New car scarcity and inflated used prices: are trades a wash now?

[Elkins45]

So the question is pretty much in the title. It would appear that it’s practically impossible to buy a popular new car model right now for anything below MSRP. At the same time used car prices seem to still be artificially high, so I wonder to what degree the two cancel each other out? I’m considering trading my 2016 Mazda6 for a Camry while they still have conventional transmissions but I‘m not willing to lose my shirt over it.

I see almost all the Corollas are CVT now and I would prefer my next car not to have a CVT if I can at all avoid it. Anyone know how long before the Camry will get the CVT ‘upgrade’?

I hate to even start the conversation with a dealer. Sigh.

 

[Rand]

go in armed with what all the online places will buy your car for $$$

they vary widely on my jeep at one time they were 23-29.5k

currently 20-27k
dealer says my car is a slow seller (cant make this crap up) and about 18k looks right for its average condition....
I told them yeah that would have been correct back when you were 5k under msrp not 3k over it.

I eventually got them upto 23k and msrp.. but since it was just a dealer exercise not ready to buy
I told them they would have to come up to 25k on the trade in.
Good waste of day off. I would have bought at my price.

It is more annoying but you can always sell it online and no trade in.

 

[CKN]

It's a horrible time to buy a new car regardless of trade status. It's just is.....I got a truck worth $36,000.00 on trade and a new one is $10,000.00 more than I paid for the same model. My trade in isn't worth the $10,000.00 more.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

What's wrong with the 6 you have now?

If you've kept up with the rustproofing, the car will last you a long time

The Corolla is still available with a manual transmission

 

[Elkins45]

What's wrong with the 6 you have now?

If you've kept up with the rustproofing, the car will last you a long time

The Corolla is still available with a manual transmission

My Mazda is a manual. There are now people in my life who I would like to share driving duties with on long trips, but two of them either can’t or won’t drive a stick. Trading the car seems like a cheaper option than replacing the people.

Unless I’m mistaken the Corolla is only available with a manual in the hatchback version. I like having a trunk.

 

[Leo99]

My local Toyota dealer has about 5 new vehicles on the lot right now. They used to have over 100. The Dodge dealer next to them is full of vehicles. If you want a Camry you either have to choose from the 2 they might have in stock or put down a deposit and wait a month or two.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

My Mazda is a manual. There are now people in my life who I would like to share driving duties with on long trips, but two of them either can’t or won’t drive a stick. Trading the car seems like a cheaper option than replacing the people.

Unless I’m mistaken the Corolla is only available with a manual in the hatchback version. I like having a trunk.

The Corolla sedan is available with the manual but only on the SE and XSE (which are the only two versions you can get as a hatchback anyway)

The Mazda 3 is still available with a regular automatic AFAIK

 

[AZjeff]

You should be able to do the math using your local dealer new car prices and pricing your car out on Carvana and the other online buyers as already noted.

You likely aren't going to negotiate the price of the new car it all has to be on the trade price. Buying new still probably makes more sense than trading into something used.

 

[rob1715]

If your cars are all good, why even bother?

 

[miden851]

It's a horrible time to buy a new car regardless of trade status. It's just is.....I got a truck worth $36,000.00 on trade and a new one is $10,000.00 more than I paid for the same model. My trade in isn't worth the $10,000.00 more.

downsizing it makes sense to trade; however, if you're buying more of the same or more of the car then its not the time to trade; in that case your payments will go much higher especially if you do not put any down money upfront

 

[Snagglefoot]

The MSRP’s are getting jacked as well.

 

[Elkins45]

The Corolla sedan is available with the manual but only on the SE and XSE (which are the only two versions you can get as a hatchback anyway)

The Mazda 3 is still available with a regular automatic AFAIK

Mazda3 is smaller, especially in the trunk. I had one before the 6. Besides, all the 3’s here are made in Mexico. If I‘m not getting a Japanese model then I might as well support the local economy with a Camry, since I live one county away from the Georgetown plant.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Mazda3 is smaller, especially in the trunk. I had one before the 6. Besides, all the 3’s here are made in Mexico. If I‘m not getting a Japanese model then I might as well support the local economy with a Camry, since I live one county away from the Georgetown plant.

The Acura ILX is made in Ohio. Unfortunately, it has a DCT, but at least Honda's DCT has a torque converter, so it shouldn't be too bad, though perhaps not quite as good as a regular automatic.

 

[buster]

If you can get a vehicle for MSRP and get good value for your trade, go for it. Buying used is where people are getting killed.

 

[Leo99]

The MSRP’s are getting jacked as well.

It's psychology.

Car A msrp is $30,000 + $5000 dealer addon. People will refuse to pay over sticker.

Car B msrp is $36,000 but dealer knocked off $1000. People feel they got a good deal.

Doesn't matter that car A and car B are the exact same car.

 

[KCJeep]

It's no different than it was before, you need to get a decent price for your old car and find a new one at least at a fair price.

You are likely to do better if you sell to Carmax, Carvana or Vroom first then purchase. However in September when I bought my Jetta I went into the dealer armed with strong on line offers for my Passat and the dealer wanted the car so bad they beat them and still sold me the Jetta at below sticker.

This is going to be very dealer and vehicle dependent you'll need to look around. JMO.

 

[Elkins45]

The Acura ILX is made in Ohio. Unfortunately, it has a DCT, but at least Honda's DCT has a torque converter, so it shouldn't be too bad, though perhaps not quite as good as a regular automatic.

I have no experience with either Acura nor dual clutch transmissions. I would consider a plain old Accord except their base engine is a turbo and I want nothing to do with that extra complication.

I'm amazed the base Acura is only about $1k more than the base Honda, and it has a conventional engine.

 

[dkryan]

It's no different than it was before, you need to get a decent price for your old car and find a new one at least at a fair price.

You are likely to do better if you sell to Carmax, Carvana or Vroom first then purchase. However in September when I bought my Jetta I went into the dealer armed with strong on line offers for my Passat and the dealer wanted the car so bad they beat them and still sold me the Jetta at below sticker.

This is going to be very dealer and vehicle dependent you'll need to look around. JMO.

^^^^^^^^^^

This!

 

[CKN]

It's psychology.

Car A msrp is $30,000 + $5000 dealer addon. People will refuse to pay over sticker.

Car B msrp is $36,000 but dealer knocked off $1000. People feel they got a good deal.

Doesn't matter that car A and car B are the exact same car.

There is not a KBB listing for I paid $5,000.00 over MSRP for my vehicle. The resale will be based on car "B" with listed options and the "mop and glow" is not listed in KBB that is dealer installed on car "A". So-yes there is a difference.

 

[Leo99]

There is not a KBB listing for I paid $5,000.00 over MSRP for my vehicle. The resale will be based on car "B" with listed options and the "mop and glow" is not listed in KBB that is dealer installed on car "A". So-yes there is a difference.

KBB doesn't set market value, it reflects market value.