Is this the worst time ever to be shopping for a new car?

Used exotic prices are through the roof right now. Definitely not the best time to buy a car because instead of spending money on vacation and other things people just bought cars during their respective lockdowns, plus supply shortage from factories shutting down. Who knows when valuations when return to normal?

 

If you have a good trade it nets out to zero, you get more for the trade, pay more for the new one. If you are buying without a trade, yes, it is a bad time.

 

With the exception of interest rates still being low (which won’t be for long IMO) I would say yes. Our first house in the early 90s was at a 9.5% rate.

Glad I bought in Feb 2020......now I’m done until my retirement gift to myself.

 

I bought my 458 3 months ago and was just offered $25K than I paid. Things are crazy!

 

I bought a new 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor in June of 2019. Since then I put a topper and spray in bed liner in it as well as 32,000 miles on it.
I had a total of $70,500 in it and sold it back to the dealership earlier this week for $62,500. It cost me only .25 per mile to drive over almost two years
plus gas and oil changes. The chip shortage is idling Ford's KC assembly plant for F-150's and 2020 was the last year for Raptors.

 

Trucks are even crazier right now. I just looked up trade in value on my '18 Frontier. It's about $3,000 MORE than I paid for it over two years ago. And that's in the middle of the range that KBB shows you. I've added a few things so could probably private party sell it and almost still make money on it. Unreal.

 

As the fed keeps dropping cash from helicopters, everything will continue going upward.

Oh wait, the fed says there is no inflation. Never mind.

 

It's nuts. I tried to buy a new trailer on Tuesday but somebody had put down a deposit on it over the phone before I could even look at it. Next batch they're getting from Featherlite is around Halloween, so I put down a deposit on an Aluma instead.
Manufacturing has been hit by people not working and massive supply chain disruptions, but people that just think about stuff for a living (finance, engineering, legal, and I'm guessing healthcare) are making money out of nothing. Interest rates are nothing so nobody is pulling money out of the stock market, so that bubble just keeps going and there's plenty of "free" money chasing a shrinking pool of toys.

 

My friends in the car biz say they can’t get enough inventory and the Manheim auctions on cars in the 7500-15k range are getting bid out of whack. Dealers are overbidding Manheim wholesale.


I bought a car the week of the coronavirus lockdowns in March 2020. A few hundred over dealer invoice and 0.9%. That’s when they were absolutely terrified. Dodge dealer called me for three weeks straight, they had a Challenger I tested with $32,500 sticker down to under $21k! 33% off a brand new car!

 

Same for housing. Inventory low, people paying more than asking prices. Paying with CASH.