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Buying a car in 2022

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Buying a car in 2022

I'm ready to buy a new car. I have a great auto loan and a trade in car worth $4k more than I paid for it (per Carmax). I am looking at a fairly popular car. I live in San Diego, where there seems to be 5-7 of them available a week. I've tried to buy two, but both times there were three other people there to buy it and the dealership was taking offers STARTING at 10k over MSRP. Any advice? How far over MSRP should I be willing to go? Some dealers in LA seems to be open to a little bit more of negotiation on the "dealer up charge" (they have more inventory) but I'm not sure where I should be looking to land over MSRP in this insane car market. Any advice would be appreciated. 

Message 1 of 21
20 REPLIES 20
pizzadude
Credit Mentor

Re: Buying a car in 2022

Is there a reason that you have to buy a car now, as opposed to waiting 6mo / 1 year for the market to cool down?

March2010 FICO® ~ 695 TU, 653 EQ, 697 EX
Message 2 of 21
CH-7-Mission-Accomplished
Valued Contributor

Re: Buying a car in 2022


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm ready to buy a new car. I have a great auto loan and a trade in car worth $4k more than I paid for it (per Carmax). I am looking at a fairly popular car. I live in San Diego, where there seems to be 5-7 of them available a week. I've tried to buy two, but both times there were three other people there to buy it and the dealership was taking offers STARTING at 10k over MSRP. Any advice? How far over MSRP should I be willing to go? Some dealers in LA seems to be open to a little bit more of negotiation on the "dealer up charge" (they have more inventory) but I'm not sure where I should be looking to land over MSRP in this insane car market. Any advice would be appreciated. 


I apologize because I am not answering your question but rather asking a quesstion.   How does it work now with dealerships getting $10K plus premiums over MSRP's in terms of getting lender financing (non-captive) like credit unions?   So if you buy a car with an MSRP of say 40K and the dealer is selling it for $50K, would folks like credit unions loan based on that "value"?   Seems really risky to me from their perspective. Anybody been through this?

Message 3 of 21
Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

Re: Buying a car in 2022

Maybe file a complaint with the manufacturer. Some want to crack down on it. Ford is an example. They've been telling dealers that if they ask over MSRP they're going to start sending vehicles elsewhere.

    
Message 4 of 21
SouthernCredit
Frequent Contributor

Re: Buying a car in 2022

First, NEVER pay over MSRP. There are plenty of dealers out there not upcharging. Fan out your search and find one that isn't. Even if you have to buy a one-way plane ticket to fly somewhere to pick up your car, it'll still be cheaper than the ridiculous markups you're talking about. 

 

Second, unless you've got cash to burn, you probably won't be able to finance a car for that much over MSRP unless you're using captive. An outside lender is still going to hold to their LTV ratio (variable by lender). 

 

Third, as previously noted, throw those dealers right under the bus with their manufacturer. More and more manufacturers have been cracking down on these practices lately.

Message 5 of 21
disdreamin
Valued Contributor

Re: Buying a car in 2022


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm ready to buy a new car. I have a great auto loan and a trade in car worth $4k more than I paid for it (per Carmax). I am looking at a fairly popular car. I live in San Diego, where there seems to be 5-7 of them available a week. I've tried to buy two, but both times there were three other people there to buy it and the dealership was taking offers STARTING at 10k over MSRP. Any advice? How far over MSRP should I be willing to go? Some dealers in LA seems to be open to a little bit more of negotiation on the "dealer up charge" (they have more inventory) but I'm not sure where I should be looking to land over MSRP in this insane car market. Any advice would be appreciated. 


Perhaps try special ordering a vehicle instead, since you've got a reliable vehicle with good equity, or perhaps putting money down on an ordered but not yet built vehicle. I think special orders might not count against a dealers allotment and so for them it may just be a little extra profit. Either way, given that you've got something to drive in the meantime, waiting a few weeks to a couple/few months for your vehicle to arrive doesn't sound like it will create a hardship, so it's worth looking into.

 

For those saying to wait 6 months to a year, people were saying that last summer and I cannot see where buyers are any better off now than they were then with respect to new vehicle inventory (or the price of used cars). I'm not convinced this will resolve any time soon, and there will always be low numbers of vehicles from these years which may impact prices on used vehicles going forward.

Message 6 of 21
JFox418
Regular Contributor

Re: Buying a car in 2022


@disdreamin wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

I'm ready to buy a new car. I have a great auto loan and a trade in car worth $4k more than I paid for it (per Carmax). I am looking at a fairly popular car. I live in San Diego, where there seems to be 5-7 of them available a week. I've tried to buy two, but both times there were three other people there to buy it and the dealership was taking offers STARTING at 10k over MSRP. Any advice? How far over MSRP should I be willing to go? Some dealers in LA seems to be open to a little bit more of negotiation on the "dealer up charge" (they have more inventory) but I'm not sure where I should be looking to land over MSRP in this insane car market. Any advice would be appreciated. 


Perhaps try special ordering a vehicle instead, since you've got a reliable vehicle with good equity, or perhaps putting money down on an ordered but not yet built vehicle. I think special orders might not count against a dealers allotment and so for them it may just be a little extra profit. Either way, given that you've got something to drive in the meantime, waiting a few weeks to a couple/few months for your vehicle to arrive doesn't sound like it will create a hardship, so it's worth looking into.

 

For those saying to wait 6 months to a year, people were saying that last summer and I cannot see where buyers are any better off now than they were then with respect to new vehicle inventory (or the price of used cars). I'm not convinced this will resolve any time soon, and there will always be low numbers of vehicles from these years which may impact prices on used vehicles going forward.


That's what we ended up doing. I couldn't really find the model on the lot with the options we wanted and the options they did have they were asking $2-$3k over MSRP. Truth be told I had trouble coming to terms with having to pay MSRP LOL We ended up just ordering new for MSRP and waiting for it to come in. 

Message 7 of 21
nycsimone
Regular Contributor

Re: Buying a car in 2022

How far over MSRP should you be willing to go? Is that even a question?

 

$0 is the answer

 

You should NEVER pay over MSRP. Don't be that consumer which overpays for a car by thousands of dollars.

 

If you're not good at negotiating for a car, or dealers just aren't budging...find a broker. They usually charge $200-500 for their services but they can get you a decent discount on a vehicle even in this market.

Message 8 of 21
sccredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Buying a car in 2022

As many have said, look into ordering one without a mark up. That's what I was going to do when I bought my truck last year until I found a dealer willing to play ball. Most were $5k-$10k over sticker.

Message 9 of 21
Dj4Money
Established Contributor

Re: Buying a car in 2022

 I am trying to understand what the OP means by "popular models". That means you are going to pay MSRP unless and I do mean unless you are willing to go outside your comfort zone.

 

 As others have said, plenty of dealers are not marking up prices. Some areas of the country are more popular with some vehicles than others.

 

 Some OE are aggressive with problem credit.

 
 First thing I suggest is to contact Fighting Chance.com

 

 Tell them what car(s) or truck(s) you are looking for and they will give you detailed pricing report including where people are paying elsewhere.

 

 Example, I found the Chicagoland area was very aggressive with Kia Forte pricing. All four or five area dealers tried to out bid each other for your business.

 

  Also try enthiuisast websites for the vehicle you are looking for. They usually have an active thread with pricing details of what people are paying.


 Also try Reddit for the same reason. 

Message 10 of 21
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