SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – NOVEMBER 2, 2020
How to get a good deal on a new vehicle (PT.1)
This is going to be the summer you get a great deal on a car. It just might be a wild ride to get you from the proverbial couch to signing on the dotted line. KPMG International analysts predict a 10% permanent reduction of the nearly 3 trillion road miles typically traveled every year in the U.S. Vehicle ownership this year will decline as well, to fewer than two cars per household, KPMG says, down from just over two in 2019. What’s more, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, U.S. auto sales will plunge to as low as 13 million this year, thanks to the economic volatility and uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s compared to 17 million vehicles sold nationwide annually for the past five years. So you could say automakers are feeling some anxiety about selling their wares. “Manufactures have panicked a bit,” says Lisa Copeland, a longtime Fiat dealership principal and author of the book Car Buying, Her Way. Stalling numbers such as these can translate into devastating losses. “Nobody knows what tomorrow means.” But some factors are working directly in automakers’ favor when it comes to selling cars: Airlines are reporting minuscule flight capacities and reduced travel routes, and international borders remain mostly closed to travelers from the U.S. In large cities such as New York, consumers who were once satisfied to thrive without owning a vehicle are now buying them to help aid weekend escapes from shut-down neighborhoods, or just to avoid the subway and bus on the way to work. Meanwhile, as city dwellers flock to the suburbs, the increasing number of those needing cars is sure to register at dealerships everywhere.
“In Texas, where I live, they have had record-breaking months,” Copeland says. “In May of 2019 to May of 2020, in terms of sales: record-breaking. It has been a trifecta of nobody knows how this is going to end, so everybody got very aggressive [with pricing]. The benefits got passed along to the consumers.” What’s a worker with wanderlust and a week off from work(ing at home) to do? If you’re like the millions other Americans dealing with the effects of Covid-19, you may not be driving to work every day, but you’ll still hit the road. “We have a good level of confidence that our customer understands the situation,” echoes Giovanni Perosino, Lamborghini’s chief commercial officer. “Maybe you travel less, maybe you have more free time, so why not? Maybe you get a Lamborghini for your free time.” To that end, here is the best advice from longtime industry experts on how to get a great deal on a car. It’s the kind of peace of mind that counts for a lot out on the open road, even if you’re just out for the thrill of it.
Do your homework
Yes, we know this is basic advice—the most basic. We also know that even the wealthiest, most enthusiastic car collectors and drivers in the world (the ones who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars a year) still make the mistake of buying things on a whim. Such impetuous thinking opens the door to making a decision based on emotions, either toward the car or toward the friendly salesperson, rather than facts. “The first thing I tell consumers to do is never, ever walk in to the dealership cold—big mistake,” says Copeland. “I don’t care if you’re buying a house or a car or a ballgown, it doesn’t matter—high emotion equals low intelligence.” Spend time researching residual values, reliability, maintenance scores, and prices. It’s especially important to find out the average price people in your area paid for the specific model you want, since the availability and popularity of any given model (the two things that determine pricing) can vary widely by region. The virtues of all the usual websites apply: Check Kelley Blue Book, Cars.com, Edmunds, Autotrader.com, and even Bringatrailer.com and Hagerty.com (worth the subscription, especially for older models) to read reviews and critiques of the vehicle you’re considering and to get a feel for the relative values, based on model year and mileage. KBB updates its deals and recommended models weekly, so it’s worth checking back often.
END OF PART ONE
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