Here's why car prices are at record highs - and rising

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Car dealer lots have only a fraction of the vehicles that they typically have -- both new and used. It's helping send prices to record levels.

The average new car price was $37,200 in the first quarter, according to JD Power, up 8.4% from the same period just a year ago.

About half of car buyers are paying within 5% of the sticker price, according to JD Power stats, with some even paying above sticker. About two million more car buyers this year will end up paying that close to sticker price than a couple of years ago.

Wholesale prices for used cars sold at auction are up 26% since the start of this year, according to other data from JD Power. Retail used car prices are up a more modest 7% in the same period. That's also a significant jump for this time of year, and the higher wholesale prices are pointing to bigger increases on the way.

-more-

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/here-s-why-car-prices-are-at-record-highs-and-rising/ar-BB1fT0DJ

[elleng]

1. Sorry to hear it, as I'm right at the point when I have to get one;

my OLD car appears useless now.

[Shellback Squid]

2. if you have a car you want to sell, it's a good time

[TheBlackAdder]

3. I bought a mint 2018 Civic with 19K miles for $12,000 two months ago.

.

If you have someone who leases a car, most dealerships will allow a friend or relative to buy out the vehicle.

This is a little known trick and only scumbag dealers resist this.

The benefit is that the person leasing the car does not have to return it spotless and the buyer buys as is.

.

[elleng]

4. Interesting; didn't know that.

THINKING of leasing.

[mitch96]

12. Some mfg's have time frames that you can buy out a persons lease..

I bought out my friends lease on a 2017 Prius. Toyota rules say if it's within 6 mos of the termination the car can't be transferred, so you have a 2 1/2 year window to buy out a Toyota lease. Other mfg have different rules.The good news was that it was just a $200 fee and I took over the payments.
She is a snow bird and the car only had 16,000 miles and it was 2 1/2 years old. I got a taste of the hybrid life and it was not for me.. I'll wait.
When it was time to turn it in the dirtbag dealers wanted all these "fees" to turn it in... ahh bullshit.
I went to carmax and carvana. They would take the car as is and no fees. Carvana came out on top giving me $5000 above my lease buy out so I was happy with that...
The bad news was that the new car I bought, the dealer screwed me on the "out the door" price.. they lied. They all lie... Car dealerships are as low as whale shit and that sits at the bottom of the ocean.. I really dislike them and their tactics.. ymmv
m

[Tree Lady]

5. My daughter is manager of large Honda dealer

She said they normally sell 350 cars a month. Last month was 365. She had to hire more office help. Lots of paperwork. We both thought it was people getting stimulus money. Nice for her on top of a good base salary she gets $10 per car sold. She is doing well!

[DFW]

6. I wonder if it's the same where we live

I bought my car new 8 years ago, but only have about 20,000 Km on it. I think my wife has driven it more than I have because hers is older, and is under repair more. Hers is about 13 years old with about 160,000 Km on it, but it has so many replacement parts in it that it is 3/4 new already.

She drives up to see her mom about every 2 weeks, which is a strenuous 2.5 hour drive, but there is no public transportation to her mom’s village. She also drives the 2:20 hours down to Königstein to see our daughter on a regular basis. I usually use mine to go to local medical appointments, the train station, or the airport, none of which is more than 20 minutes from our house. If these are not our last cars, they are surely our last-but-one cars unless we end up leaving Germany some day, in which case we will get all electric vehicles. There are really only 3 countries that we would consider, anyway: Holland, Switzerland, or the USA, and all 3 are electric vehicle friendly.

[Dawson Leery]

7. A terrible investment just got worse.

[MissB]

8. I may sell my car soon

Carmax says they’ll buy it for about $2k less than I paid for it. It’s a 2015 with low miles (think: granny barely drove it, but I’m not a granny...)

Dh and I both work from home. I can use his vehicle if I want to go somewhere.

Ultimately we are looking at an all electric but we can also go down to one car for awhile. We’ve done it before.

[Mr.Bill]

9. The lease on my 2018 Nissan Sentra

runs out in another 60 days. It only has 18K miles on it because we've been mostly staying home. I'm going to buy it for 9.5K, a number that was fixed when I signed the lease. I could sell it in a heartbeat for 15K. I'm going to keep it, though, because replacing it would cost too much right now, and I like the car.

[elleng]

11. Good.

Thinking of leasing a Corolla, and likely won't accumulate a big # of miles; might buy it 'later.'

[mitch96]

14. I know some people with low milage leases just sell the car to carvana/carmax with no fee's

With low miles and in fairly decent shape you can walk away from the deal with cash in your pocket. Then use the new found $$ to put that money down on a new lease. This way you can get a "new"car every three years.
m

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. I keep on being utterly astonished at that average cost of a new car.

I can't begin to imagine paying that much. In recent years my cars have been late model used cars, but even those are not that pricey when new.

My current car is a 2017 Honda Fit I purchased in 2018.

[Luciferous]

13. Glad I bought mine a month before the shutdown!

[elleng]

15. Leased a Corolla today,

as going nuts without car; 'old' '93 Camry wagon MIGHT have many more than 180,000 miles of life, but mechanic not sure of reason for 'issues' that keep popping up, and as I can't get it to a 'master' auto mechanic and won't take it on the road with questions (even IF it starts,)decided to get something new. Cost of buying too much for my monthly budget, so I've done it. (Thanks to folks here for discussing relevant issues.)

It WORKS!

[WarGamer]

17. congrats! I'm sure she'll deliver carefree service and good gas mileage.

[elleng]

18. Thanks.

Have lots of gas credits from grocery store, but doubt I'll need much very soon; don't plan to drive far (so likely won't exceed mileage allotment.)

[WarGamer]

19. We had a '12 Corolla, only traded it in because we needed a Prius (wife drives 30k a year)

[WarGamer]

16. Everything is expensive

Just spent $90 at the grocery store for 2 bags plus 3 12pk's of Coke.

[Jeebo]

20. I think it's nuts to buy a car now ...

... unless you REALLY need one. I'm driving a 2015 Nissan Versa Note, it's a fine car, there's nothing wrong with it, it has 49,000 miles, and in the Age of Covid I'm not going anywhere anyway except running errands around town. The last time I was more than 25 miles from my house was March 11, 2020. And while I was writing this, the lower case "h" key just quit working on my computer. Beginning with that last sentence, I'm having to copy-and-paste that letter from earlier in this same post. Maybe I'm going to have to buy another computer. One more reason not to spend money on a new car.

-- Ron

[dsc]

21. I hope my car lasts to see prices go back down

I have 180k miles on it but since COVID I do very little driving. That will change soon though and thus I will have to buy. I likely can last until the fall but not much longer.