Current state of the car market (US)

Evitzee

Unless you absolutely, positively need a new vehicle the best option is to just stand pat and keep what you have. I have a 2006 with 105,000 miles, a 2010 with 125,000 and a 2015 with 40,000. All working fine and even if they needed some work it is still cost beneficial to repair them. EVs are decades away from replacing ICE vehicles, if ever, so don't fall for the stories you hear that we are soon going to be all electric soon. We probably have another 18 to 24 months of supply shortage before things get back to some sort of normalcy but there will be a huge pent up demand for new vehicles so prices will remain elevated. It is what it is, I can't get excited because dealers want a price premium on their stock to sell. The 'S' in MSRP is 'Suggested', we have been conditioned to always expect a discount from that price but there is no rational reason that it can't go higher depending on supply and demand. Traditionally there has been more supply than demand and the prices reflected that, now the opposite is true. Let the markets work. The manufacturers have learned something in all of this, it is better for their bottom lines to not overproduce and get a higher price for their vehicles. Expect to see far fewer cars in stock in the future, there will be fewer cars on the lot with less discounting and more ordering of the vehicle you want.

ATWG

The warranty on my ‘17 BMW X5 M expired last November. Just before expiry, the car needed about $4K of repairs which were all covered. I had bought the car used in ‘18 and put 30K miles in 4 yrs of ownership.

3 weeks ago, while at the dealer for routine oil change, the used car manager offered me $5K above what I had paid for it 4 yrs ago. Needless to say, I left the car behind and hitched a ride with the wife. I was fretting the fact the car needed new brakes and tires, which aren’t cheap on that car.

It was the easiest decision I’ve made this yr, I don’t miss that car one bit. And the fact that I made a few bucks just puts a smile on my face every time I think about it.

JwRosenthal

Public transit isn’t bad lately, not as many riding these days 😉

Walrus

It’s a great political “sound bite” but if we were moving to no ICE in twenty years the infrastructure for quick charging would already need to be well on the way to as convenient as gas and in the majority of the country that is not the case. I think some of the electric vehicles are mindblowing. I’ve only been a passenger in one thus far couldn’t believe the safety features and “intelligence” of the Tesla but at this point, at least in my area most people don’t have them as a primary car they are more geared for people who can have an additional car. Mechanical they are pretty amazing and maybe the battery tech will improve and become cleaner where they do make sense as a primary vehicle but for any politician to make statements telling people “buy an electric car” that has an entry price of 65k minimum let alone all the upgrades and services while people are freaking about the increase in basic ICE cars seems a bit absurd. I might start changing my oil every 1,999 mikes see if I can make my car last 20 years see how things play out. I’m pretty bad predicting the future but I like to be realistic seeing where we are now and what is reasonable to expect i I’m not seeing the end of gas powered cars anytime soon.

dsio

I’m happy to keep a couple of old normally aspirated cars as I hate turbos more than I hate EVs but I’ll probably add an EV at some point in the next few years as it just makes more sense in Australia and there’s nothing an ICE can do here that an EV can’t do better.

STANDY

2 things here.
All of Australia is not the same as the city. (260km each way towing a boat to a remote part of the Northern Territory is not EV doable)

Having enough stops for charging a EV between here and Brisbane is about 10-20 years out. You can’t even drive to Alice Springs in a EV from Darwin yet.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-07/outback-electric-vehicle-fast-charing-stations-/100967622

Watch my Whisky

I’d rather have gonorrhoea than an Audi.

But yeah, the market is miserable. I was told to wait 12 months for a GT4.

wrist time

65K? Not sure what car your referring to but the electric Mini and Nissan Leaf are less than half that.

wrist time

65K? Not sure what car your referring to but the electric Mini and Nissan Leaf are less than half that.

dsio

It’s not actually a political soundbite, the majority of major auto makers have adopted it as a strategy as there is no way for them to maintain profitability and emissions compliance around as standards continue to increase. BMW, VW/Audi group, Mercedes, GM, Stellantis, Volvo, Toyota, they are all not only committing to phasing out ICE production but are actively investing in battery tech, and refusing to spend any more money developing ICE engines as its a technological dead end.

For most of the world EVs will be just fine, especially in Europe and Asia, the US will be forced to either adapt, or suffer junk cars with backwards tech and inferior performance as they did after the oil crisis. I’m happy to keep a couple of old normally aspirated cars as I hate turbos more than I hate EVs but I’ll probably add an EV at some point in the next few years as it just makes more sense in Australia and there’s nothing an ICE can do here that an EV can’t do better.

Walrus

Ford sold 27,000 EV in 2021. Ha ha

Walrus

But this is even better Chevy who is spending billions to dethrone Tesla

In Q4 2021, GM delivered in the U.S. only 26 all-electric vehicles (down almost 100% year-over-year). The number includes 25 Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV and 1 GMC Hummer EV Pickup (the first one delivered in December). We thought that more electric Hummer EVs would be delivered before the end of the year, but it was just this one symbolic unit.

But at least they are still selling millions of gas powered cars I’m sure they will have it all perfected in 20 years