NO MARKET FOR USED CARS

Vanity | 10 January 2003

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

I've noticed that a lot of used vehicles are for sale everywhere. A LOT of nicer later-model vehicles are for sale and they're not moving very fast. SUVs sitting there week after week are NOT selling. Cars are NOT selling. One used car lot near here put out some used Mercedes Benz cars for around $4000 apiece and then moved them off of the lot and now has put them back on the lot (hoping someone would think they sold, I guess). What's the situation elsewhere?

[Badray]

" Their own greed bit them in the ass."

What greed are you referring to?

[Mad Dawgg]

"I'll never buy another new car."

Bingo! I've a friend who is constantly broke. He and his wife never have money to go out to eat or to the movies and have to borrow money to go on vacation.

We both have businesses but his wife works for someone else because his business can't support the both of them.

He asked me how we managed to have all the extra cash we do to go out and such.

I said I can show you easy. I walked him outside to his garage and pointed at his brand new 2002 SUV and his 2002 Checy 3/4 ton pickup truck. He buys new cars every two years his wife and kids wear the latest cloths from Abercrombie and Fitch and replace their wardrobes every season.

Some people have no clue on how to use money.

[mombonn]

The 2-3 used car market right now is flooded, and that is where the best buys are. I'll never buy another new car.

You and me both - I bought a '99 Cougar last summer, and am thrilled to death with it.

[jriemer]

If you have enough cash to buy a used car without financing, the used car is cheaper.

That advice applies new or used cars.

The rub is that even in a good economy most Americans don't have enough cash to buy a car outright in cash. Rather than waiting until we have the money in our pocket, we have been fooled that we can afford that car with the ploy of "easy financing". For instance, a 5% five-year car loan on a $25k car works out to be nearly $7k in interest paid to the bank. So the car effectively costs $32k.

Even at 0%, if you miss a payment - you could be bumped into a loan a much higher intrest rate or have your car reposessed.

jriemer

[duk]

I'm still driving my 1986 toyota pickup. I keep looking in the newspaper for used vehicles and have noticed a huge increase in the number of trucks/suv. Still to high in price for me to pay cash. I'm debt free. Parts for my old truck are cheaper then a monthly payment!
Upper Pennisula of Michigan

[toddst]

. . . .with the new emission rules, a lot of older cars simply won't pass muster. Look for failed stickers if emissions are required.

We don't have those goofy emissions testing rules and don't see them on the horizon as long as the "econazzis" aren't given more power. Sorry you have to put up with such nonsense.

[Middle Man]

Plus new car buyers will see their ad valorem tax and auto insurance bills jump. Kinda takes the thrill out of 0% financing.

[weikel]

Are you anywhere near Northbridge? (Whitinsville)

Never heard of it he got anything that works for 1500?

[jocon307]

Thank you for posting this, it makes A LOT of sense. I'll have to discuss this w/hubby, as we are seriously considering selling my '95 beloved Saturn to the kid, who is now old enough to drive, and getting a new (to us) car for ourselves. I like your thinking on this very much. Hate to take on that monthly nut now, tho' but if the recently used are flooding the market, the even older used should be that much cheaper.

Free Republic, news you need, when you need it!

[woodyinscc]

"I'll never buy another new car."

I just retired after 38 yrs in the industry.
The biggest depreciation on a new car %wise is when you drive it off the lot. The best buys are lo milage 1 yr old models(not demos) A lot of banks even give the same interest rate as new on yr old models. You are exactly right.

[cactusSharp]

the reason is new car financing...from zero to 5.9 percent with 60 months verses a used car at 8 to 29 percent
and most require a major down payment and some only finance for 48 months as well

also mediocre credit is able to buy Ford's with
suspect credit for zero down and zero interest

[Dinsdale]

Whatever you do don't buy a ford (unless it's a tractor...ford makes good tractors...that was something nice, right ma?).

[Alex Murphy]

Incentives offered by automakers make buying new irresistable.

Anti-incentives like higher vehicle taxes, registration fees, and insurance rates make keeping cars longer very irresistable for me. If I bought a new vehicle for $20,000, the combined increases in taxes and insurance coverage would be about equal to what that atractive car payment would be, even with a 0.0% interest from the automaker.

Shell out $500+ a month for a new car? It's cheaper to keep a clunker running after it falls out of the Kelly Blue Book listings.

[samuel_adams_us]

Why pay 12% on a used car when you can get 5.5 at
www.peoplefirst.com?

[Phantom Lord]

The market is dictating the sale of these cars as it always has. The seller(s) is asking too much money for them. Period.

[cactusSharp]

mkt is full of em at 11 to 12 k

[TejasRose]

I repeat DO NOT buy anything from Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth

Well.....my husband has a '91 Dodge Dakota with 180,000 miles on it. I would say it has served him pretty well! :-)

[rintense]

Help me here. Show me the math. I'm a novice when it comes to buying a car.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Never heard of it...

...he got anything that works for 1500?

Dunno. Probably. 877-HAR-BROS.

[Wright is right!]

"You and me both - I bought a '99 Cougar last summer, and am thrilled to death with it."

And you got the stick shift and are driving all those adolescent boys NUTSO there in Mason MI. There's something about a gal who's adept at a real transmission. BTW, Bonnie, weren't you going to post some PICTURES?

Michael