, repeat. That’s how life works.
That’s the legacy of “Cash for Clunkers”.
Who makes a stick SUV?
jeep. My kid has a Patriot. Does that count?
It’s no wonder that new cars/trucks aren’t selling. Auto parts are through the roof and here’s something to think about if you get into an accident with a late model vehicle.
A Land Rover headlight costs $2500 (each)
Chev Silverado headlights cost over $1500 (each)
Tailgates over $2000 (2017)
Chrome Truck rear bumpers assy over $1200
The problem with the ex-fleet cars is that they tend to be low on features. I calculated one time that with the discounts the large fleet operators get, they are probably selling them for close to what they paid for them. The advantage is that they generally have a good maintenance history and you don’t have to worry about odometer roll backs or disconnects.
Weren’t they complaining that Americans have too much debt from auto loans. We have a 24 year old car and we keep it running by maintaining it. A new timing belt and clutch are due. Heading to the shop tomorrow. Best of all, we own it and no loan.
Then there's the part where these highly over-engineered, digital-primadonnas whacks out and can't be fixed...even by the dealer.
Save your money and buy the simpler, older vehicle of your choice, fully rebuilt by....AN AMERICAN.
The best part is that it has the older 4.0 liter V6 in it and not the newer, smaller CAFE-compliant ones that are being forced down the consumers' throat.
It's the first vehicle I've ever owned that I would actually be pissed off if something happened to it.
I don’t care how many miles your “rebuilder” vehicle has...as long as it’s not falling apart from rust.
Most any standard shift, pre-2000 vehicle should run and be reparable forever. Just pick a different running-system every couple of months and tackle it (brakes, suspension, fuel, AC etc) Pretty soon you’ll run out of things to fix.
Or you could build an “old” pickup on a new chassis (minus most of the computerized foolishness). I like the older EFI and coil-pack (wasted spark) ignition, but that’s about it.
A few stick shifts across all the models.......
http://www.cartalk.com/blogs/bestride/these-are-all-manual-transmission-cars-available-today
Many good used cars were destroyed by that ass clown Perz with his ‘Cash For Clunkers’ fiasco.
In some states they are titled as previous rentals thus depressing their value.
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