Comments on: Selling our car online … Are people even buying cars right now?

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 22:18:09 +0000

In reply to Impersonal Finances. It's crazy what people pay for convenience. And I'll admit I was very tempted to take the easy option! So glad I came to my senses and put the work in properly.

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 22:04:49 +0000

In reply to Carolyn. Awesome! Good luck selling it. We had the opposite experience with FB marketplace. We posted the KIA up there too but only got 2 people view the ad in 4 days. I guess people are loving Ford Escapes right now? haha

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 21:44:03 +0000

In reply to J. great minds think alike :)

By: Impersonal Finances

Impersonal Finances — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 19:27:25 +0000

Car dealerships are the worst! Moreso for buying but yeah they’re going to lowball you with that KBB offer. It’s a convenience but there’s a very steep price on that convenience. Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace seem like the way to go.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 15:38:30 +0000

Somebody who works at a dealership told friends who were selling a used car that dealers are low on used car inventory so they’re paying more these days. However, we ended up buying that friends’ used car so we posted our 2013 used Escape on Facebook marketplace. Within minutes of posting, we got an endless stream of messages. We haven’t sold it yet (we just posted yesterday) but we’re pretty sure we’ll have it sold today or tomorrow.

By: J

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 14:31:24 +0000

In reply to Joel. That is exactly what I suggested. lol We will see how well that works. I know they are hoping not to have to do that if possible given that they are building their home an hour and a half away from our current city. The logistics become hard, but something is better than nothing. :-)

By: Joel

Joel — Sat, 22 Aug 2020 13:25:37 +0000

In reply to Dollartrak. I used to own an old and rusty '92 Wrangler. I bet it's worth more now than what I bought it for 10 years ago!

By: Dollartrak

Dollartrak — Sat, 22 Aug 2020 00:06:36 +0000

I wanted to pick up a good used Jeep and have seen them selling for close to original purchase price for 5 year old models with 100k mikes in them. It’s borderline ludicrous. I was told it’s due to the virus.

By: Joel

Joel — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 19:54:37 +0000

In reply to J.

Hey J. Wow yes I can see how used cars are coming into more demand. I guess it’s a good thing that a shortage on new cars will mean more people buying used (and saving $)… But it’s a bad thing that there’s now probably a premium on used cars. Either way I’d prefer paying a premium for a used car than buying a new car and taking the immediate depreciation.

Its crazy to watch the ripple effects from covid shut downs in every industry.

Can your friend get some cheap second hand appliances, just to get her license, then swap them out later when supplies are back? Just thinking of a possible workaround if they need to move in asap.

By: J

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 18:28:08 +0000

I don’t personally have a ton of experience buying cars. I paid cash for the only two cars that I have ever owned, and they were each 10yrs old. I plan on driving my ’99 into the ground, and the hassle around buying them is a big motivation for me. That being said, I work with a company that is quite entwined with the auto industry, and used cars are expected to continue to be in demand. They were prior to Covid, but when Covid did hit people became weary of taking public transportation in larger and mid-sized cities. Then a lot of people started working from home, which would make you think that they wouldn’t be as interested. However, all the auto manufacturers also shut production down and had a rough time starting back up with their staff getting sick and also needing to rely on their suppliers to be open and producing without their staff getting very sick. Many of those Tier 1 and 2 suppliers are smaller operations often with older employees. I worked with a few in a past job up in the mountains of NC that would produce the carpet liners for certain SUVs, and I can’t imagine them being able to get up and running at full capacity that fast. 2020 models will be in short supply, and I’m sure there will be a lag in 2021 models both because Covid is still an issue and retooling for new models takes time, so that really just leaves used cars as most of the game in town. Even the car rental companies that are going out of business and putting up their supplies in car auctions have been getting decent prices if memory serves me. It doesn’t seem like there are many deals to be had during this recession since supplies are so constrained in so many categories (housing, pressure treated lumber, home office furniture, construction contractor labor, appliances, stocks, etc). Maybe you could get clothes at a discount, but we don’t need as many anymore. [Side note: I have one colleague who may not be able to get an occupational license on the new home she is custom building because all the stores are months behind on being able to get appliances in stock! No appliance, no allowed to move in!]