Question: Why Are Dealers Selling 2014's When 2013 Has Just Begun?
02-13-13, 10:11 AM
#1
Out of Warranty
Thread Starter
Question: Why Are Dealers Selling 2014's When 2013 Has Just Begun?
The answer surprised me, it doesn't have anything to do with "advance" marketing. It concerns leasing. The story I heard last week didn't have anything to do with one manufacturer countering his rivals with progressively newer cars . . . it seems that you can't sell a 2014 until CY 2013 at best. Remember that when new cars traditionally debuted in the fall, you can't deliver a car more than ONE year newer than the current calendar year for the reason of that two or three month gap. Now you can sell a sell a 2014 in 2013 because the law doesn't make any distinction about WHEN in 2013 you can start your sales. You COULD sell 2014's on Jan 1 of 2013.
But here's the fly in the ointment. While the MY of a new car may be 2014, the VIN plate has to reflect the year, not the date of manufacture. We assume a model year 2014 car was first registered in 2014, but when once that was "pretty close", today the model and calendar years may show a considerable variation. My 2004 RX330 was manufactured in May 2003 in Japan, then delivered to me in late June of 2003. Technically, I had a -6 month old car. I held onto my 2000 RX300 for an extra 3 months in order to get my hands on a 2004 RX330 rather than a 6-month "old" 2003 RX300. The leasing company wasn't happy about it, but the factory kept delaying shipment of the new models.
If you lease a car toward the end of its model year, you might have driven it for three years, but you will be retuning a FOUR year old car. You can take a pretty good hit for that non-existent year of your lease. Many leasing companies are now recognizing this and writing leases earlier in the year to allow their customers to recapture some of that loss by turning the lease in somewhere in mid-year. Leasing a current MY car in the fall is going to cost you - and you might want to add that factor into your negotiations. There are ways to negate this effect on your residual value, but you must have them in place at signing.
There are so many factors that play into your lease cost, including incentives, money factors and capitalized costs, you need to talk with a good investment adviser and an experienced leasing agent before you commit. That money burning a hole in your pocket might be better invested somewhere else for a time.
But here's the fly in the ointment. While the MY of a new car may be 2014, the VIN plate has to reflect the year, not the date of manufacture. We assume a model year 2014 car was first registered in 2014, but when once that was "pretty close", today the model and calendar years may show a considerable variation. My 2004 RX330 was manufactured in May 2003 in Japan, then delivered to me in late June of 2003. Technically, I had a -6 month old car. I held onto my 2000 RX300 for an extra 3 months in order to get my hands on a 2004 RX330 rather than a 6-month "old" 2003 RX300. The leasing company wasn't happy about it, but the factory kept delaying shipment of the new models.
If you lease a car toward the end of its model year, you might have driven it for three years, but you will be retuning a FOUR year old car. You can take a pretty good hit for that non-existent year of your lease. Many leasing companies are now recognizing this and writing leases earlier in the year to allow their customers to recapture some of that loss by turning the lease in somewhere in mid-year. Leasing a current MY car in the fall is going to cost you - and you might want to add that factor into your negotiations. There are ways to negate this effect on your residual value, but you must have them in place at signing.
There are so many factors that play into your lease cost, including incentives, money factors and capitalized costs, you need to talk with a good investment adviser and an experienced leasing agent before you commit. That money burning a hole in your pocket might be better invested somewhere else for a time.
02-15-13, 04:58 AM
#3
Lexus Champion
That's why I don't use model year names.
Hence you won't see me say "2013 Lexus GS350 F-sport" but rather I would say "4th Generation Lexus GS350 F-sport" or "Lexus GS350 (GRL10).......wherein L10 is the model code series number"
=)
Hence you won't see me say "2013 Lexus GS350 F-sport" but rather I would say "4th Generation Lexus GS350 F-sport" or "Lexus GS350 (GRL10).......wherein L10 is the model code series number"
=)
02-15-13, 05:34 AM
#5
Lead Lap
02-15-13, 05:54 AM
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
The answer surprised me, it doesn't have anything to do with "advance" marketing. It concerns leasing. The story I heard last week didn't have anything to do with one manufacturer countering his rivals with progressively newer cars . . . it seems that you can't sell a 2014 until CY 2013 at best. Remember that when new cars traditionally debuted in the fall, you can't deliver a car more than ONE year newer than the current calendar year for the reason of that two or three month gap. Now you can sell a sell a 2014 in 2013 because the law doesn't make any distinction about WHEN in 2013 you can start your sales. You COULD sell 2014's on Jan 1 of 2013.
But here's the fly in the ointment. While the MY of a new car may be 2014, the VIN plate has to reflect the year, not the date of manufacture. We assume a model year 2014 car was first registered in 2014, but when once that was "pretty close", today the model and calendar years may show a considerable variation. My 2004 RX330 was manufactured in May 2003 in Japan, then delivered to me in late June of 2003. Technically, I had a -6 month old car. I held onto my 2000 RX300 for an extra 3 months in order to get my hands on a 2004 RX330 rather than a 6-month "old" 2003 RX300. The leasing company wasn't happy about it, but the factory kept delaying shipment of the new models.
If you lease a car toward the end of its model year, you might have driven it for three years, but you will be retuning a FOUR year old car. You can take a pretty good hit for that non-existent year of your lease. Many leasing companies are now recognizing this and writing leases earlier in the year to allow their customers to recapture some of that loss by turning the lease in somewhere in mid-year. Leasing a current MY car in the fall is going to cost you - and you might want to add that factor into your negotiations. There are ways to negate this effect on your residual value, but you must have them in place at signing.
But here's the fly in the ointment. While the MY of a new car may be 2014, the VIN plate has to reflect the year, not the date of manufacture. We assume a model year 2014 car was first registered in 2014, but when once that was "pretty close", today the model and calendar years may show a considerable variation. My 2004 RX330 was manufactured in May 2003 in Japan, then delivered to me in late June of 2003. Technically, I had a -6 month old car. I held onto my 2000 RX300 for an extra 3 months in order to get my hands on a 2004 RX330 rather than a 6-month "old" 2003 RX300. The leasing company wasn't happy about it, but the factory kept delaying shipment of the new models.
If you lease a car toward the end of its model year, you might have driven it for three years, but you will be retuning a FOUR year old car. You can take a pretty good hit for that non-existent year of your lease. Many leasing companies are now recognizing this and writing leases earlier in the year to allow their customers to recapture some of that loss by turning the lease in somewhere in mid-year. Leasing a current MY car in the fall is going to cost you - and you might want to add that factor into your negotiations. There are ways to negate this effect on your residual value, but you must have them in place at signing.
There are so many factors that play into your lease cost, including incentives, money factors and capitalized costs, you need to talk with a good investment adviser and an experienced leasing agent before you commit. That money burning a hole in your pocket might be better invested somewhere else for a time.
02-15-13, 10:52 AM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
If we all invested our money and didn't buy cars there would be no auto forums or we would all be posting at Civic.com saying I'm only paying $159 a month for a car
Well, I think you and I can both agree that $159 a month (or maybe even less) is about all the new Civics are worth.
I'll be the first to admit that Honda blew its design by excessive cost-cutting.
and how we all have silver and beige cars.
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02-15-13, 05:13 PM
#8
Lexus Champion
...I thought it was so that the manufacturer could enter a car with a current model year vehicle rather than "last year's model" in car-of-the-year contests. Since most COTY contests occur in the September-October timeframe, any car introduced after mid-October or so would have to wait until the following year to enter that car in a COTY contest.
But if the car is introduced early in the new year labelled as a following year model, it can still carry that label when the next COTY contest starts again in the autumn. A car introduced in early 2013 as a 2014 model can enter the 2014 MY COTY contests in Autumn 2013 as a 2014 model rather than seeming to already be in its 2nd-year since introduction.
But if the car is introduced early in the new year labelled as a following year model, it can still carry that label when the next COTY contest starts again in the autumn. A car introduced in early 2013 as a 2014 model can enter the 2014 MY COTY contests in Autumn 2013 as a 2014 model rather than seeming to already be in its 2nd-year since introduction.
02-15-13, 05:47 PM
#9
A lot of people have dull-colored cars because, first, that's the way a lot of manufacturers mix their paint-hues (I often comment on that in my reviews), and, second, a lot of people (right or wrong) are afraid that bright colors lower the car's potential residual value and it won't re-sell easily.
Silver, Gray, Black, Red and White are very popular colors for us.
02-16-13, 09:41 AM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
Funny you mention colors. I surveyed our Lexus storage lot today and all we had were Silver (Tungsten and Liquid Platinum), Gray (Nebula Gray Pearl), Black (Obsidian), and Red (Matador Riviera), and White (Starfire Pearl). Mind you this is out of 250 cars. On our actual show lot we had a mix of the above and a satin cashmere RX, a meteor blue GS, and a ultra sonic blue CT.
Silver, Gray, Black, Red and White are very popular colors for us.
Silver, Gray, Black, Red and White are very popular colors for us.
The Ultra-Blue Sonic is also nice, but Lexus just won't offer it on enough different models.
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