Buying a car in 2022

[Dj4Money]

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@Dj4Money wrote:

 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. 

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enthusiast

[disdreamin]

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@Dj4Money wrote:

  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. 

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I've found forums for every new vehicle I've purchased and done my homework as far as OTD pricing to expect. Almost every forum has had a very active pricing thread, as you said, and seldom does the amount being paid align well with things like edmunds or kbb pricing. I haven't tried reddit yet for vehicles, although it's proved useful for so many other things that it doesn't surprise me it would provide a wealth of info about them.

[Dj4Money]

 People on forums loathe paying sticker, so they generally didn't.

 Some do because it's emotional, they want the car more, saving money doesn't interest them.

 The prices you see are what they paid compared to MSRP. Other factors are trade-in which differ from state to state to using USAA or some other banking establishment not available to the general public.

 Fighting Chance is the best place to start.

 Then use Car Gurus to find the model, color and options you want.

 FC provides you with an email and a phone script to follow to ensure that dealers are playing fair when calling them. 

 You don't have to pay MSRP, so don't. 

[kilroy8]

I'm kinda old (not senior citizen, but getting there), and I have not seen the auto nor housing markets like this in my entire lifetime. Fix what you have and don't buy new would be my advice. Every curve with a big slope up is followed by a big slope down at some point. I have only seen cars go for > MSRP in rare circumstance, when they were new models with big hype. This usually didn't work out in the end. Cars I remember going for > MSRP when new and hyped:

Smart Cars (2 year waitlist when they first came out)

PT Cruiser (a buddy paid $10K over sticker for one of those dogs)

HHR (big ugly hunk of junk)

Mini Coopers (go through parts like crazy)

etc.

[Dj4Money]

 The current market only advantages current owners.

 You can't make blanket suggestions to buy some clapped out vehicle and spend money to rehab it.

 It doesn't matter if it's an all new model or major redesign, you don't have to pay MSRP, so don't. But you must move out of your comfort zone, age has nothing to do with it, though it should because the closer you are to fixed income issues paying more for something is clearly optional, you choose to do it willingly. 

I could get what I owe on my car back in selling it to a Kia dealer.

 The problem with that is I can only buy the same car again, why would I do that? There is nothing else out there at this price point and I am a performance enthuisiast.

 If I wanted the Hyundai Elantra version of my car, it actually has less standard equipment than the Forte does. I can get the Elantra N, but even with a low interest rate I would be paying lots more and actually my car with ONE modification makes more power than that car does stock. I would actually focus on the Kona version of the N as I love hatchbacks.

 My car was $21K new, MSRP $24K

 My 10 day is just under $18K

 Trade-In Value is around $18K with 60K miles

  Kona N, MSRP roof rack cross bars is $43K

 No incentives on that vehicle and it's new for 2022, I know I can get it for below invoice. The challenge is to find the dealer willing to do that.

 I have other things to work on so I won't be doing this anyway. 

[disdreamin]

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@Dj4Money wrote:

 The problem with that is I can only buy the same car again, why would I do that? There is nothing else out there at this price point and I am a performance enthuisiast.

<snip>

 No incentives on that vehicle and it's new for 2022, I know I can get it for below invoice. The challenge is to find the dealer willing to do that.

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First, there are currently cases where a late model used car is actually worth more than MSRP on the same exact car a year newer. It's something I've never seen before (and, frankly, never imagined would happen) and I don't expect it to stay that way, but why not take advantage of it if you can?

Secondly, I'd love to know where you can get vehicles below invoice in this market - I know of only one dealership where this might be possible. For most manufacturers, I believe it would be challenging to get anywhere near invoice pricing in this market. I'd love to be wrong, as I'd really like to trade my current vehicle in toward a new one once I finish paying off my current auto loan in a few months.

[kilroy8]

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@Dj4Money wrote:

 The current market only advantages current owners.

 You can't make blanket suggestions to buy some clapped out vehicle and spend money to rehab it.

 It doesn't matter if it's an all new model or major redesign, you don't have to pay MSRP, so don't. But you must move out of your comfort zone, age has nothing to do with it, though it should because the closer you are to fixed income issues paying more for something is clearly optional, you choose to do it willingly. 

I could get what I owe on my car back in selling it to a Kia dealer.

 The problem with that is I can only buy the same car again, why would I do that? There is nothing else out there at this price point and I am a performance enthuisiast.

 If I wanted the Hyundai Elantra version of my car, it actually has less standard equipment than the Forte does. I can get the Elantra N, but even with a low interest rate I would be paying lots more and actually my car with ONE modification makes more power than that car does stock. I would actually focus on the Kona version of the N as I love hatchbacks.

 My car was $21K new, MSRP $24K

 My 10 day is just under $18K

 Trade-In Value is around $18K with 60K miles

  Kona N, MSRP roof rack cross bars is $43K

 No incentives on that vehicle and it's new for 2022, I know I can get it for below invoice. The challenge is to find the dealer willing to do that.

 I have other things to work on so I won't be doing this anyway. 

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Kona N is a beast, and one of those hyped cars, for good reason. I don't think you will find it under sticker, likely will be over that. People been waiting close to 4 years for it to come out. I have a 2019 Elantra GT NLine (no longer made) and would love to trade up for one of those at some point. But, I still love my GT NLine hot hatch, too, so I am not suffering while waiting things out.

[TRC_WA]

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@JFox418 wrote:

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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. 

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That's what I'm going to do as well.  I've got a paid off 2015 Challenger RT 5.7L... 72k miles and CarMax is offering me $21k for it.  I'm looking to upgrade to the 2022/2023 6.4L Challenger Scat Pack and I'll never find one that has all the options I want in the color I want... so I'm just going to special order and trade mine.

Not really in any rush... just upgrading from a smaller beast to a bigger one.  

@disdreamin wrote:

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I'd really like to trade my current vehicle in toward a new one once I finish paying off my current auto loan in a few months.

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Good luck!  I paid off mine a few months ago and that's what I'm doing... gonna grab one of the last Challengers before Dodge puts out "EVmuscle"... 

[increasingmyfico]

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@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. 

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     You didn't specify what type of car you're looking at but depending on just how "popular" it is you may have to pay to play. Most here will say don't ever pay over msrp. That's okay advice from one perspective. The fact is this is a sellers market. Other buyers will set the floor on pricing. Know what you are willing to pay and work from that. If it is something you really want then determine how far over msrp you are willing to go to get it. Like you said you are getting $4k more than you paid for your old car. Maybe that's the number. I don't know. Only you do. I would definitely recommend you negotiate with the trade in and not sell it to carmax. If I were the dealer and I had two buyers on one car in this market and one didn't have a trade they would lose. Also don't be afraid to shop around. If you're 1000% sure it's what you want and you've already driven one maybe look out of state and drop a deposit. Good luck 

[increasingmyfico]

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@Dj4Money wrote:

 The current market only advantages current owners.

 You can't make blanket suggestions to buy some clapped out vehicle and spend money to rehab it.

 It doesn't matter if it's an all new model or major redesign, you don't have to pay MSRP, so don't. But you must move out of your comfort zone, age has nothing to do with it, though it should because the closer you are to fixed income issues paying more for something is clearly optional, you choose to do it willingly. 

I could get what I owe on my car back in selling it to a Kia dealer.

 The problem with that is I can only buy the same car again, why would I do that? There is nothing else out there at this price point and I am a performance enthuisiast.

 If I wanted the Hyundai Elantra version of my car, it actually has less standard equipment than the Forte does. I can get the Elantra N, but even with a low interest rate I would be paying lots more and actually my car with ONE modification makes more power than that car does stock. I would actually focus on the Kona version of the N as I love hatchbacks.

 My car was $21K new, MSRP $24K

 My 10 day is just under $18K

 Trade-In Value is around $18K with 60K miles

  Kona N, MSRP roof rack cross bars is $43K

 No incentives on that vehicle and it's new for 2022, I know I can get it for below invoice. The challenge is to find the dealer willing to do that.

 I have other things to work on so I won't be doing this anyway. 

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     You are in no danger of getting a Kona N below invoice. I highly doubt you can get one below sticker. Rare niche product plus inventory issues. Will not happen. Maybe on a base Kona you get under sticker. Even that is doubtful