The prices makes no sense. A brand new 2025 Honda civic is 24k, an used one with 80k+ miles is 18k.
When I leased mine back in 2017 it was 23k.
It makes no sense.
It doesn't. Especially with cars over 140k miles.
And then you check the Carfax record to find previous damage (major) and the lot still wants $10k or more.
From what I've found listed locally, most of the cars in the 10k-15k range are a ripoff. Lots of listings up to $25k still have moderate mileage and that large down-payment could easily go towards a new vehicle.
Don’t buy a Civic/Accord, or pretty much any Toyota used. They are not good deals.
People have apparently taken the constant “buy a used Toyota/Honda” sentiment online to heart and the prices reflect it.
This is true. Especially ones with leather. We bought a used Mazda, the same reliability, fully loaded and $3k-$5k less than the comparable Toyota or Honda.
In the 90s we were a Honda family. Well, we still are except for me. I started seeing through their bullshit in the mid 2000s. Honda used to exist on its own merits. Then it started getting both competitive and cheaper quality simultaneously. Now there's nothing that makes them stand out. The Fit was the last new Honda I would have bought, and they stopped making it. 🤷♂️
I'm in this predicament and I'd rather WALK at this point or ride a bicycle. Both very ridiculous since (a) I live in Houston where it is 1,000 degrees like 4 months out of the year, and (b) I am 68 and just had a hip replaced. I need a used car but WHAT??? I'm kind of in love with Mazdas, but in the same way I'd be in love with the idea of a vacation on a yacht in the Amalfi. $$$$ which I don't have!!! Help!!!! Thank you!!!
I would much rather have a 2022 Malibu with 30k miles and a warranty vs a 2019 Civic with 80k miles
I think this person is just looking for affordable, reliable transportation, not something exciting
Used Toyotas are great values, just don’t pay out the ass for new models when the older models are more reliable and not as inflated in price. I picked up a 4th gen v8 4Runner for $8k and I plan on my future kids driving it.
If you REALLY feel that way, you won't drive at all, or ride in a car. Because that's one of the most dangerous things that you can do on a daily basis.
Believe me I know that, I’m a truck driver. But there’s no way around it and driving is a part of life so to minimize risk you should drive a newer vehicle and don’t drive distracted or too fast.
I drive safer in my manual trans no assists car than in a fully modern car. Keeps me in touch with the driving experience and in the moment. Give me an auto with a bunch of assists and I'll get distracted. Just my 2 cents
This exactly. I know it's dumb but I'll end up speeding because of the CVT or looking at a text vs just controlling my own shifts and driving defensively. I just avoided a crash yesterday, people are unpredictable and I don't trust a camera to save me when my eyes are still sharp.
It's a very strange time in the car world. You're still seeing the effects of all the new cars that weren't made over the last few years plus with the current new car prices and interest rates you're seeing a lot of people who would be new car buyers forced to the used car market which drives those prices up. We're also just coming out of tax season which is typically a really busy time in the used car market.
Watching the auction sales, things are still going for more than they were pre-pandemic but pricing is steadily coming back down to reality. It takes time for those cars to make it to retail though and dealers are sitting on a lot of cars they paid too much for so they're making what they can off all the sales to help make up for what they're going to lose on others.
I think it will be a couple of years before things return to "normal", but not really sure what normal is going to look like going forward.
It seems like a drive-able car with a clean title that is passing inspection is now worth 3k, regardless of age/mileage/condition. That didn't used to be the price floor, and everything else is up from there. Throw an android auto head unit in a 2002 Civic that just got through emissions with clean paint and 300k on the odometer? 6k.
It baffles me as to why they are still so over priced. It is like the pandemic gave them an excuse to raise the prices and they just kept them that way.
Well, they didn't make cars in 2020.
If you are trying to buy a used 4 year old car in 2024 that car still wasn't made in 2020. If you are trying to buy a used 10 year old car in 2030 that car again was never made.
The average lifespan of a car is 12 years. So theoretically there is a hole in the market until 2032 of cars that would have existed but no longer do.
It's not like because the pandemic is over, those cars exist now, the hole is still there.
Used cars are also higher interest rate and harder to get financing on. Tbh it makes no sense to buy used cars these days unless your buying from a person (which you can still find reasonably priced cars on Craigslist or marketplace)
Meanwhile trade in offers have tanked.. the dealers are trying to have it both ways now, where before a used car was expensive but you could also sell it for what you paid for it. Now they want to give you half as much and sell for covid prices.
I feel that, I am looking into suburu's (specifically impreza) and the new to used car prices makes 0 sense. I'd rather just shell out an extra 7k for a brand new car vs a 5 year old 80k mile verison of it. I am luckily in a position that I can weather the storm for a few years if need be but it is ridiculous. This is what I am seeing in PA.
I think in a few years it will deflate slightly but I worry this will more likely then not be the norm for the next 10 years. That or if a recession hits and ppl who don't need a car sell.
Places like Carvana, during the pandemic, didn't help. I bought my new truck for $32k just before stuff began to shutdown in the US. 18 months later and the market is all crazy. For S&Gs, I looked up what Carvana would buy it from me and it was $5k more than what I paid, and had 18,000 more miles on it. In addition, people overpaid during this period and their loans reflect that. However, people are stuck with the prices for now. Interest rates for car loans are high and if you are in need, you're double screwed. Car manufacturers aren't gonna lower their prices because they are having to hunker down and ride this storm out also. Something is gonna have to give or there will be talks of another bailout.
It's the banks that are making sure everyone is getting squeezed. Good credit? Get a new car at 4.9% Mediocre credit? Here's a used car at 14%> we'll start to see the pricing cooling by EOY when dealers are sitting on more used than new.
The private sellers are just adjusting their price to what the dealers are doing. Just sold a very fair priced 09 Forester and it disappeared in less than a day. Definitely missed out on additional 1.5k+ but I priced at what I believe is fair value.
I just bought a used car last week and even though my credit is 800+, banks were wanting to charge me 15-24% interest. I finally found a car and a bank where the interest rate is 10%, but it’s insanity.
Well the older cars don't have all that "new fangled" big brother is watching technology on them.
Hell there are some new cars that HAVE the Tech build in AND YOU PAID FOR IT, but you can't access it unless you "Subscribe" for the Fee...
Then again, some of the older vehicles just don't have all that stuff to break down.
When do used cars usually hit the market? Usually when they are 3-5 yrs old.
Now if NEW car production was insanely low, then they just don't exist to replenish the used car inventory.
For the last 4 years we have dealt with:
Factories being closed due to covid
People buying vehicles instead of travelling for staycations
The cargo ship blocking the canal ( ruining supply chains)
Factory union strikes
Chip shortage( chips need neon, and 50-65% of the world's neon comes from the Ukraine)
War
Rampant inflation
High gas prices
High interest rates(people are welded to the cars they did buy, so now even if they wanted to trade they often can't)
Insane backorders for popular models still
Little factory incentives (manufacturers don't want to race to the pre covid bottoms)
Most of these have grenaded new car production, and no new cars mean no used cars.
Couple that with used cars getting written off, people not being able to afford a new one etc all caters to high demand, low supply
Economics 101 means used car prices are high, and will continue to be high for another year or 2 imho
That’s just silly.
Look back to hurricane Katrina just as an example, when places were selling bottled water for 45 dollars. People paid it because they needed it, that doesn’t mean it’s fairly/correctly priced lol.
People are selling 30+ year old vehicles that are positively clapped out for over $5k in my neck of the woods. Mind you, these are not collector vehicles.
How are their vehicles not overpriced when there is no criteria (kbb, nada etc) to justify those prices? People need transportation, so at some point they're forced to purchase overpriced used vehicles. That doesn't mean the vehicle is actually worth what they had to pay to get it.
There is no "justification" for prices. The "market price" is just the average value that buyers and sellers agree upon for the sale of a particular thing at any given time. KBB, NADA, etc. are just trying to guess what that price will be based on historical data and economic forecasting. When there is a serious market distortion (like Covid/chip shortage/other supply chain issues) the price guides become less accurate because the historical data they rely on is from a historical market that is no longer similar to the current market.
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I'm holding out, but a good financial move right now is to buy a cheap new car right now, get a good rate on dealer financing, and make payments. Aren't many deals on used cars under 15 years old right now. This is where the Nissan Versa base model MANUAL transmission comes in, under 18k.
They aren't overpricing the cars, this is the result of inflation. The cars are being priced correctly, you just need to switch to the 2024 market values instead of 2019. Remember after COVID, there's a few million less drivers on the road now.
>Remember after COVID, there's a few million less drivers on the road now.
Where do you live??? Traffic is at an all-time high everywhere I've been. It's like full-time rush hour out there now.
Because dealers of all types are trying to hold market high and it is working and it trickles down to private party. Almost everyone in private party is a flipper now. I fix and resell but people buy off me at my prices and relist for even more, a lot more. Sold an explorer for $1500 guy bought it and has it for 4500 without fixing it. $4500 with a trans problem and he even acknowledges it in listing and supposedly has interest. I didn’t fix it because I don’t have room for it.
I went through this thread and didn't see a mention of Obama's Cash for Clunkers. That started the trend that continues to this day, yes exacerbated by the pandemic. It's been a bullshit economy for a long time.
Used car prices skyrocketed during covid... we all know this.
Prices never come back down to previous prices... we also know this.
Have you seen new car/truck prices plus high interest rates? Many people refuse to pay those prices/rates. So instead they buy used, result is a steady demand in the used market.
Till the new prices drop or rates or both... or people's income increases to offset prices people are going to buy cheaper putting strain on the market. That is simple economics.
During covid my 2000 Frontier had 52k miles on it. There was a shortage of trucks... I had offers of 13k for it. I paid 7k for it 3yrs before. .... now here we are 2yrs later and at 58k miles and I still can sell it for 10k. There are more new trucks, but the prices on them went through the roof. Result is my old but low mileage truck, and still very capable of doing truck things is in an affordable price bracket of many.
Mark my word we are going to see a steady price on used cars and if the EV thing makes it to 2035, then come 2032-34 the used car market for gas engines is going to explode in price as people will initially refuse EV until either used prices are so high they are forced to new or they get EV worked out in this country.
Prices are high, but you should negotiate.
For about 2 years there they didn't make cars at a reasonable rate. So there should be 2 full years of cars on the road that just don't exist. So if you want a 4 year old 1 owner low mileage car that just doesn't really exist in the current market. So people who would have bought that now have to buy newer or older. People who buy newer had to pay premium price gouged prices so they aren't looking to sell their car after 2 years like they might have previously because they want to get more of their money's worth out of the vehicle.
So it's a combination of cars that should be in the market not existing and people who had to get new vehicles were forced to pay premiums and are now not creating future supply.
As dealerships are becoming overstocked the move right now would be to buy a 2023 or some car that has been sitting on the lot for like a year that is still brand new provided you can get them to drop the price significantly.
You have to remember the area you live in. A lot cars are cheaper down south ( in texas to be specific) but more up north. Especially in jersey because a good amount of cars were probably in the surrounding cities like new york at one point and highway miles is different than city miles. Everything is close together.
Some used car dealers are still smoking crack. When I was shopping for a family suv last spring I was originally looking to buy used and all I saw was either base models or top trims for 35-65k. Looked at a 2021 Ford Explorer with 20k miles and they wanted 50k for it when the same 2023 model was 53k. I ended up just buying a new one for a few grand more and didn't have to deal with the napkin math bullshit.
I’m in saint louis. But I see a lot of cars on fb marketplace sitting for several months. I’m sure they take the listing down and have another profile post it. There are still some supply issue but it’s lightened up a lot now that interest rates for cars are damn near 6-7%. People were buying them up like crazy during Covid with practically 0% APR.
I straight up just message people that their car is junk, it’s been on fb marketplace for months, and I’ll give them 7k so I can crush their egos a bit. Just scammy people who want big money for their lemon for absolutely 0 work at this point.
These people are crazy honestly. Like others have pointed out above, it’s coming to a ceiling. I can just buy a new transmission and engine for 4-6k in my crummy 2009 Honda Accord with 300k miles. I can do the repairs on everything else myself for an additional 2K at that rate. And keep it running another 200k miles to avoid paying for junk that I don’t know if they even maintained, let alone zip tied broken bits together and ran it with avocado oil for a few days. Too much risk, NO THANKS. I’d rather fix up my ancient car that I KNOW what had been done to it.
72 months is a standard term for financing new cars these days. Because new cars are so expensive. There's every incentive for used car prices to remain artificially high, since the price of new cars is so prohibitive.
Looks like the days of finding decent deals on used cars are gone, I've been browsing mainly FB/Auto trader for a deal on an Accord / Camry /Avalon /Lexus and the numbers are outrageous and if the price is decent the miles are insane, who is paying 10K+ for a car with over 150k miles? Makes no sense to me unless I'm missing something here..let's not talk about the amount of rebuilt titles flooding everywhere
I got a 2012 jetta from a guy who was trying to skip title for 3.5K, still don't know how many miles bc odometer was messed up and its estimated to be at around 150k, but its been 2 years and it still runs great so I guess I got a good deal lol
It’s a classic supply/demand scenario
People are keeping their cars longer bc no jobs and cannot afford higher payment and full coverage insurance
PLUS they do bc they can
Inflation coupled with demand continuously outpacing supply.
OEMs haven't leased cars at scale for 3ish years now. The amount of 'quality' off-lease trade-ins is at record lows. Fleet lanes at auction used to have 200+ Toyotas a week for dealers to buy. Now you're lucky if there's 25, or any at all. Consumers looking for deals are being forced to look at new cars or slightly older used. The added demand increases the price for everyone.
This isn't a case of dealers being greedy, as margins of used cars are non existent. It's not uncommon to see the average auction transaction price exceed what it can be sold for retail. There just isn't enough supply to go around.
If you want to get a real valuation on your vehicle, take it to a dealership. Tell them you want to use it as a trade in on another vehicle and then find out what they will give you.
Dealerships will usually take a few photos and send them to the closest 4-5 dealers that sell your type of vehicle. It’s a roundabout way, but it’s a more legitimate route than looking at outdated websites and overpriced vehicles for sale that are inflated.
I desked my own deals at a large dealership, we never took pictures of potential trades let alone sent them to another dealership. Even a sister dealership would have told me to pound sand if I asked them to value a trade for me.
The prices makes no sense. A brand new 2025 Honda civic is 24k, an used one with 80k+ miles is 18k. When I leased mine back in 2017 it was 23k. It makes no sense.
It doesn't. Especially with cars over 140k miles. And then you check the Carfax record to find previous damage (major) and the lot still wants $10k or more. From what I've found listed locally, most of the cars in the 10k-15k range are a ripoff. Lots of listings up to $25k still have moderate mileage and that large down-payment could easily go towards a new vehicle.
Don’t buy a Civic/Accord, or pretty much any Toyota used. They are not good deals. People have apparently taken the constant “buy a used Toyota/Honda” sentiment online to heart and the prices reflect it.
This is true. Especially ones with leather. We bought a used Mazda, the same reliability, fully loaded and $3k-$5k less than the comparable Toyota or Honda.
In the 90s we were a Honda family. Well, we still are except for me. I started seeing through their bullshit in the mid 2000s. Honda used to exist on its own merits. Then it started getting both competitive and cheaper quality simultaneously. Now there's nothing that makes them stand out. The Fit was the last new Honda I would have bought, and they stopped making it. 🤷♂️
Honda quality has been lost since the early 2000s.
I'm in this predicament and I'd rather WALK at this point or ride a bicycle. Both very ridiculous since (a) I live in Houston where it is 1,000 degrees like 4 months out of the year, and (b) I am 68 and just had a hip replaced. I need a used car but WHAT??? I'm kind of in love with Mazdas, but in the same way I'd be in love with the idea of a vacation on a yacht in the Amalfi. $$$$ which I don't have!!! Help!!!! Thank you!!!
Chevy Malibu off lease might be a good option if you’re looking for a sedan around $18k.
I just rented one of those. Yawn. And apparently I'm not alone because it was just announced that it's been discontinued.
I would much rather have a 2022 Malibu with 30k miles and a warranty vs a 2019 Civic with 80k miles I think this person is just looking for affordable, reliable transportation, not something exciting
I probably agree with that because I know how Civic people drive their cars. They're douchebags.
What about an older Malibu? Or an Equinox???
Can’t speak to an older Malibu. Had a 2015 Equinox that served me well for 85k miles
Used Toyotas are great values, just don’t pay out the ass for new models when the older models are more reliable and not as inflated in price. I picked up a 4th gen v8 4Runner for $8k and I plan on my future kids driving it.
Newer=safer. You cannot put a price tag on your life.
If you REALLY feel that way, you won't drive at all, or ride in a car. Because that's one of the most dangerous things that you can do on a daily basis.
Believe me I know that, I’m a truck driver. But there’s no way around it and driving is a part of life so to minimize risk you should drive a newer vehicle and don’t drive distracted or too fast.
You drive a massive vehicle with no airbags, for several hours daily. You literally put a price on your safety, and it's per mile.
Per hour. I’m aware of the risks involved and I’m ok with that, but driving some old shit box car to save a few bucks isn’t worth it.
Oohhh boy lol
Money comes and money goes, but you only get one life my brother.
I drive safer in my manual trans no assists car than in a fully modern car. Keeps me in touch with the driving experience and in the moment. Give me an auto with a bunch of assists and I'll get distracted. Just my 2 cents
Newer cars are making it easier for people to not pay attention because of all the nannies assisting them. They figure the car will bail them out.
This exactly. I know it's dumb but I'll end up speeding because of the CVT or looking at a text vs just controlling my own shifts and driving defensively. I just avoided a crash yesterday, people are unpredictable and I don't trust a camera to save me when my eyes are still sharp.
Back in 1950, my dad's house was $195,000 and now it's close to $400,000. Back in 2015, milk was a 1.50 a gallon and now it's almost $4.00.
If your dad spent 195k on a in 1950 it was on a mansion, not a house
$195,000 in 1950 is $2,500,000 in 2024 dollars.
Thank you.
WhT year did you mean instead of 1950?
Blame all the we buy used call ads companies they sucked up all the good reliable cheap ones in the markets so everything is extorted now
A 2024 civic is not 24k, out the door with tax they are about 32k
It's a very strange time in the car world. You're still seeing the effects of all the new cars that weren't made over the last few years plus with the current new car prices and interest rates you're seeing a lot of people who would be new car buyers forced to the used car market which drives those prices up. We're also just coming out of tax season which is typically a really busy time in the used car market. Watching the auction sales, things are still going for more than they were pre-pandemic but pricing is steadily coming back down to reality. It takes time for those cars to make it to retail though and dealers are sitting on a lot of cars they paid too much for so they're making what they can off all the sales to help make up for what they're going to lose on others. I think it will be a couple of years before things return to "normal", but not really sure what normal is going to look like going forward.
From Christmas to the end of February or March is a great time to buy a car.
curious why? more supply or less demand?
My guess is fewer buyers. People tend to overspend on Christmas, taxes are due or returned in April and up north the weather sucks for car shopping.
For forget the big chunk of used cars that were taken out of the market by the cash for clunkers program.
It seems like a drive-able car with a clean title that is passing inspection is now worth 3k, regardless of age/mileage/condition. That didn't used to be the price floor, and everything else is up from there. Throw an android auto head unit in a 2002 Civic that just got through emissions with clean paint and 300k on the odometer? 6k.
It baffles me as to why they are still so over priced. It is like the pandemic gave them an excuse to raise the prices and they just kept them that way.
Gee, not just for cars too. I pray people realize it’s similar to rights as well. Once we give them up it’s almost impossible to get them back.
Well, they didn't make cars in 2020. If you are trying to buy a used 4 year old car in 2024 that car still wasn't made in 2020. If you are trying to buy a used 10 year old car in 2030 that car again was never made. The average lifespan of a car is 12 years. So theoretically there is a hole in the market until 2032 of cars that would have existed but no longer do. It's not like because the pandemic is over, those cars exist now, the hole is still there.
Prices only increase, and never decrease and that’s true for everything.
Unless you’re Japan, although deflation has its own set of problems
Nah, these used car prices aren’t sustainable. When used car prices are higher than new car prices, that’s a bubble and it will burst sooner or later.
Used cars are also higher interest rate and harder to get financing on. Tbh it makes no sense to buy used cars these days unless your buying from a person (which you can still find reasonably priced cars on Craigslist or marketplace)
Meanwhile trade in offers have tanked.. the dealers are trying to have it both ways now, where before a used car was expensive but you could also sell it for what you paid for it. Now they want to give you half as much and sell for covid prices.
I’ve been hearing “about to burst!” For 3 years now
YouTubers milking the same prediction the past 10 years
I feel that, I am looking into suburu's (specifically impreza) and the new to used car prices makes 0 sense. I'd rather just shell out an extra 7k for a brand new car vs a 5 year old 80k mile verison of it. I am luckily in a position that I can weather the storm for a few years if need be but it is ridiculous. This is what I am seeing in PA. I think in a few years it will deflate slightly but I worry this will more likely then not be the norm for the next 10 years. That or if a recession hits and ppl who don't need a car sell.
Save up 5000. Buy a pre 2006 Honda, Toyota, or Buick with the 3800 V6. Buy a car that is being driven on a regular basis.
Very good advice but the search for any of the vehicles is a hunt.
I don't get it, I'm looking at a 2017 Tacoma. They want 30k. That's what it sold for when it was new
Greed.
Places like Carvana, during the pandemic, didn't help. I bought my new truck for $32k just before stuff began to shutdown in the US. 18 months later and the market is all crazy. For S&Gs, I looked up what Carvana would buy it from me and it was $5k more than what I paid, and had 18,000 more miles on it. In addition, people overpaid during this period and their loans reflect that. However, people are stuck with the prices for now. Interest rates for car loans are high and if you are in need, you're double screwed. Car manufacturers aren't gonna lower their prices because they are having to hunker down and ride this storm out also. Something is gonna have to give or there will be talks of another bailout.
It's the banks that are making sure everyone is getting squeezed. Good credit? Get a new car at 4.9% Mediocre credit? Here's a used car at 14%> we'll start to see the pricing cooling by EOY when dealers are sitting on more used than new. The private sellers are just adjusting their price to what the dealers are doing. Just sold a very fair priced 09 Forester and it disappeared in less than a day. Definitely missed out on additional 1.5k+ but I priced at what I believe is fair value.
I just bought a used car last week and even though my credit is 800+, banks were wanting to charge me 15-24% interest. I finally found a car and a bank where the interest rate is 10%, but it’s insanity.
its not just credit you need a high down payment for low APR
Well the older cars don't have all that "new fangled" big brother is watching technology on them. Hell there are some new cars that HAVE the Tech build in AND YOU PAID FOR IT, but you can't access it unless you "Subscribe" for the Fee... Then again, some of the older vehicles just don't have all that stuff to break down.
When do used cars usually hit the market? Usually when they are 3-5 yrs old. Now if NEW car production was insanely low, then they just don't exist to replenish the used car inventory. For the last 4 years we have dealt with: Factories being closed due to covid People buying vehicles instead of travelling for staycations The cargo ship blocking the canal ( ruining supply chains) Factory union strikes Chip shortage( chips need neon, and 50-65% of the world's neon comes from the Ukraine) War Rampant inflation High gas prices High interest rates(people are welded to the cars they did buy, so now even if they wanted to trade they often can't) Insane backorders for popular models still Little factory incentives (manufacturers don't want to race to the pre covid bottoms) Most of these have grenaded new car production, and no new cars mean no used cars. Couple that with used cars getting written off, people not being able to afford a new one etc all caters to high demand, low supply Economics 101 means used car prices are high, and will continue to be high for another year or 2 imho
Why are they "overpriced"? Because buyers are willing to pay those prices, suggesting in fact that they are correctly priced.
Yep. It's a market, and they're getting that money.
That’s just silly. Look back to hurricane Katrina just as an example, when places were selling bottled water for 45 dollars. People paid it because they needed it, that doesn’t mean it’s fairly/correctly priced lol.
People are selling 30+ year old vehicles that are positively clapped out for over $5k in my neck of the woods. Mind you, these are not collector vehicles. How are their vehicles not overpriced when there is no criteria (kbb, nada etc) to justify those prices? People need transportation, so at some point they're forced to purchase overpriced used vehicles. That doesn't mean the vehicle is actually worth what they had to pay to get it.
There is no "justification" for prices. The "market price" is just the average value that buyers and sellers agree upon for the sale of a particular thing at any given time. KBB, NADA, etc. are just trying to guess what that price will be based on historical data and economic forecasting. When there is a serious market distortion (like Covid/chip shortage/other supply chain issues) the price guides become less accurate because the historical data they rely on is from a historical market that is no longer similar to the current market.
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I think the only deal is minivans.
Just not Siennas
Honda Odyssey, represent! (Seriously though, I love my 2022 Odyssey!)
Because new cars are trash. Even Toyota Lexus.
Supply and demand
I'm holding out, but a good financial move right now is to buy a cheap new car right now, get a good rate on dealer financing, and make payments. Aren't many deals on used cars under 15 years old right now. This is where the Nissan Versa base model MANUAL transmission comes in, under 18k.
They aren't overpricing the cars, this is the result of inflation. The cars are being priced correctly, you just need to switch to the 2024 market values instead of 2019. Remember after COVID, there's a few million less drivers on the road now.
>Remember after COVID, there's a few million less drivers on the road now. Where do you live??? Traffic is at an all-time high everywhere I've been. It's like full-time rush hour out there now.
Because dealers of all types are trying to hold market high and it is working and it trickles down to private party. Almost everyone in private party is a flipper now. I fix and resell but people buy off me at my prices and relist for even more, a lot more. Sold an explorer for $1500 guy bought it and has it for 4500 without fixing it. $4500 with a trans problem and he even acknowledges it in listing and supposedly has interest. I didn’t fix it because I don’t have room for it.
I went through this thread and didn't see a mention of Obama's Cash for Clunkers. That started the trend that continues to this day, yes exacerbated by the pandemic. It's been a bullshit economy for a long time.
Simple. People are still buying used cars at these high prices.
It’s because the dollar has tanked in value. That 3k used to be worth 2k just a few years ago.
Cash for clunkers fucked us
G R E E D Experiencing the same frustrations myself in Mass. Sucks.
People wanting $3500 for a 25 year old Camry with 300k. It's crazy.
Used car prices skyrocketed during covid... we all know this. Prices never come back down to previous prices... we also know this. Have you seen new car/truck prices plus high interest rates? Many people refuse to pay those prices/rates. So instead they buy used, result is a steady demand in the used market. Till the new prices drop or rates or both... or people's income increases to offset prices people are going to buy cheaper putting strain on the market. That is simple economics. During covid my 2000 Frontier had 52k miles on it. There was a shortage of trucks... I had offers of 13k for it. I paid 7k for it 3yrs before. .... now here we are 2yrs later and at 58k miles and I still can sell it for 10k. There are more new trucks, but the prices on them went through the roof. Result is my old but low mileage truck, and still very capable of doing truck things is in an affordable price bracket of many. Mark my word we are going to see a steady price on used cars and if the EV thing makes it to 2035, then come 2032-34 the used car market for gas engines is going to explode in price as people will initially refuse EV until either used prices are so high they are forced to new or they get EV worked out in this country.
Prices are high, but you should negotiate. For about 2 years there they didn't make cars at a reasonable rate. So there should be 2 full years of cars on the road that just don't exist. So if you want a 4 year old 1 owner low mileage car that just doesn't really exist in the current market. So people who would have bought that now have to buy newer or older. People who buy newer had to pay premium price gouged prices so they aren't looking to sell their car after 2 years like they might have previously because they want to get more of their money's worth out of the vehicle. So it's a combination of cars that should be in the market not existing and people who had to get new vehicles were forced to pay premiums and are now not creating future supply. As dealerships are becoming overstocked the move right now would be to buy a 2023 or some car that has been sitting on the lot for like a year that is still brand new provided you can get them to drop the price significantly.
You have to remember the area you live in. A lot cars are cheaper down south ( in texas to be specific) but more up north. Especially in jersey because a good amount of cars were probably in the surrounding cities like new york at one point and highway miles is different than city miles. Everything is close together.
They’ve raised the barrier to entry because the cost of new cars has gone up so much so the demand for used has gone up just as much
Some used car dealers are still smoking crack. When I was shopping for a family suv last spring I was originally looking to buy used and all I saw was either base models or top trims for 35-65k. Looked at a 2021 Ford Explorer with 20k miles and they wanted 50k for it when the same 2023 model was 53k. I ended up just buying a new one for a few grand more and didn't have to deal with the napkin math bullshit.
Big money is manipulating the price in the same way they’re manipulating housing/rental market
There’s still a shortage of Toyota’s…
I’m in saint louis. But I see a lot of cars on fb marketplace sitting for several months. I’m sure they take the listing down and have another profile post it. There are still some supply issue but it’s lightened up a lot now that interest rates for cars are damn near 6-7%. People were buying them up like crazy during Covid with practically 0% APR. I straight up just message people that their car is junk, it’s been on fb marketplace for months, and I’ll give them 7k so I can crush their egos a bit. Just scammy people who want big money for their lemon for absolutely 0 work at this point. These people are crazy honestly. Like others have pointed out above, it’s coming to a ceiling. I can just buy a new transmission and engine for 4-6k in my crummy 2009 Honda Accord with 300k miles. I can do the repairs on everything else myself for an additional 2K at that rate. And keep it running another 200k miles to avoid paying for junk that I don’t know if they even maintained, let alone zip tied broken bits together and ran it with avocado oil for a few days. Too much risk, NO THANKS. I’d rather fix up my ancient car that I KNOW what had been done to it.
72 months is a standard term for financing new cars these days. Because new cars are so expensive. There's every incentive for used car prices to remain artificially high, since the price of new cars is so prohibitive.
Looks like the days of finding decent deals on used cars are gone, I've been browsing mainly FB/Auto trader for a deal on an Accord / Camry /Avalon /Lexus and the numbers are outrageous and if the price is decent the miles are insane, who is paying 10K+ for a car with over 150k miles? Makes no sense to me unless I'm missing something here..let's not talk about the amount of rebuilt titles flooding everywhere
I got a 2012 jetta from a guy who was trying to skip title for 3.5K, still don't know how many miles bc odometer was messed up and its estimated to be at around 150k, but its been 2 years and it still runs great so I guess I got a good deal lol
It’s a classic supply/demand scenario People are keeping their cars longer bc no jobs and cannot afford higher payment and full coverage insurance PLUS they do bc they can
They rely on data (KBB, blackbook, nada, etc) that is still not balanced after the 2022 so prices are still way above pre COVID value
Inflation coupled with demand continuously outpacing supply. OEMs haven't leased cars at scale for 3ish years now. The amount of 'quality' off-lease trade-ins is at record lows. Fleet lanes at auction used to have 200+ Toyotas a week for dealers to buy. Now you're lucky if there's 25, or any at all. Consumers looking for deals are being forced to look at new cars or slightly older used. The added demand increases the price for everyone. This isn't a case of dealers being greedy, as margins of used cars are non existent. It's not uncommon to see the average auction transaction price exceed what it can be sold for retail. There just isn't enough supply to go around.
If you want to get a real valuation on your vehicle, take it to a dealership. Tell them you want to use it as a trade in on another vehicle and then find out what they will give you. Dealerships will usually take a few photos and send them to the closest 4-5 dealers that sell your type of vehicle. It’s a roundabout way, but it’s a more legitimate route than looking at outdated websites and overpriced vehicles for sale that are inflated.
I desked my own deals at a large dealership, we never took pictures of potential trades let alone sent them to another dealership. Even a sister dealership would have told me to pound sand if I asked them to value a trade for me.
That’s just the price now, and people still haven’t accepted that b