used car – GTSteeringWheels.net – Automobile Specialists

Illustration for article titled Here Are Some Tips To Navigate What Might Be The Worst Car Market In History — Image: Getty (Getty Images)

For buyers looking for a new ride before the summer Memorial Day weekend is, historically, a pretty good time to buy. Most automakers and dealers would be clearing out previous model-year inventory with competitive discounts. This year is different, and you should probably just stay home. If you insist on buying a car this summer, follow these tips.

Our friends at Lifehacker did an excellent breakdown of how this might be the absolute worst time to buy a new or used car. It’s worth a read, but the short version is that inventory is down and prices are up. There also doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight with some analysts predicting that a market correction may not happen until 2023.

Furthermore, there is a pretty good chance that the car you want isn’t even available. Several major automakers including Subaru and Toyota have closed factories due to the microchip shortage. Therefore, the likelihood of you finding a “deal” on this holiday weekend is slim.

If you can’t put off getting a new ride for a while and you are going to be in the car market this summer, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Don’t be picky: If you have to have a specific car in only one color with a narrow set of options you are setting yourself up for a world of frustration. I was speaking with a buyer looking for a RAV4 TRD in Lunar Rock. I ran a search and there are only 50 RAV4 TRD trim models available in the entire country, only a handful of those was “grey” and an even smaller number were the Lunar Rock. The greater your level of flexibility on the model of your choosing the better your chances of success.
Consider other model alternatives: The truth is that it is very hard to find a “bad car” nowadays. While some models may be better than others, building in some cross-shopping between a few brands is going to give you more options to find a competitive price. The inventory shortages are impacting everyone, but some cars are much easier to find than others. You may want to think about buying a “hold-me-over” car if you need something now. This is a vehicle that will do the job but might not be something you love, but it can get you through this transition time, and when the market changes you can trade it in for your preferred model.
Cast your net wide: This one is obvious, but don’t think you only have to shop within your market region. If you open up your search within several hundred miles of your location you are more likely to find a match, and you have more leverage to get the best price. I recently helped a client in the DC metro with a WRX STI, and the dealers in FL and Ohio were surprisingly competitive with their deals. Even with shipping costs, he was still saving money over the local stores.
Understand that a “deal” is relative: You can’t compare prices this year to last year and you definitely can’t compare what you paid for a similar model a few years ago to what you may pay today. In some cases for some cars, full sticker price might be the “best” deal you can get if many dealers are charging over sticker for a popular model. As always you want to compare the out-the-door price for new cars to see who is offering the lowest total transaction cost. The key here is to have a frame of reference when it comes to your pricing. I recently was working on a brand new Honda Odyssey deal and the discounts ranged from nothing, with a few dealers offering only $500 or $1,000 off the MSRP. One dealer came down $2,800. Based on previous years, $2,800 off a $40,000 van wouldn’t seem that great, but when compared to the rest of the field that was the deal.

G/O Media may get a commission

Of course, before you step foot into a dealership you should have a handle on your budget and your credit. Running the math ahead of time and knowing what you can and cannot afford, is the best way to avoid being ripped off.

Illustration for article titled Here's How Importing A Car From Europe Differs From Bringing One Over From Japan — Photo: Harnas kalisz / Wikimedia Commons (Other)

I recently purchased two vehicles at auctions in Japan. As one has reached America — and the other awaits its boat — this seems like a good time to answer some of your questions about vehicle importation. Many readers want to know how importing a car from Europe works.

Japan has an entire industry dedicated to selling cars to people in other countries. There are dozens of exporter websites, auction sites and companies that do nothing but funnel cars out of Japan to buyers overseas. Surely Europe would be similar, right?

As our David Tracy remarked last year, Germany is a goldmine for dirt cheap cars like the Renault Twingo. If you watch “Car Throttle” on YouTube, you’ll quickly notice that old cars sell for absurdly low prices in the UK, too. Europe is a continent bustling with vehicles just begging to be brought to America.

Europe does have some exporters in the business of helping you buy and import a vehicle from the Continent, but the industry doesn’t seem nearly as robust. You can go to just about any car buying website in Japan, find thousands of cars for sale and immediately get an estimated cost of putting that car on a ship to the States. You can find, buy and ship a car from Japan without leaving your couch here in America.

G/O Media may get a commission

The same cannot be said for European car-buying sites . Not only are there fewer cars to choose from, but I’ve yet to find a site that can generate a shipping estimate on its own. The selling platforms aren’t built for export, unlike Japan’s car-selling sites. This means that you’ll have to call the dealership to complete the sale and arrange shipping.

Perhaps even more confusing: I could not find an easy way for a foreigner to access auctions in a country like Germany. Thinking that maybe I was missing something, I reached out to a few sources familiar with importing old cars from Europe.

Orchid Euro has been in the business of importing cars and parts for almost a decade. Orchid’s representative confirms that Europe doesn’t really have a thriving used-car exportation industry like Japan’s. To make matters worse, cars from Western Europe often head east or south, not to America like used Japanese cars do.

Lucas from Team Free Spirit spends a lot of time helping buyers of imported vehicles know exactly what they’re getting. He also confirms that getting a vehicle from Europe isn’t nearly as simple as bringing one from Japan.

So, how do you get that adorable Twingo into your hands here in America?

Lucas tells me that if you want to do the work yourself, you have to contact the private seller or dealership. If you’re lucky, they can help you pay for the vehicle and get it ready for the long journey. But more likely than not, you’ll need to have a local handle the transaction for you. This way, you can also have the vehicle inspected to make sure it’s worth purchasing in the first place.

Once you’ve purchased that vehicle, you have to prep it for shipping and find a carrier to haul it to America for you. Thankfully, Europe does have an expansive shipping industry to help you get your new ride on a truck, then onto a boat.

But if you don’t want to deal with all of that, you can hire an importer to do all of the annoying work. That way, you won’t have to deal with language barriers and playing a long game of Telephone across an ocean. If you want to embark on your own car importation journey, CarsDirect has a handy guide on how to avoid scams in importing cars from Europe.

Keep your vehicle importation questions coming! A number of you have also asked how to import a motorcycle from another country. That is a subject I will cover in the future.

Tag: used car

Here Are Some Tips To Navigate What Might Be The Worst Car Market In History

Here’s How Importing A Car From Europe Differs From Bringing One Over From Japan