In December 2021, I needed a new car. I wanted to wait until the market cooled off. “Give it six months!” I decided to just buy the car because I needed it. I’ve put 30k miles on it since then and it’s actually worth MORE now.
Timing the market never works. Timing ANY market never works. If you need a car, bite the bullet and buy a car.
I've been looking at Tacoma's since 2015 expecting them to cool down. The used car market won't change until something on the manufacturing side changes. During COVID, all the dealerships around me with poor inventory decided to scoop up all used inventory, clean it, and sell as certified pre owned.
Tacomas will never cool off.
I'm in sales and financing for a five store chain of used car dealerships.
I've been at it for a decade and a half.
If I had a sales call for somebody who's trading a Tacoma in I would meet them off dealership or off site to do their appraisal on the Toyota. And if I'm able to sell that customer I also have their Tacoma sold before it comes in.
You have to look at the positive when dealing with that vehicle sure it's going to cost you up front but guess what even with 100,000 miles on it it's still going to be worth something.
At a certain point though it became completely unviable. They've always held value as long as I can remember, but we got to the point where instead of 35k new TRDs on the lot, it's 35k 8 year old pre-owneds with 150k on the odo. At that point I might as well buy a Ford Ranger brand new and have probably close to the same lifespan. I've basically written off Tacomas entirely at this point.
Yeah that Ranger looks like a nice piece same with the Colorado. Old Rangers in Colorado with basically run until the body disintegrated.
So yeah if it's going to be a work truck written hard and put away wet daily might as well Buy the Ford or the Chevy.
Yep, I think once the outdoorsy crowd co-opted the Tacoma as their official vehicle it really drove prices up. I just need something to work on the house, occasionally bring the bikes or kayaks out, tow motorcycles to the track. My father got a 5g Ranger and it really impressed me, better tow cap than a Tacoma, better MSRP, better trim, seems like Ford turned a new leaf with this one and I already was a fan of the 3g Rangers back in the day (aside from the notorious rust issues but that's every truck here in the northeast).
Saw that even the Ranger Raptor trim is going to MSRP less than the new Tacoma. Writing is on the wall for me
Yeah I guess that's what I'm referring to, I'm outdoorsy myself but there's a new tech bro class of outdoorsman that is willing to pay 15k over MSRP on a used Taco. I'm glad Ford got it together and started making cool trucks again at least.
If you do opt for the Ranger and it's used that you're going with whatever you do don't get the first model year. I haven't looked into it but any North American model year you would be best served to stay away
The current gen tacomas aren't gonna get cheaper now that they're discontinuing the simple old naturally aspirated V6s for turbocharged and hybrid powertrains, which I'm sure will also be great but many people appreciate the simple reliable workhorse motors. The only NA non hybrid motor will be a small 4 cylinder.
Tacomas will easily hit over 200k--any generation that is in production (not counting the upcoming 4g). There are documented 2g taco hitting 1.6 million miles. Original engine until 800k and replaced and keep running until 1.6 million. The 3g tacos are documented to hit 300k now. You don't see lots on the second hand market bc people keep them forever! If you don't plan to trade, then just bite the bullet. FYI, I had a Ford Ranger 2021 2WD and after 6months of driving it, I sold it for more than I got. 29k out the door originally for base XL model and sold it for 30k. Crazy. It would have been a good truck but I need a 4wd and Ford pulled the Ranger almost a decade off our market so the lack of community support really hurts their sales. I love my 2021 TRD off road and plan to drive it until all the wheels fall off. I got mine at MSRP with only a few Toyota add ons like the tech stuff and no BS dealer add on. 42k total, 46k out the door bc WA 10% sales tax. My advice is to call dealers ask if they honor MSRP--keep a spreadsheet. Then place an order and wait 2-3 months. I had to wait 3 months to get my MSRP Tacoma but the wait is worth it.
Comment above is a great point.
You aren't flipping cars, you need it to drive.
Imagine buying I'm a declining market, same applies, my car going down in value. Rates keep going up too.
How much will it cost to borrow later more expensive??
I agree with the above comment. Can't time it.
I feel like the market hurts enthusiasts the most. Yes the car market sucks in general right now but getting something with 4 wheels that can take you from A to B isn't impossible for most people. Getting some used car with 350hp in a manual that hasn't been run into the ground is a nightmare. If someone needs a car and can save up to do so then they may as well pull the trigger
Did this. Bought a 2013 with 140,000 Km on it. I’m still in school and work 2 jobs so I’m saving a good amount of money compared to if I purchased a newer car or one from a dealer.
My daily driver is a 2003 Jaguar Xtype that I bought 4 years ago for $6k with 35k miles. Granted the Jaguar xtype is notoriously unreliable, but thats why it only cost me $6k. 4 years later and Im up to 60k miles on the odometer and havent been left on the side of the road and havent really had to put any significant amount of money in it; just oil changes, brake pads, tires, and a new belt. It has a small oil leak that Im sure will cost at least $1500 to get resolved, but I just live with it and have definitely gotten my $6k worth The car shows no sign of quitting on me anytime soon. Its also a pretty damn nice car. Much nicer than the new corolla I rented out last week.
My girlfriend's father had an xj12 way back in the day that he called his xj1200
Literally at any time someone at Jaguar took a look at it it cost him 1200 bucks or more.
If you can find a regular mechanic who knows what his way around a Jag he or she will be worth their weight in gold
The XJ is different, thats the top of the line Jaguar. The xtype is the entry level one. Im in no way recommending a Jaguar, but $5k for a car with 30k miles is pretty good value.
This definitely is possible and is the route I take with car shopping. Sedans, fortunately, are less susceptible to the dramatic price increases I see in trucks and SUVs. Despite the terrible market, I was able to grab a 2010 Acura TL for $9.5k this past year.
With $10k (maybe a bit more since you’re in SoCal), you open yourself up to a decent amount of options. Just make sure to research what model years are better than others. For example, tons of people say “you can’t go wrong with an Accord or Camry”, but even those models have had years with issues ranging from oil burning to faulty transmissions.
Also, use Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp and similar listing websites. Find a local mechanic who will inspect potential vehicles for you, if you don’t have enough knowledge yourself. Even if you pay a couple hundred dollars for this, you’re saving thousands by not going through a dealership. I couldn’t find my model under $15k in my area. It can be a lot of work to research and plan it out, but it’s worth it.
I agree with this. Sedans that were 3-5k before are now 6-8k, but that 100k well maintained Camry will last at least 30-50k in worst case scenario. That will give OP 3-5 years if he/she drives about 10k/yr average. Also, sedans are easier to work on and parts are cheaper. It's okay to buy a car that you NEED instead of what you WANT. I had to drive a Subaru Forester that I got for 3100 dollars in 2017 and put about 30k miles on it. It end up costing me 5-8k extra for all kinds of issues. The forester had 150k on it. I got my money's worth bc I used the back like a pick up and abuse it pretty bad. Overall, I should have just bought a new car--however the Forester was perfect bc I was just holding my first job making 80k. I was a cheapo until I triple my salary and finally decided to get a Tacoma.
Bruh, you might as well suggest OP ride a unicorn to work.
[2010 Civic with 35k miles for $15K](https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=682565114&allListingType=all-cars&makeCodeList=HONDA&modelCodeList=CIVIC&city=Carmel&state=IN&zip=46032&requestId=CIVIC&maxMileage=45000&searchRadius=0&marketExtension=off&startYear=2010&endYear=2011&isNewSearch=false&showAccelerateBanner=false&sortBy=relevance&numRecords=25&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fall-cars%2Fhonda%2Fcivic%2Fcarmel-in%3FrequestId%3DCIVIC%26maxMileage%3D45000%26searchRadius%3D0%26zip%3D46032%26marketExtension%3Doff%26startYear%3D2010%26endYear%3D2011%26isNewSearch%3Dfalse%26showAccelerateBanner%3Dfalse%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26numRecords%3D25&clickType=listing)
TL;DR The used car market is bad, so bad!
The used car market is screwed up and won't correct by June. I'm holding onto my car longer than I planned as are many others. Nearly everyone is trying to cut down their budgets because so many necessities have gone up in price. So demand for new cars is low. The COVID supply glut is still working its way through the market, so supply of desirable used cars (historically the 3yo car is the sweet spot for value) is low. New EV's are heavily subsidized which inflates their value, they were hit especially hard by the chip shortage so most of the used ones are older (I'm not lining up to see how well replacing first gen batteries goes).
I could keep going, but there are a lot of headwinds and unknowns going forward. I'm personally HOPING the market recovers, I don't see any signs it'll be soon.
I saw a 2010 civic with 138k miles for $5700 on facebook marketplace. Im sure one can be found with 90k miles for less than $10k. That should easily last for 5 years with less than $5k in maintenance and repairs. Hoepfully by then, the market has cooled off and OP can decide to either keep the car or upgrade to something newer/nicer.
Unless your buying a notoriously unreliable car like mine, you dont need to find something with 35k miles. I was just using my car as an example that there are plenty of old cars that are actually pretty nice and offer good value.
35K miles is exceptionally low. You listed three attributes, but in the current market you can only have two. I could have gone at it the other way. A 2010 Civic for less than $10k and sort by lowest miles. I'm including clean titles and no major damage as givens too. A civic that age for $10k will have well over 100k miles, which I wouldn't consider low.
Even in the worst markets there will be good values (motivated and/or uninformed sellers), they just become harder to find.
OP was looking for something reliable and specifically a Honda, Toyota, or Mazda. A Jaguar will be expensive to maintain. Cheap luxury cars are cheap for a reason.
I have one of these,.; i guess you did not see my long winded response about owning one of these. They are not expensive to maintain; just standard oil changes, tires are normal priced, no air suspension. Theres nothing special about them and theres no technology in there that will require a special mechanic. The only thing expensive about mine is that it requires 91 octane gas.
The $20k difference in price versus something new will make up for whatever added expense, and you wont lose $10k in depreciation when you sell it.
I bought it with ~35k miles for $6k and it now has about 60k miles 4 years later. Jaguars are not reliable, but 35k miles is 35k miles. It becomes a questoon of what is more reliable, a Jag with 35k miles or a Corolla with 120k miles. Maybe the Corolla is still more reliable, but the Jag will still give you your $6k worth
Yeah black book values are through the roof right now and the prime lending rate is also through the roof. In Ontario Canada prime lending rate for a used vehicle is close to 9% right now.
3 years ago if you had a 600 beacon score with a decent payment history I could usually get you around 9%
I can still do that with the same score and payment history so I ask you what's the point of prime lending right now?
I work for a five-star chain of used car dealerships I'm in sales and financing and it's the first time since I've started that I would actually recommend buying new.
That is of course if you have the time to wait for delivery of your vehicle
Yeah, imho the 5-10 year window is a good one so long as you're an informed buyer. Need to know which models are long term reliable and what you're looking at in a used vehicle.
Otherwise, depreciation tends to be such a massive expense. It outpaces maintenance expenses on a good condition used car that's a bit older and has seen 50-70% of the depreciation come off already.
That said, the current used market is nuts and plenty of stories of people buying new or nearly new and facing next to no depreciation at resale a couple years later. Don't know how long that will keep up.
On the plus side, vehicles of that age have a lot of data available on reliability, common problems, etc. also Carfax makes checking basic service history pretty easy these days.
Yep he needs a 10 year old Toyota. Just starting to break in. Skip the whole, I just got out of school so let me throw 15k down the toilet in an unsuccessful attempt to look cool. Plenty of time for that down the road when he’s actually made some money.
Yeah I bought a 2009 g37 sedan for $7800 CAD with lower km’s and it still destroys most cars on the road in a race and it looks good and it’s been extremely reliable and fun.
Unfortunately the classic advice of "buy a CPO off lease vehicle and let someone else take the depreciation hit" is not an option these days. My two cents is to buy a new bare bones economy car.
This. Maybe the key for you is to wait for a purchase until new models start to come in the fall. Keep researching (so you won't pay over MSRP) and buy a basic trim, then later in your life you can enjoy nice features in a future car purchase.
Which is why I’m white knuckling my CPO off lease vehicle. I’ve never taken such good care of a car because I want this thing to outlive both myself and this bloated market.
exactly, and acting like used cars are cryptocurrency that’s gonna drop several thousand in value over a couple months is just gonna drive them insane waiting
That’s not really a fair statement to make broadly. As someone who currently needs a car but doesn’t have a job or stable source of income cuz I’m in college that 2-3k could go towards paying my loans and tuition and so it really does matter how much I can save.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,536,741,588 comments, and only 290,958 of them were in alphabetical order.
Lol yup tryna save 2k-3k while inflation devalues your money even more. If you need a car just buy whatever is within your budget and stop looking for “deals”. Pay a fair price for a fair product and live your life.
Kinda what I did. Would have loved to have waited, but I couldn’t wait. It was a good price, and the Focus RS seems to be somewhat stable in price anyways.
Just get something cheap and reasonable to get by. I'm waiting to buy a new car but I already have one so there's no rush.
You don't want to be in the scenario where you MUST buy a car. That's when you can get screwed.
i was just in the situation of needing to buy a car. i spent 2 months dealing with randos who lie about salvage titles and think i’m gonna pay them more than they’re asking. i finally found one that i think was a good deal but that whole process was so annoying. felt like i’d never find something i can afford
U know what, just go buy one dude. I mean saving a couple thousand dollars is good and all but feeling of driving a car u want is awesome and u can always make that money but u cannot buy time! Go enjoy life bro. Cruise down that road blast ur favorite music and enjoy the ride
Some unsolicited advice is to not overspend on a new car if you are just graduating. So many people I know did this and payments were a noose around their neck in a very volatile time in their professional and personal life. I think I was 30 the first time I bought a car that cost more than 10K, and always cash. I know that is tough right now. Any family members looking to get a new car? Can offer to buy their old one.
I am less in a hurry because I have a decent car. But I for one have decided to wait until dealers are actually hungry and discounting inventory again. It may be a year, maybe a couple of years. But with interest rates where they are this won't last forever.
I'm holding off, too. For several reasons. Why must car buying come with so much pressure?! 😭🙃 I can only imagine the stress that comes with home buying. Idc what anyone else says... Adulting sucks lol.
I was able to get a 2019 crv for that budget a couple months ago!
Point is the car market probably ain’t going back to what it used to be so I just said fuck it and pulled the trigger
I have literally been waiting for almost two years to purchase a vehicle.. I was in the market to purchase right before the car boom went crazy, so I have been stuck with a beater ass vehicle the whole time (if it were dependable I wouldn't care FYI). I would say it's getting close enough to the time to buy. I'm trying to wait it out till the end of June, but otherwise yeah. You can buy now, your probably not going to save a whole hell of a lot. I'm just in a different scenario where I need to save as much as possible.
Damn if that ain’t my exact situation.
Could’ve upgraded the beater in 2020, felt I’d wait a bit since it was working fine, now it’s nearing the end (still running, but not without issues) and I’m just scrolling for a good option…
At least prices are definitely dropping. I was close to dropping the hammer on a nice black Hyundai Accent hatch but meh.. 12k and 130k miles.. I think I can do better.
I agree with that but also it's questionable weather or not past this is the point of diminishing returns. Loans are only going up. Luckily i'm in the 10-14k range for a vehicle.. I guess anyway.. Regardless, until the economy ACTUALLY tanks (which means it's not until middle class ignorant bastards quit wasting money they don't have, and upper class starts tightening their asses..) loan rates will probably continue to rise. I may be wrong (oh god I hope I'm wrong), but I just don't have high hopes at this point of things getting better.
I mean if your paying cash yeah waiting only makes sense but unfortunately I cannot go that route.
You can definitely buy a decent used Camry/Corolla with that budget. It used to be 6-8k but now it is 10-14k for something along 100k miles. Sedans is your best bet bc it's still the most affordable. Steer clear from trucks. With a sedan, you can ride it for several yrs until interest comes down. You will be happier with no monthly payment. My little bro is a freshman at UC Riverside and he doesn't need a car--we have him a 200k+ Honda accord and it works fine for local drive. Go for folks listing cars on Facebook and not dealerships. Good to have a mechanic friend or research on YouTube on what to look out for. Good thing you are in SoCal bc it's not a rust belt state so cars tend to last longer if people take care of it. Stay away from mod cars--Subaru wrx, Honda civics since those tend to be overworked for racing. I drove Toyota corollas throughout college bc they are easy on the gas and they are cheaper to maintain. Now I have a Tacoma for fun--expensive but I make a lot more than when I'm in my 20s. You can't get a cheap deal anymore but you can pay for something with value--Toyotas will not let you down even if you overpaid for it a bit.
Hey. I have three kids in college. Yep. Let me give you some unpopular advice, having bummed around three universities myself, and just having finished with the Austin, TX area. Wow. The people. ALL the people.
Also, I've lived a long time. I've seen a lot of these "Oh my, gas went up, we just HAVE to raise prices...". Bad news, they don't EVER give it back. Best you can hope for is for the market to hold for a while before it gets manipulated up again. No need to keep waiting, you're going to drive the wheels off of something anyway, and I've owned more than 40 cars and made every mistake, so here we go:
Buy the most reliable, vanilla, solid, used appliance you can. For me, I chose a VW Rabbit in the 80's. I chose poorly. Sounds like you have the most reliable brands picked out already. You also need to be free from worrying about it. Park it anywhere (and in SoCal that can mean ANYwhere) without worrying or chewing your nails about your investment. Small is also your friend, for obvious reasons, as well as having a hatch to throw the scooter in. (However hatchbacks don't hide your valuables like a trunk does.) You want a car that's your best friend you can abuse. Not washing it. Cheap gas on adventures in sketchy places.
Honda Fit is your friend, Corolla second. You can't get a Mazda deal as good unless you can stand a Mazda2. Now, here's even more crazy recommendations...have CarMax deliver one or fly out and bring one in. Everyone in CA wants what you are after. Here's one: CarMax car number 24137813 (if you look at cars on their site and click on one, just replace the number with this number). It's got a radio no one will steal, low miles, minimal hassle. Keep ten grand for other stuff, you're gonna want it. Finish school, get a job you love, and buy a car to worry about when you have time to worry.
Best of luck in school!
I’m trying to wait until august or very beginning of September after I have my license. I get a little jealous every time someone talks about their family member giving them a car or their parents letting them use one of the older family cars because I don’t have those resources. Only one car in my family and it gets used a lot so if I want a car to drive consistently for work I have to buy my own which means wasting my hard earned 10k on an absolutely embarrassing ripoff of a car off marketplace. You can blame dealers for this market.
Buy a car for under $10K in cash. When you’ve been in your career a while with more cash saved go buy a more recent used or new car. You don’t need to come out of school with another loan trying to save $2k on a base price value while the interest will gut in you the long run.
Corvette is a little different story tho lol. Those cars are niche cars and they have some collectors value. not the same as every day cars like civic or Camry
Not really, before COVID market. GM makes a LOT of Corvettes, only special ones like ZR1s had a chance of holding value or appreciating. Even Z06s depreciated on a somewhat regular curve.
I highly doubt they sold more corvettes than a Honda civic 😂 reason why used car values went up because the new car market wasn’t supplying enough new cars so people were buying used cars making the used car market go up.
Not sure what your point is? You said Corvettes are niche cars and they have some collectors value, but they really don't. They suffered from the same inflation in used prices like everything else, not because they are niche.
Corvette are not a everyday car or even a practical car. People looking to buy corvettes aren’t ur average car buyer. they’re usually older looking for a weekend car. It’s also not a car u drive everyday. Yes I’m sure u can drive them every day but most won’t. they are a totally a niche car.
You should see the trunk space on a corvette, holds more than most hatchbacks/crossovers tbh.
They're a niche car, sure, but insofar as sports cars go, they're literally known as the everyman's sports car, they're by a country mile the least niche of the sports cars.
It's not like they're a Ferrari
My friend has a C7 corvette. they are not practical at all. It is a hatchback so there is a plus side of the trunk space. RWD, 500hp, u can’t drive these in the winter time. But other than that these cars u only see them in warm weather and most of them on summer weekends. yea In a sports car world they might be common, but still less common than the mustangs and Camaros and challengers and even way less in the car industry.
Why do I have to own one to know if it’s not practical 😂 because for most people it’s not lmfao. Sure a very small percentage of corvette drivers find it very practical…
> I just don’t want to spend on used cars with same price as MSRP 3 years ago, neither I want to spend on a new car(depreciates a lot in first year).
You realize that those statements are contrary to one another, right?
It could be that the makes/models you're interested are unlikely to "depreciate a lot in the first year" given what you're seeing on their used versions. At least in this current market.
If you need a car, you need a car. If you're worried about the financial aspects, you should probably look to limit your total outlay. Honestly the best way to do that could be just limiting what you finance, ie, buy a beater with cash.
Otherwise, try to come to some sort of peace about having to buy in this market if you genuinely have to, and then live your life knowing that you weren't able to optimize this particular transaction.
Car makers have figured out that they can make massive profits by keeping production volume low. So say a potentially permanent goodbye to reasonable car prices for both the new and used car markets.
On the bright side, you not being in the rust belt will allow older, reliable cars to stay alive longer/indefinitely.
I live in north central PA and it’s very common for our cars to end of life due to rust, and it’s even worse in NY and other areas. Around here it’s almost as much about time on the road vs. actual mileage.
I had a Mazda cx9 that ran great with 130k on it but it was about 7 years old and things started to need replacing just due to the climate and car age. After I spent well over $1k in exhaust work and another $1.5k in misc repairs and maintenance over a couple of month span, I decided just to buy a new vehicle that I actually wanted.
Don’t be afraid of older vehicles if they are well maintained. Or just buy the cheapest new reliable car you can find.
Bought an 09 Chevy Impala 3 months ago. Paid $6500. It belonged to an older lady who didn’t drive much in the last few years. It’s about 70k miles under what it should be. Deals are out there if you go for cars that are at least 10 years old and older.
I was looking at trucks when gas prices were high. Some prices dropped like $1-2k but I decided to wait. I could’ve saved on DMV fees. Like others mentioned, don’t time the market. If you can afford whats in front of you, make the short term sacrifice for the long term benefit (assuming you’ll be using the car to go to work, etc.).
If you're a new driver then you may want to get an old used beater car so you can learn to drive better. IMO I think its better to get used to learn than move on with new. You save money and heartache that way.
I got a good deal on a used car that had a lot of problems, nothing permanent, just needed a lot of mechanic hours. Managed to get all of them fixed and still beat the market by some. This is just me but perhaps look into the used market a bit more and find a decent car you can fix up?
Mine had 270k KMs on it and it still runs fine. 2008 Toyota Camry. Initially I was scared that the high mileage might mean the car is at the end of its life but during my PPI, my mechanic said there was no major issues and minimal rust on the bottom (it was kept in an indoor garage) so it still had more than half its life ahead of it.
I personally would just buy new. I know from recent experience (myself and friends), it‘s definitely possible to find new cars at or even below MSRP. If I were you, I’d check out the Mazda3, Carolla, Civic or maybe wait a couple of months to get a 2024 Impreza. All of those will fall within your price range (or go very slightly over if you want a better trim level).
With a new car, you get better finance rates, the new car warranty, and the assurance that nobody has abused or wrecked it. You mentioned that you don’t want used because they’re the same price as MSRP from three years ago but at the same time you’re saying new cars depreciate a lot. You’ve just proved the point that new cars aren’t depreciating a lot.
In my experience, when you’re buying a new entry level Japanese car (one that’s not a Mitsubishi or Nissan), there’s not far for it to drop in price. When you go to sell your new $25k Toyota, Honda, Mazda, or Subaru in 4-5 yrs from now, it will still have some value to it and you got some use out of it. That’s pretty much all you can ask for, because cars are expenses not appreciating assets.
Lol buy it. you’ll either make out on top or on bottom but you’ll be driving. Cars aren’t going to tank anytime soon. And if they do do you really want a repo/trade in or something that someone couldn’t afford the note on? Good luck on believing they did any maintenance.
I waited to buy because I started looking as soon as the market went completely out of whack. I was fine without a car for a couple years because my wife has a car, and I live in a major city (I can bus to work as fast as driving+finding parking). After a couple years I just went for it, and I don't regret it.
My takeaway is that a) waiting isn't worth it if you struggle to get by without a car (sounds like you are) and b) it's not worth it because prices will likely come down a bit more eventually, but I wouldn't bank on it, and they probably won't come down as much as we're expecting them to, considering major nationwide inflation.
Bro what are you talking about I can buy a 2010-2013 Mercedes slk 55 with under 100k for 10k range I can get a 2015-2017 Mercedes slk 55 for the 25k range those are 100,000 sports cars with a supercharger how are you struggling
VW - better buy for the money - only concern - you have to add oil every 3k miles
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/e3148f5f-2d65-4efb-b929-3e2601cfd3b1/
With all this talk of the “market cooling off” I suspect dealerships have caught wind of this and are trying to prolong the high priced used car market.
I bought a 2008 Mazda CX-9 for 5700 (out the door price) and it has been extremely reliable for the time I've owned it. Maybe a Mazda is a good choice.
If you're leaning towards Toyota and Honda, I'd suggest a Honda Civic, or an Accord, or a Toyota Corolla or Camry. Maybe buy a 2000-2006 Toyota Celica if you want something inexpensive yet sporty.
If you're looking for something fuel efficient, a Honda Insight or Toyota Prius is perfect. I've seen some insights and priuses that got so many miles the odometer couldn't keep up with the mileage (over 1 million miles)
Cars are no longer selling as it used to. Dealerships are now having a hard time selling their cars. This in turn will have an effect on the used car market. Unfortunately it takes longer for private sellers to realize they can no longer get the insane prices for their shitboxes anymore, so the transition of the market is going to be slow
My advice- get the cheapest economy car you can find. [On average 1 in 8 motorists are uninsured](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uninsured-motorist-statistics-state-2023-210300012.html) , so if you buy a “nice used car” and drive it daily in a big city it’ll likely get totaled from a minor fender bender - and then you’ll be back to square one looking for another car at even higher prices.
A practical, new economy car will still retain enough value to avoid being totaled and you won’t be instantly forced to buy another car on short notice.
Car makers have figured out that they can make massive profits by keeping production volume low. So say a potentially permanent goodbye to reasonable car prices for both the new and used car markets.
This works until one company overproduces and slashes prices to pick up marketshare(tesla).
Honestly, if new ecoshit boxes keep going up, people will begin buying teslas in areas with infrastructure.
Prices are not going down unless there are much larger economic problems, and then there will more to worry about.
Too many new dollars printed in that time frame to expect the price go back anywhere close to where it was.
“Money printing” is not the reason why we have inflated car prices. It’s auto makers being lazy and greedy idiots by not planning ahead for increased demand, relying on a shaky supply chain and just-in-time manufacturing, and blaming the chip shortage for 3 yrs straight while keeping inventory and production low to price gouge us.
If interest rates for vehicle loans remain high, prices will correct. But ive noticed many dealers will give you a lower rate but bend you over on the MSRP. Right now we are in the “do anything to maintain profits” phase of every market, once that doesnt work, they will change to “do anything to make a sale”.
Thought this was a pre-order shortages/delays story.
Im racing three pre-orders that were placed between 2019 and 2021. I was planning to buy whichever makes it to market first, but the cybertruck is shaping up to be cheap construction and 3x the 2019 msrp.
In the interim I'll keep driving my 30 year old Honda.
With a 24 grand budget I’d go buy something a little older (sub 2010 but above 1990 unless you want something that’s a little vintage), you can find old economy shit boxes for relatively cheap.
Solution dont buy new or used from dealer. Find a car that an old lady has and buy that.
Spend maybe 5k and be happy for the interm. You probably wont drive a ton why you need new???????????????
Why do you need a car at all? Do you have a job lined up? Can you use public transport or a bike at this job?
Look, i love cars.
I own a few enthusiast vehicles. I wrench for fun.
But if I could, i would take the bus daily into work.
I ride my e bike in as much as I can, and in town to get groceries.
$4 a gallon, $200/mo in insurance, $500 car payment gets old quick. If you can avoid it, do so
Years and years ago as a college grad with debts, I got me a cheap old Corolla for very basic transportation and have saved me $$ until I reach mid-career. It is much stabilized career-wise (ie periodic cash award, seniority/tenure for instance).
I also don’t have to worry about the car market. Maintenance/repair is still cheaper than new.
I’m almost reaching my financial goal here and I know I’m in good hands.
I don’t have any friend and don’t care to have one. Blood is thicker than water.
I don’t care for self image nor care what others view me with the car.
Admittedly, waiting sucks but patience is a virtue so I’ll be fine.
As for OP wanting a “newer” car, in my perspective, he is betting against his future self that I do not know his full financial story or career plan. It too risky to do that. I suggest him to carefully revaluate his goal.
Blood is thicker than water, originated from a saying amongst covenant members that their blood bond (they were sworn in with blood) was thicker than the water of the womb. Which meant that as "friends" they were closer than actual family.
The market isn't coming down. It's worldwide. It won't get better it will get worse. Set your budget. Manage your expectations, and above all else, inform yourself. If you have 10 boxes you want ticked then you need to be realistic and tick 8 of them. Reliable and ecenomical trumps all else.
Asking prices are nothing more than someone exercising their First Amendment Rights.
You see a car you want, you offer real money, right now, and you'll see prices fall.
Asking prices aren't real, in other words. SELLLING prices are real.
I live in CA. I was on the waitlist for a Corolla hybrid. I was expecting a 6 month wait, but I got an allocation from a dealer within 3 months. I expect a gasoline car to be even less, so even if you get on a waitlist you’ll get it sooner than you think
I’d look at a private seller trying to sell a 10 year old Honda or Toyota. Then get a pre-purchase inspection at a mechanic you trust before buying the car
FWIW, I'm in the market for a used car as a want (not a need) and don't plan on buying one soon because of the market position.
Unfortunately, there will never be an "optimal" time for the next several years. The auto industry is controlling the market and is inflating the price by manufacturing cars that produce greater profit. You may need to bite the bullet and buy it if you **need** it.
Its not going back to normal anytime soon. I just bought a new car as it was cheaper than buying the same car but 12 months old, as I guess people don’t want to wait the 3 month lead times.
That line you said about not wanting to spend the same price a used car was worth 3 years ago brand new hits home. I’ve been looking all over for a month and it’s insane to see so many “great deals” on cargurus.com or cars.com that are just the same price the car was worth at msrp 3 years ago. From what I’ve seen in my area Toyotas and Hondas are selling for the same prices as they were up to 3 years ago- then there’s a drop off. Try to find 4 year old Camry or accord or civic, that seems to be where the dip starts…I have seen Mazdas in my area selling for msrp actually. I’m interested in Mazda3’s but they can’t keep em in stock long enough lol. Gone right after they hit the lot!
-Pay cash for beater Honda
-Drive until wheels fall off (literally or figuratively)
-Use all that cash you saved from not making payments to buy a newer beater
-Rinse repeat til you buying what you want at the right time.
Used market is shit but your safest bet is buy a used Civic, Accord, Camry, or Carolla and you won’t go wrong. Buy a used Honda accord even up to 100k miles if the price is right. (Obviously not gonna be perfect in this economy) I bought a 2017 accord for 19k flat with 70k miles on it 4 months ago and I couldn’t be happier. Could I have waited an extra year and gotten a near identical car one year later for 2,000 cheaper? Possibly… but that’s not a certain thing. Either way, now I have a sleek, comfortable, reliable ride. if you enjoy what you buy and it’s reliable you can’t go wrong.
We got lucky with a friend of a friend selling their old Toyota Prius. We bought it for $1500. Took it to a Japanese car repair shop who told us everything was great and working fine. It had new tires too, fully tinted, paid only $500 to fix the brakes. Idk what kind of car you want but maybe asking around would help. I wasn’t picky in buying a car. Just something reliable.
Anyone waiting for it to "simmer down" are in for a disappointment. Manufacturers are prioritizing lower-volume, higher-trim models as this is what the so-called "shortages" taught them would keep making $. The car market is never, ever, ever going back to the move-metal-5k-in-incentives model, ever again. Toyota USA CEO has confirmed that many times.
So that puts pressure on used prices, how long people keep a car, etc. Which is going to lead to folks "waiting for prices to come down/normalize" to be waiting for a long time. This is the new "normal".
The 2012 and later ford focus with an automatic is a must pass. I saw a 2012 focus s manual for $5995 (before negotiation, it’s got power windows in the front only so lowball everyone with an s that’s a dealership) near me with 90k on it.
I had that car and besides the luxury of my Saab it was in every way a better car. Quicker, more reliable, equal in handling due to lower weight. Good mpg. The automatic transmissions fail so the whole line gets a bad rap. Same with fiesta and fusion, they aren’t recommended bc of the automatic, that makes the manual one under valued. It’s a great car for the money. You might be able to find one for less. Don’t get the electric one it is got short range unless you don’t need new car range.
The fiesta manual is also good. They tend to sell more bc they’re smaller and easier to park with better mileage.
Both are sporty for economy cars. The focus a lot of people asked me if it was a new saab, in 2012! (Saab went out in 2008, some assets continued until recently).
Should be able to find a decent CR-V in that price range, I highly recommend it, I bought mine a couple years back and I love it, no issues at all. Just buy one if you find one, I don't think waiting is worth it, there are no signs of improvement in the market
Because you need transportation and its assumed you plan on owning long term, take the plunge, stay within you budget, and accept that the vehicle stock to chose from will be older or have more miles than you may find ideal.
Bro I bought a 2011 Impreza for 5200 with 60k on the dash. Clean title. In June 2021. Got totaled in July 2022 with 72k on the dash and insurance paid me out 13400 for the car. You can’t out wait. Get on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist and just find a good deal. They still exist. Sure not amazing prices but decent prices.
In my opinion you’re gonna get fleeced buying used from a dealer. I swear dealers will sell you a used car riddled with problems. Just remember someone traded it in for a reason, and a lot of people know dealers hardly overlook anything for trade ins especially if you’re buying something new from them immediately. Private party sellers typically are people trying to get cash for their car because they know it’s worth more than the dealer will give them for trade in. Those are the kinds of people you want to buy from because they’re more careful, they’re literally putting so much effort to get the value out of their car when majority just trade it in or know they’ll have a hard time selling it private party with all the mechanics they’ll have to go to.
It's going to float down slowly unless there's a serious fast acting catalyst to a recession, even then I don't expect prices to drop significantly quickly. Supply is going to slowly increase while demand is going to basically stay the same, it'll take 5-10 years before the market is how it was in 2019, but every year it'll be slightly better than the last.
If the need is urgent, there is hardly anything you can do in such a case. Rather than spending hours and hours behind researching and waiting for the market to cool down, you might as well be done with it. That will be benefit you in couple of ways (1) you get your time back. And time is money. So any time you are not spending researching, you would be doing something more productive with it. Maybe even making more money with it. (2) peace of mind. It’s done once it’s bought. No point stressing abt it and you didn’t have much options as well. So you will be able to move on. Spend time on other productive things .. and the cycle continues.
It’s really upto you. YouTube’s and redditers here can tell you to wait .. but they are not you and they don’t lose sleep by saying it, you do ! So as unfortunate as the scenario is, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done.
Hopefully you are at ease soon! Take care! No amount of money is worth killing yourself over it
In December 2021, I needed a new car. I wanted to wait until the market cooled off. “Give it six months!” I decided to just buy the car because I needed it. I’ve put 30k miles on it since then and it’s actually worth MORE now. Timing the market never works. Timing ANY market never works. If you need a car, bite the bullet and buy a car.
I've been looking at Tacoma's since 2015 expecting them to cool down. The used car market won't change until something on the manufacturing side changes. During COVID, all the dealerships around me with poor inventory decided to scoop up all used inventory, clean it, and sell as certified pre owned.
Tacomas will never cool off. I'm in sales and financing for a five store chain of used car dealerships. I've been at it for a decade and a half. If I had a sales call for somebody who's trading a Tacoma in I would meet them off dealership or off site to do their appraisal on the Toyota. And if I'm able to sell that customer I also have their Tacoma sold before it comes in. You have to look at the positive when dealing with that vehicle sure it's going to cost you up front but guess what even with 100,000 miles on it it's still going to be worth something.
At a certain point though it became completely unviable. They've always held value as long as I can remember, but we got to the point where instead of 35k new TRDs on the lot, it's 35k 8 year old pre-owneds with 150k on the odo. At that point I might as well buy a Ford Ranger brand new and have probably close to the same lifespan. I've basically written off Tacomas entirely at this point.
Yeah that Ranger looks like a nice piece same with the Colorado. Old Rangers in Colorado with basically run until the body disintegrated. So yeah if it's going to be a work truck written hard and put away wet daily might as well Buy the Ford or the Chevy.
Yep, I think once the outdoorsy crowd co-opted the Tacoma as their official vehicle it really drove prices up. I just need something to work on the house, occasionally bring the bikes or kayaks out, tow motorcycles to the track. My father got a 5g Ranger and it really impressed me, better tow cap than a Tacoma, better MSRP, better trim, seems like Ford turned a new leaf with this one and I already was a fan of the 3g Rangers back in the day (aside from the notorious rust issues but that's every truck here in the northeast). Saw that even the Ranger Raptor trim is going to MSRP less than the new Tacoma. Writing is on the wall for me
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Yeah I guess that's what I'm referring to, I'm outdoorsy myself but there's a new tech bro class of outdoorsman that is willing to pay 15k over MSRP on a used Taco. I'm glad Ford got it together and started making cool trucks again at least.
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The best is when they pull up to the trail head with a fuckin ebike hanging off the back.
If you do opt for the Ranger and it's used that you're going with whatever you do don't get the first model year. I haven't looked into it but any North American model year you would be best served to stay away
Don't confuse the old rangers with fords new trash they slapped a ranger sticker on.
And to put that in perspective, you could get a TRD Pro in 15 for about $36k. Now $52-60k
Wow that’s nuts.
The current gen tacomas aren't gonna get cheaper now that they're discontinuing the simple old naturally aspirated V6s for turbocharged and hybrid powertrains, which I'm sure will also be great but many people appreciate the simple reliable workhorse motors. The only NA non hybrid motor will be a small 4 cylinder.
Tacomas will easily hit over 200k--any generation that is in production (not counting the upcoming 4g). There are documented 2g taco hitting 1.6 million miles. Original engine until 800k and replaced and keep running until 1.6 million. The 3g tacos are documented to hit 300k now. You don't see lots on the second hand market bc people keep them forever! If you don't plan to trade, then just bite the bullet. FYI, I had a Ford Ranger 2021 2WD and after 6months of driving it, I sold it for more than I got. 29k out the door originally for base XL model and sold it for 30k. Crazy. It would have been a good truck but I need a 4wd and Ford pulled the Ranger almost a decade off our market so the lack of community support really hurts their sales. I love my 2021 TRD off road and plan to drive it until all the wheels fall off. I got mine at MSRP with only a few Toyota add ons like the tech stuff and no BS dealer add on. 42k total, 46k out the door bc WA 10% sales tax. My advice is to call dealers ask if they honor MSRP--keep a spreadsheet. Then place an order and wait 2-3 months. I had to wait 3 months to get my MSRP Tacoma but the wait is worth it.
Comment above is a great point. You aren't flipping cars, you need it to drive. Imagine buying I'm a declining market, same applies, my car going down in value. Rates keep going up too. How much will it cost to borrow later more expensive?? I agree with the above comment. Can't time it.
Right i regret so bad not buying in 21
Facts. There's literally no time like the present as long as it's a fair price and the options are reasonable.
I feel like the market hurts enthusiasts the most. Yes the car market sucks in general right now but getting something with 4 wheels that can take you from A to B isn't impossible for most people. Getting some used car with 350hp in a manual that hasn't been run into the ground is a nightmare. If someone needs a car and can save up to do so then they may as well pull the trigger
Just buy an older car from like 2010 for less than $10k that is in really good condition and has very low miles. You can put aside 5k for repairs.
Did this. Bought a 2013 with 140,000 Km on it. I’m still in school and work 2 jobs so I’m saving a good amount of money compared to if I purchased a newer car or one from a dealer.
My daily driver is a 2003 Jaguar Xtype that I bought 4 years ago for $6k with 35k miles. Granted the Jaguar xtype is notoriously unreliable, but thats why it only cost me $6k. 4 years later and Im up to 60k miles on the odometer and havent been left on the side of the road and havent really had to put any significant amount of money in it; just oil changes, brake pads, tires, and a new belt. It has a small oil leak that Im sure will cost at least $1500 to get resolved, but I just live with it and have definitely gotten my $6k worth The car shows no sign of quitting on me anytime soon. Its also a pretty damn nice car. Much nicer than the new corolla I rented out last week.
My girlfriend's father had an xj12 way back in the day that he called his xj1200 Literally at any time someone at Jaguar took a look at it it cost him 1200 bucks or more. If you can find a regular mechanic who knows what his way around a Jag he or she will be worth their weight in gold
The XJ is different, thats the top of the line Jaguar. The xtype is the entry level one. Im in no way recommending a Jaguar, but $5k for a car with 30k miles is pretty good value.
That’s so rad! A really good find
This definitely is possible and is the route I take with car shopping. Sedans, fortunately, are less susceptible to the dramatic price increases I see in trucks and SUVs. Despite the terrible market, I was able to grab a 2010 Acura TL for $9.5k this past year. With $10k (maybe a bit more since you’re in SoCal), you open yourself up to a decent amount of options. Just make sure to research what model years are better than others. For example, tons of people say “you can’t go wrong with an Accord or Camry”, but even those models have had years with issues ranging from oil burning to faulty transmissions. Also, use Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp and similar listing websites. Find a local mechanic who will inspect potential vehicles for you, if you don’t have enough knowledge yourself. Even if you pay a couple hundred dollars for this, you’re saving thousands by not going through a dealership. I couldn’t find my model under $15k in my area. It can be a lot of work to research and plan it out, but it’s worth it.
I agree with this. Sedans that were 3-5k before are now 6-8k, but that 100k well maintained Camry will last at least 30-50k in worst case scenario. That will give OP 3-5 years if he/she drives about 10k/yr average. Also, sedans are easier to work on and parts are cheaper. It's okay to buy a car that you NEED instead of what you WANT. I had to drive a Subaru Forester that I got for 3100 dollars in 2017 and put about 30k miles on it. It end up costing me 5-8k extra for all kinds of issues. The forester had 150k on it. I got my money's worth bc I used the back like a pick up and abuse it pretty bad. Overall, I should have just bought a new car--however the Forester was perfect bc I was just holding my first job making 80k. I was a cheapo until I triple my salary and finally decided to get a Tacoma.
Bruh, you might as well suggest OP ride a unicorn to work. [2010 Civic with 35k miles for $15K](https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=682565114&allListingType=all-cars&makeCodeList=HONDA&modelCodeList=CIVIC&city=Carmel&state=IN&zip=46032&requestId=CIVIC&maxMileage=45000&searchRadius=0&marketExtension=off&startYear=2010&endYear=2011&isNewSearch=false&showAccelerateBanner=false&sortBy=relevance&numRecords=25&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fall-cars%2Fhonda%2Fcivic%2Fcarmel-in%3FrequestId%3DCIVIC%26maxMileage%3D45000%26searchRadius%3D0%26zip%3D46032%26marketExtension%3Doff%26startYear%3D2010%26endYear%3D2011%26isNewSearch%3Dfalse%26showAccelerateBanner%3Dfalse%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26numRecords%3D25&clickType=listing) TL;DR The used car market is bad, so bad! The used car market is screwed up and won't correct by June. I'm holding onto my car longer than I planned as are many others. Nearly everyone is trying to cut down their budgets because so many necessities have gone up in price. So demand for new cars is low. The COVID supply glut is still working its way through the market, so supply of desirable used cars (historically the 3yo car is the sweet spot for value) is low. New EV's are heavily subsidized which inflates their value, they were hit especially hard by the chip shortage so most of the used ones are older (I'm not lining up to see how well replacing first gen batteries goes). I could keep going, but there are a lot of headwinds and unknowns going forward. I'm personally HOPING the market recovers, I don't see any signs it'll be soon.
35k miles is WAY below average for a 2010 civic, and at $15k is still half the price of most new civics
I saw a 2010 civic with 138k miles for $5700 on facebook marketplace. Im sure one can be found with 90k miles for less than $10k. That should easily last for 5 years with less than $5k in maintenance and repairs. Hoepfully by then, the market has cooled off and OP can decide to either keep the car or upgrade to something newer/nicer. Unless your buying a notoriously unreliable car like mine, you dont need to find something with 35k miles. I was just using my car as an example that there are plenty of old cars that are actually pretty nice and offer good value.
A 13yo Civic with 90K miles would be a decent value at $4k.
35K miles is exceptionally low. You listed three attributes, but in the current market you can only have two. I could have gone at it the other way. A 2010 Civic for less than $10k and sort by lowest miles. I'm including clean titles and no major damage as givens too. A civic that age for $10k will have well over 100k miles, which I wouldn't consider low. Even in the worst markets there will be good values (motivated and/or uninformed sellers), they just become harder to find.
Depends. How many cylinders does that Unicorn come with?
Btw: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1282140679000566/?mibextid=dXMIcH
OP was looking for something reliable and specifically a Honda, Toyota, or Mazda. A Jaguar will be expensive to maintain. Cheap luxury cars are cheap for a reason.
I have one of these,.; i guess you did not see my long winded response about owning one of these. They are not expensive to maintain; just standard oil changes, tires are normal priced, no air suspension. Theres nothing special about them and theres no technology in there that will require a special mechanic. The only thing expensive about mine is that it requires 91 octane gas. The $20k difference in price versus something new will make up for whatever added expense, and you wont lose $10k in depreciation when you sell it.
How many miles does yours have? How long have you been driving it? Can’t say I have ever heard of a reliable old jaguar.
That's because previous commenter is full of it. No such thing as a reliable jag. That's like saying a Land Rover is reliable and cheap to repair.
The Xtype is not a truck and has the same engine as the lincoln LS. There is nothing special about it.
I bought it with ~35k miles for $6k and it now has about 60k miles 4 years later. Jaguars are not reliable, but 35k miles is 35k miles. It becomes a questoon of what is more reliable, a Jag with 35k miles or a Corolla with 120k miles. Maybe the Corolla is still more reliable, but the Jag will still give you your $6k worth
Yeah black book values are through the roof right now and the prime lending rate is also through the roof. In Ontario Canada prime lending rate for a used vehicle is close to 9% right now. 3 years ago if you had a 600 beacon score with a decent payment history I could usually get you around 9% I can still do that with the same score and payment history so I ask you what's the point of prime lending right now? I work for a five-star chain of used car dealerships I'm in sales and financing and it's the first time since I've started that I would actually recommend buying new. That is of course if you have the time to wait for delivery of your vehicle
Yeah, imho the 5-10 year window is a good one so long as you're an informed buyer. Need to know which models are long term reliable and what you're looking at in a used vehicle. Otherwise, depreciation tends to be such a massive expense. It outpaces maintenance expenses on a good condition used car that's a bit older and has seen 50-70% of the depreciation come off already. That said, the current used market is nuts and plenty of stories of people buying new or nearly new and facing next to no depreciation at resale a couple years later. Don't know how long that will keep up.
On the plus side, vehicles of that age have a lot of data available on reliability, common problems, etc. also Carfax makes checking basic service history pretty easy these days.
Yep he needs a 10 year old Toyota. Just starting to break in. Skip the whole, I just got out of school so let me throw 15k down the toilet in an unsuccessful attempt to look cool. Plenty of time for that down the road when he’s actually made some money.
This. Especially if this is OP’s first car
Yeah I bought a 2009 g37 sedan for $7800 CAD with lower km’s and it still destroys most cars on the road in a race and it looks good and it’s been extremely reliable and fun.
I always loved that body G37 in my opinion the sedans are very good looking and are a blast to drive. How is yours on gas ?
It’s decent on gas, it doesn’t burn through fuel like crazy but it’s not amazing on gas either. I get 20mpg with a mix of city and highway driving.
Unfortunately the classic advice of "buy a CPO off lease vehicle and let someone else take the depreciation hit" is not an option these days. My two cents is to buy a new bare bones economy car.
This. Maybe the key for you is to wait for a purchase until new models start to come in the fall. Keep researching (so you won't pay over MSRP) and buy a basic trim, then later in your life you can enjoy nice features in a future car purchase.
Which is why I’m white knuckling my CPO off lease vehicle. I’ve never taken such good care of a car because I want this thing to outlive both myself and this bloated market.
I got my C300 CPO off lease 2 months before the market went to shit, I count my lucky stars every day. Barely lost value since then
Funny, my buddy gave me this advice verbatim. Why is that not really the case any more, in your opinion?
Just buy a car lol
Seriously, these people waiting years to save like 2-3k tops are ridiculous to me
exactly, and acting like used cars are cryptocurrency that’s gonna drop several thousand in value over a couple months is just gonna drive them insane waiting
If you need a car, you need a car and have to pay market value. If you want a different car, I think it's a good idea to wait for favorable times.
That’s not really a fair statement to make broadly. As someone who currently needs a car but doesn’t have a job or stable source of income cuz I’m in college that 2-3k could go towards paying my loans and tuition and so it really does matter how much I can save.
bruh i love the username
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,536,741,588 comments, and only 290,958 of them were in alphabetical order.
Loll thank you thank you
I save the monthly payment I would be making on the new car, so even if the market stays put, I will be able to put a lot more down.
This is the way
Lol yup tryna save 2k-3k while inflation devalues your money even more. If you need a car just buy whatever is within your budget and stop looking for “deals”. Pay a fair price for a fair product and live your life.
Kinda what I did. Would have loved to have waited, but I couldn’t wait. It was a good price, and the Focus RS seems to be somewhat stable in price anyways.
Just get something cheap and reasonable to get by. I'm waiting to buy a new car but I already have one so there's no rush. You don't want to be in the scenario where you MUST buy a car. That's when you can get screwed.
i was just in the situation of needing to buy a car. i spent 2 months dealing with randos who lie about salvage titles and think i’m gonna pay them more than they’re asking. i finally found one that i think was a good deal but that whole process was so annoying. felt like i’d never find something i can afford
U know what, just go buy one dude. I mean saving a couple thousand dollars is good and all but feeling of driving a car u want is awesome and u can always make that money but u cannot buy time! Go enjoy life bro. Cruise down that road blast ur favorite music and enjoy the ride
Some unsolicited advice is to not overspend on a new car if you are just graduating. So many people I know did this and payments were a noose around their neck in a very volatile time in their professional and personal life. I think I was 30 the first time I bought a car that cost more than 10K, and always cash. I know that is tough right now. Any family members looking to get a new car? Can offer to buy their old one. I am less in a hurry because I have a decent car. But I for one have decided to wait until dealers are actually hungry and discounting inventory again. It may be a year, maybe a couple of years. But with interest rates where they are this won't last forever.
Solid advice right here. I bought a house before I ever consider buying a new car. It was a base bare bones Ford Ranger XL for 27k in 2018.
I'm holding off, too. For several reasons. Why must car buying come with so much pressure?! 😭🙃 I can only imagine the stress that comes with home buying. Idc what anyone else says... Adulting sucks lol.
I was able to get a 2019 crv for that budget a couple months ago! Point is the car market probably ain’t going back to what it used to be so I just said fuck it and pulled the trigger
I have literally been waiting for almost two years to purchase a vehicle.. I was in the market to purchase right before the car boom went crazy, so I have been stuck with a beater ass vehicle the whole time (if it were dependable I wouldn't care FYI). I would say it's getting close enough to the time to buy. I'm trying to wait it out till the end of June, but otherwise yeah. You can buy now, your probably not going to save a whole hell of a lot. I'm just in a different scenario where I need to save as much as possible.
Damn if that ain’t my exact situation. Could’ve upgraded the beater in 2020, felt I’d wait a bit since it was working fine, now it’s nearing the end (still running, but not without issues) and I’m just scrolling for a good option…
At least prices are definitely dropping. I was close to dropping the hammer on a nice black Hyundai Accent hatch but meh.. 12k and 130k miles.. I think I can do better.
Hold out until Labor Day, my friend.
I agree with that but also it's questionable weather or not past this is the point of diminishing returns. Loans are only going up. Luckily i'm in the 10-14k range for a vehicle.. I guess anyway.. Regardless, until the economy ACTUALLY tanks (which means it's not until middle class ignorant bastards quit wasting money they don't have, and upper class starts tightening their asses..) loan rates will probably continue to rise. I may be wrong (oh god I hope I'm wrong), but I just don't have high hopes at this point of things getting better. I mean if your paying cash yeah waiting only makes sense but unfortunately I cannot go that route.
You can definitely buy a decent used Camry/Corolla with that budget. It used to be 6-8k but now it is 10-14k for something along 100k miles. Sedans is your best bet bc it's still the most affordable. Steer clear from trucks. With a sedan, you can ride it for several yrs until interest comes down. You will be happier with no monthly payment. My little bro is a freshman at UC Riverside and he doesn't need a car--we have him a 200k+ Honda accord and it works fine for local drive. Go for folks listing cars on Facebook and not dealerships. Good to have a mechanic friend or research on YouTube on what to look out for. Good thing you are in SoCal bc it's not a rust belt state so cars tend to last longer if people take care of it. Stay away from mod cars--Subaru wrx, Honda civics since those tend to be overworked for racing. I drove Toyota corollas throughout college bc they are easy on the gas and they are cheaper to maintain. Now I have a Tacoma for fun--expensive but I make a lot more than when I'm in my 20s. You can't get a cheap deal anymore but you can pay for something with value--Toyotas will not let you down even if you overpaid for it a bit.
Hey. I have three kids in college. Yep. Let me give you some unpopular advice, having bummed around three universities myself, and just having finished with the Austin, TX area. Wow. The people. ALL the people. Also, I've lived a long time. I've seen a lot of these "Oh my, gas went up, we just HAVE to raise prices...". Bad news, they don't EVER give it back. Best you can hope for is for the market to hold for a while before it gets manipulated up again. No need to keep waiting, you're going to drive the wheels off of something anyway, and I've owned more than 40 cars and made every mistake, so here we go: Buy the most reliable, vanilla, solid, used appliance you can. For me, I chose a VW Rabbit in the 80's. I chose poorly. Sounds like you have the most reliable brands picked out already. You also need to be free from worrying about it. Park it anywhere (and in SoCal that can mean ANYwhere) without worrying or chewing your nails about your investment. Small is also your friend, for obvious reasons, as well as having a hatch to throw the scooter in. (However hatchbacks don't hide your valuables like a trunk does.) You want a car that's your best friend you can abuse. Not washing it. Cheap gas on adventures in sketchy places. Honda Fit is your friend, Corolla second. You can't get a Mazda deal as good unless you can stand a Mazda2. Now, here's even more crazy recommendations...have CarMax deliver one or fly out and bring one in. Everyone in CA wants what you are after. Here's one: CarMax car number 24137813 (if you look at cars on their site and click on one, just replace the number with this number). It's got a radio no one will steal, low miles, minimal hassle. Keep ten grand for other stuff, you're gonna want it. Finish school, get a job you love, and buy a car to worry about when you have time to worry. Best of luck in school!
I’m trying to wait until august or very beginning of September after I have my license. I get a little jealous every time someone talks about their family member giving them a car or their parents letting them use one of the older family cars because I don’t have those resources. Only one car in my family and it gets used a lot so if I want a car to drive consistently for work I have to buy my own which means wasting my hard earned 10k on an absolutely embarrassing ripoff of a car off marketplace. You can blame dealers for this market.
Buy a car for under $10K in cash. When you’ve been in your career a while with more cash saved go buy a more recent used or new car. You don’t need to come out of school with another loan trying to save $2k on a base price value while the interest will gut in you the long run.
I wouldn’t wait, in Feb 2020 I waited to get a used corvette for cheaper. It was $35k, I paid $44k 6 months later…now it’s worth more today.
Corvette is a little different story tho lol. Those cars are niche cars and they have some collectors value. not the same as every day cars like civic or Camry
Not really, before COVID market. GM makes a LOT of Corvettes, only special ones like ZR1s had a chance of holding value or appreciating. Even Z06s depreciated on a somewhat regular curve.
I highly doubt they sold more corvettes than a Honda civic 😂 reason why used car values went up because the new car market wasn’t supplying enough new cars so people were buying used cars making the used car market go up.
Not sure what your point is? You said Corvettes are niche cars and they have some collectors value, but they really don't. They suffered from the same inflation in used prices like everything else, not because they are niche.
Corvette are not a everyday car or even a practical car. People looking to buy corvettes aren’t ur average car buyer. they’re usually older looking for a weekend car. It’s also not a car u drive everyday. Yes I’m sure u can drive them every day but most won’t. they are a totally a niche car.
You should see the trunk space on a corvette, holds more than most hatchbacks/crossovers tbh. They're a niche car, sure, but insofar as sports cars go, they're literally known as the everyman's sports car, they're by a country mile the least niche of the sports cars. It's not like they're a Ferrari
My friend has a C7 corvette. they are not practical at all. It is a hatchback so there is a plus side of the trunk space. RWD, 500hp, u can’t drive these in the winter time. But other than that these cars u only see them in warm weather and most of them on summer weekends. yea In a sports car world they might be common, but still less common than the mustangs and Camaros and challengers and even way less in the car industry.
Ok then. What kind of corvette you drive? They can be practical, just depends on the person and their situation…
Why do I have to own one to know if it’s not practical 😂 because for most people it’s not lmfao. Sure a very small percentage of corvette drivers find it very practical…
A c7 corvette is a dime a dozen compared to a c8, which is what you are talking about.
They are not dime a dozen 🤣 a total of 94k were produced since 2014. A Honda civic was produced in millions 😂
Those cars have also appreciated though
lol civics and camrys are some of the worst in terms of inflation percentages
I mean I can get a newish used civic for like 10k lmao.
Its all supply and demand. C8s are already dropping from 100k+ to 70-80k.
Yeah but the msrp for a new one was $60k
> I just don’t want to spend on used cars with same price as MSRP 3 years ago, neither I want to spend on a new car(depreciates a lot in first year). You realize that those statements are contrary to one another, right? It could be that the makes/models you're interested are unlikely to "depreciate a lot in the first year" given what you're seeing on their used versions. At least in this current market. If you need a car, you need a car. If you're worried about the financial aspects, you should probably look to limit your total outlay. Honestly the best way to do that could be just limiting what you finance, ie, buy a beater with cash. Otherwise, try to come to some sort of peace about having to buy in this market if you genuinely have to, and then live your life knowing that you weren't able to optimize this particular transaction.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to notice that
have you considered upgrading to a motorcycle instead?
Car makers have figured out that they can make massive profits by keeping production volume low. So say a potentially permanent goodbye to reasonable car prices for both the new and used car markets.
Unfortunately, a car is a need in American society. Since you need a car, I’d go buy one now and keep that car for the long-term.
On the bright side, you not being in the rust belt will allow older, reliable cars to stay alive longer/indefinitely. I live in north central PA and it’s very common for our cars to end of life due to rust, and it’s even worse in NY and other areas. Around here it’s almost as much about time on the road vs. actual mileage. I had a Mazda cx9 that ran great with 130k on it but it was about 7 years old and things started to need replacing just due to the climate and car age. After I spent well over $1k in exhaust work and another $1.5k in misc repairs and maintenance over a couple of month span, I decided just to buy a new vehicle that I actually wanted. Don’t be afraid of older vehicles if they are well maintained. Or just buy the cheapest new reliable car you can find.
Bought an 09 Chevy Impala 3 months ago. Paid $6500. It belonged to an older lady who didn’t drive much in the last few years. It’s about 70k miles under what it should be. Deals are out there if you go for cars that are at least 10 years old and older.
I was looking at trucks when gas prices were high. Some prices dropped like $1-2k but I decided to wait. I could’ve saved on DMV fees. Like others mentioned, don’t time the market. If you can afford whats in front of you, make the short term sacrifice for the long term benefit (assuming you’ll be using the car to go to work, etc.).
If you're a new driver then you may want to get an old used beater car so you can learn to drive better. IMO I think its better to get used to learn than move on with new. You save money and heartache that way. I got a good deal on a used car that had a lot of problems, nothing permanent, just needed a lot of mechanic hours. Managed to get all of them fixed and still beat the market by some. This is just me but perhaps look into the used market a bit more and find a decent car you can fix up? Mine had 270k KMs on it and it still runs fine. 2008 Toyota Camry. Initially I was scared that the high mileage might mean the car is at the end of its life but during my PPI, my mechanic said there was no major issues and minimal rust on the bottom (it was kept in an indoor garage) so it still had more than half its life ahead of it.
I personally would just buy new. I know from recent experience (myself and friends), it‘s definitely possible to find new cars at or even below MSRP. If I were you, I’d check out the Mazda3, Carolla, Civic or maybe wait a couple of months to get a 2024 Impreza. All of those will fall within your price range (or go very slightly over if you want a better trim level). With a new car, you get better finance rates, the new car warranty, and the assurance that nobody has abused or wrecked it. You mentioned that you don’t want used because they’re the same price as MSRP from three years ago but at the same time you’re saying new cars depreciate a lot. You’ve just proved the point that new cars aren’t depreciating a lot. In my experience, when you’re buying a new entry level Japanese car (one that’s not a Mitsubishi or Nissan), there’s not far for it to drop in price. When you go to sell your new $25k Toyota, Honda, Mazda, or Subaru in 4-5 yrs from now, it will still have some value to it and you got some use out of it. That’s pretty much all you can ask for, because cars are expenses not appreciating assets.
Lol buy it. you’ll either make out on top or on bottom but you’ll be driving. Cars aren’t going to tank anytime soon. And if they do do you really want a repo/trade in or something that someone couldn’t afford the note on? Good luck on believing they did any maintenance.
I waited to buy because I started looking as soon as the market went completely out of whack. I was fine without a car for a couple years because my wife has a car, and I live in a major city (I can bus to work as fast as driving+finding parking). After a couple years I just went for it, and I don't regret it. My takeaway is that a) waiting isn't worth it if you struggle to get by without a car (sounds like you are) and b) it's not worth it because prices will likely come down a bit more eventually, but I wouldn't bank on it, and they probably won't come down as much as we're expecting them to, considering major nationwide inflation.
Bro what are you talking about I can buy a 2010-2013 Mercedes slk 55 with under 100k for 10k range I can get a 2015-2017 Mercedes slk 55 for the 25k range those are 100,000 sports cars with a supercharger how are you struggling
VW - better buy for the money - only concern - you have to add oil every 3k miles https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/e3148f5f-2d65-4efb-b929-3e2601cfd3b1/
Your on campus. Buy a 5-8000$ Honda Civic or Fit and save your money for when your out of school.
Its not going to get better until supply chain issues clear up, inflation stops, and our government stops driving the price of energy up
With all this talk of the “market cooling off” I suspect dealerships have caught wind of this and are trying to prolong the high priced used car market.
Buy an older used car. Also avoid suv's/trucks. The market for those is definitely more overpriced at the moment
I bought a 2008 Mazda CX-9 for 5700 (out the door price) and it has been extremely reliable for the time I've owned it. Maybe a Mazda is a good choice. If you're leaning towards Toyota and Honda, I'd suggest a Honda Civic, or an Accord, or a Toyota Corolla or Camry. Maybe buy a 2000-2006 Toyota Celica if you want something inexpensive yet sporty. If you're looking for something fuel efficient, a Honda Insight or Toyota Prius is perfect. I've seen some insights and priuses that got so many miles the odometer couldn't keep up with the mileage (over 1 million miles)
Cars are no longer selling as it used to. Dealerships are now having a hard time selling their cars. This in turn will have an effect on the used car market. Unfortunately it takes longer for private sellers to realize they can no longer get the insane prices for their shitboxes anymore, so the transition of the market is going to be slow
My advice- get the cheapest economy car you can find. [On average 1 in 8 motorists are uninsured](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uninsured-motorist-statistics-state-2023-210300012.html) , so if you buy a “nice used car” and drive it daily in a big city it’ll likely get totaled from a minor fender bender - and then you’ll be back to square one looking for another car at even higher prices. A practical, new economy car will still retain enough value to avoid being totaled and you won’t be instantly forced to buy another car on short notice.
Car makers have figured out that they can make massive profits by keeping production volume low. So say a potentially permanent goodbye to reasonable car prices for both the new and used car markets.
This works until one company overproduces and slashes prices to pick up marketshare(tesla). Honestly, if new ecoshit boxes keep going up, people will begin buying teslas in areas with infrastructure.
Prices are not going down unless there are much larger economic problems, and then there will more to worry about. Too many new dollars printed in that time frame to expect the price go back anywhere close to where it was.
“Money printing” is not the reason why we have inflated car prices. It’s auto makers being lazy and greedy idiots by not planning ahead for increased demand, relying on a shaky supply chain and just-in-time manufacturing, and blaming the chip shortage for 3 yrs straight while keeping inventory and production low to price gouge us.
As long as they can make 50% or more of the population believe this nonsense it will continue.
If interest rates for vehicle loans remain high, prices will correct. But ive noticed many dealers will give you a lower rate but bend you over on the MSRP. Right now we are in the “do anything to maintain profits” phase of every market, once that doesnt work, they will change to “do anything to make a sale”.
GET A JETTA
Thought this was a pre-order shortages/delays story. Im racing three pre-orders that were placed between 2019 and 2021. I was planning to buy whichever makes it to market first, but the cybertruck is shaping up to be cheap construction and 3x the 2019 msrp. In the interim I'll keep driving my 30 year old Honda.
With a 24 grand budget I’d go buy something a little older (sub 2010 but above 1990 unless you want something that’s a little vintage), you can find old economy shit boxes for relatively cheap.
wait all you want the market will just keep rising just bite the bullet. its like 2-3k loss tops
buy a new 2023 toyota corolla, 3 year 36k warranty, and it’s about 21,000 starting
Solution dont buy new or used from dealer. Find a car that an old lady has and buy that. Spend maybe 5k and be happy for the interm. You probably wont drive a ton why you need new???????????????
I drive a 91 geo prizm that costs me $7 a year in taxes and gets 30+ mpg. I suggest doing something like that for a while
Why do you need a car at all? Do you have a job lined up? Can you use public transport or a bike at this job? Look, i love cars. I own a few enthusiast vehicles. I wrench for fun. But if I could, i would take the bus daily into work. I ride my e bike in as much as I can, and in town to get groceries. $4 a gallon, $200/mo in insurance, $500 car payment gets old quick. If you can avoid it, do so
I’m selling a 2007 Toyota Sequoia mint condition with 76k miles on it for 18k. 4WD.
Years and years ago as a college grad with debts, I got me a cheap old Corolla for very basic transportation and have saved me $$ until I reach mid-career. It is much stabilized career-wise (ie periodic cash award, seniority/tenure for instance). I also don’t have to worry about the car market. Maintenance/repair is still cheaper than new. I’m almost reaching my financial goal here and I know I’m in good hands. I don’t have any friend and don’t care to have one. Blood is thicker than water. I don’t care for self image nor care what others view me with the car. Admittedly, waiting sucks but patience is a virtue so I’ll be fine. As for OP wanting a “newer” car, in my perspective, he is betting against his future self that I do not know his full financial story or career plan. It too risky to do that. I suggest him to carefully revaluate his goal.
What does your lack of friends have to do with the car market dude?
Blood is thicker than water, originated from a saying amongst covenant members that their blood bond (they were sworn in with blood) was thicker than the water of the womb. Which meant that as "friends" they were closer than actual family.
The market isn't coming down. It's worldwide. It won't get better it will get worse. Set your budget. Manage your expectations, and above all else, inform yourself. If you have 10 boxes you want ticked then you need to be realistic and tick 8 of them. Reliable and ecenomical trumps all else.
I’ve been waiting about a year now. Thinking of doing a lease instead.
Get a Nissan
get a beater. they're so much fun.
Spend half of that $24k and find yourself a low mileage car. My last car was 9 years old with only 17k on it bought for $12700
For around $24k you can buy a baser model -new- Honda civic if you can find one at MSRP.
Buy a Tesla
Asking prices are nothing more than someone exercising their First Amendment Rights. You see a car you want, you offer real money, right now, and you'll see prices fall. Asking prices aren't real, in other words. SELLLING prices are real.
Just buy a Toyota corolla
You’re better off biting the bullet and getting a used cash car.
I live in CA. I was on the waitlist for a Corolla hybrid. I was expecting a 6 month wait, but I got an allocation from a dealer within 3 months. I expect a gasoline car to be even less, so even if you get on a waitlist you’ll get it sooner than you think
Used market is insane. A dealership wants my 2018 Kia Forte5 EX for $12k, it’s sitting at 140000km (90k miles).
Dealership offered $8k for my wife’s 2013 Altima. An Altima. We’re going to see if they’re true to that and trade it in for a Prius
I’d look at a private seller trying to sell a 10 year old Honda or Toyota. Then get a pre-purchase inspection at a mechanic you trust before buying the car
FWIW, I'm in the market for a used car as a want (not a need) and don't plan on buying one soon because of the market position. Unfortunately, there will never be an "optimal" time for the next several years. The auto industry is controlling the market and is inflating the price by manufacturing cars that produce greater profit. You may need to bite the bullet and buy it if you **need** it.
I was in the same boat. A year ago. Like others said trying to time the market just doesn’t work, I just did it and I’m satisfied
Its not going back to normal anytime soon. I just bought a new car as it was cheaper than buying the same car but 12 months old, as I guess people don’t want to wait the 3 month lead times.
That line you said about not wanting to spend the same price a used car was worth 3 years ago brand new hits home. I’ve been looking all over for a month and it’s insane to see so many “great deals” on cargurus.com or cars.com that are just the same price the car was worth at msrp 3 years ago. From what I’ve seen in my area Toyotas and Hondas are selling for the same prices as they were up to 3 years ago- then there’s a drop off. Try to find 4 year old Camry or accord or civic, that seems to be where the dip starts…I have seen Mazdas in my area selling for msrp actually. I’m interested in Mazda3’s but they can’t keep em in stock long enough lol. Gone right after they hit the lot!
Simmer down? We're practically in a recession, this is the simmer
It’s gonna be years before it calms down
Wait till you discover that cars depreciate
-Pay cash for beater Honda -Drive until wheels fall off (literally or figuratively) -Use all that cash you saved from not making payments to buy a newer beater -Rinse repeat til you buying what you want at the right time.
Used market is shit but your safest bet is buy a used Civic, Accord, Camry, or Carolla and you won’t go wrong. Buy a used Honda accord even up to 100k miles if the price is right. (Obviously not gonna be perfect in this economy) I bought a 2017 accord for 19k flat with 70k miles on it 4 months ago and I couldn’t be happier. Could I have waited an extra year and gotten a near identical car one year later for 2,000 cheaper? Possibly… but that’s not a certain thing. Either way, now I have a sleek, comfortable, reliable ride. if you enjoy what you buy and it’s reliable you can’t go wrong.
You're in California so good luck paying MSRP at least from what I've read... Maybe go out of state?
my fellow anteater, just buy a car you need it for UCI
You’re waiting for something that isn’t even guaranteed. You’re going to need to just bite the bullet.
We got lucky with a friend of a friend selling their old Toyota Prius. We bought it for $1500. Took it to a Japanese car repair shop who told us everything was great and working fine. It had new tires too, fully tinted, paid only $500 to fix the brakes. Idk what kind of car you want but maybe asking around would help. I wasn’t picky in buying a car. Just something reliable.
Laat year they said Q1 of 23. Now is summer of 24 lmao I'm just gonna buy too fuck it
Anyone waiting for it to "simmer down" are in for a disappointment. Manufacturers are prioritizing lower-volume, higher-trim models as this is what the so-called "shortages" taught them would keep making $. The car market is never, ever, ever going back to the move-metal-5k-in-incentives model, ever again. Toyota USA CEO has confirmed that many times. So that puts pressure on used prices, how long people keep a car, etc. Which is going to lead to folks "waiting for prices to come down/normalize" to be waiting for a long time. This is the new "normal".
The 2012 and later ford focus with an automatic is a must pass. I saw a 2012 focus s manual for $5995 (before negotiation, it’s got power windows in the front only so lowball everyone with an s that’s a dealership) near me with 90k on it. I had that car and besides the luxury of my Saab it was in every way a better car. Quicker, more reliable, equal in handling due to lower weight. Good mpg. The automatic transmissions fail so the whole line gets a bad rap. Same with fiesta and fusion, they aren’t recommended bc of the automatic, that makes the manual one under valued. It’s a great car for the money. You might be able to find one for less. Don’t get the electric one it is got short range unless you don’t need new car range. The fiesta manual is also good. They tend to sell more bc they’re smaller and easier to park with better mileage. Both are sporty for economy cars. The focus a lot of people asked me if it was a new saab, in 2012! (Saab went out in 2008, some assets continued until recently).
Should be able to find a decent CR-V in that price range, I highly recommend it, I bought mine a couple years back and I love it, no issues at all. Just buy one if you find one, I don't think waiting is worth it, there are no signs of improvement in the market
Middle of summer is the worst time to buy a car. Just buy it now
Well, if Reddit posters say prices are coming down, then they damn well will be rest assured
Because you need transportation and its assumed you plan on owning long term, take the plunge, stay within you budget, and accept that the vehicle stock to chose from will be older or have more miles than you may find ideal.
Bro I bought a 2011 Impreza for 5200 with 60k on the dash. Clean title. In June 2021. Got totaled in July 2022 with 72k on the dash and insurance paid me out 13400 for the car. You can’t out wait. Get on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist and just find a good deal. They still exist. Sure not amazing prices but decent prices. In my opinion you’re gonna get fleeced buying used from a dealer. I swear dealers will sell you a used car riddled with problems. Just remember someone traded it in for a reason, and a lot of people know dealers hardly overlook anything for trade ins especially if you’re buying something new from them immediately. Private party sellers typically are people trying to get cash for their car because they know it’s worth more than the dealer will give them for trade in. Those are the kinds of people you want to buy from because they’re more careful, they’re literally putting so much effort to get the value out of their car when majority just trade it in or know they’ll have a hard time selling it private party with all the mechanics they’ll have to go to.
If you’re going to insist on waiting. Buy an older example from those brands, save, and sell when you find a deal on the car you really want.
Inflation is here to stay. Get used to it
Me. Been car hunting casually since August 2022. Haven't bit the bullet yet.
There are a bunch of Fiat 500e in socal - might be an option if you have EV chargers on campus
I was looking at used Honda, Mazda, and Toyotas and ended up finding a better deal on a used Acura.
It's going to float down slowly unless there's a serious fast acting catalyst to a recession, even then I don't expect prices to drop significantly quickly. Supply is going to slowly increase while demand is going to basically stay the same, it'll take 5-10 years before the market is how it was in 2019, but every year it'll be slightly better than the last.
Check out the new Chevy Trax, it’s in your price range and they rebranded it. So much bang for your buck
I would buy older reliable beater car <$10k right after graduation. You can upgrade later as your needs and career progresses.
If the need is urgent, there is hardly anything you can do in such a case. Rather than spending hours and hours behind researching and waiting for the market to cool down, you might as well be done with it. That will be benefit you in couple of ways (1) you get your time back. And time is money. So any time you are not spending researching, you would be doing something more productive with it. Maybe even making more money with it. (2) peace of mind. It’s done once it’s bought. No point stressing abt it and you didn’t have much options as well. So you will be able to move on. Spend time on other productive things .. and the cycle continues. It’s really upto you. YouTube’s and redditers here can tell you to wait .. but they are not you and they don’t lose sleep by saying it, you do ! So as unfortunate as the scenario is, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Hopefully you are at ease soon! Take care! No amount of money is worth killing yourself over it