I don't know if you are old enough to remember this or not, geko (and I will be polite and not ask)......but that nonsense was chronic back in the 1980s when Japanese imports were restricted, and demand constantly exceeded supply, particularly for Toyotas and Hondas. That was the typical attitude at Toyota and Honda shops (take our price or leave it)...and they could make it stick, because many buyers, by then, had simply had enough of the usual American junk at the time, and were determined to buy more reliable Japanese products. You also saw some of that take-it-or-leave it attitude at other Japanese dealerships, such as Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, etc.... but to a lesser extent.

 

Not entirely true, Best Buy and other retailers sometimes have discounts on Apple products so I never buy direct from Apple because of that.

 

Then the dealer says "NO", and in this market, you don't have a car. Some dealers are using accessories and packages in lieu of "Market Price Adjustments". I spoke to various Honda and Kia dealers that did this - they add the package and it's non-negotiable. Some dealers are adding packages AND adding a market adjustment. They don't care if you say "NO" because they are selling every car that comes in before it hits the lot.

That works for you, but not for everyone. Particularly someone who's car is stolen or totaled.

 

Rule of thumb, although varies by state, is that if repair is 75% or more of value then the car is totaled. With higher used car values, more cars are getting repaired vs totaled. Since fewer totaled, insurance companies do not have the cars to sell at salvage to help offset claim. Just higher costs all around. Mannheim charts show a slight drop in average used car prices, but not enough to call a trend.

Probably too much info, but insurance rate approvals vary by state. Some states such as CA are very tough on increases, although you can increase fees relatively easily. Some states you file and wait for approval so you tend to apply for higher rates, and the relationship with the Insurance Commissioner's office is critical. Other states you can "file and use" meaning you can go ahead and implement the increase. GA insurance commissioner lambasted Allstate a couple of weeks ago as they have implemented several increases totaling more than 40% on overall rates this year.

 

Yeah, that may as well have been 30 years ago lol

Let me put this in perspective, I was looking at Inventory. Mercedes of Tysons Corner, which is a huge dealer, has 8 in inventory. Not 8 of one model....8 cars. Total.

BMW of Rockville which is one of the largest BMW dealers in the country has 50 cars in inventorty, almost all of which are in transit.

So, you aren't negotiating crap right now!

 

Issue with this also is costs to repair cars have also skyrocketed...the cost of paint has quadrupled. Delays in getting parts extend rental costs, and car rentals are way up in cost. So its just a perfect storm for them.

 

Really perfect storm for non-standard auto insurance. With inflation, those customers don't have cash to buy insurance. They have to eat. In the past couple of years, Allstate and State Farm got out of their comfort zone and bought non-standard companies. While not a huge percentage of their business, non-standard is negatively compounding their issues.

 

Rough times...

 

Fair enough but I don't need to anyway. I have enough cars for full redundancy and ability to keep anything running anyways, I technically never "need" to spend more than $5000 for a perfectly functional car so there is almost nothing in the dealers favor.

I can easily string them for months if I want to since they have no leverage over me

 

Parts have been an issue but there are workarounds if you really need something fixed. Paint is insane though, I'm close to getting everything needed for body work just so I know how to do that as well after a few years of practice.

 

right but it's not about you then.

 

They'll just ignore you. Why would they bother with someone who isn't really wanting to buy now when they have way more buyers than cars to sell?

We see this in my business all the time. When the market is crazy and there are big escalations and all, and some shmo comes in and says "I will never pay more than list price for a house", they're fired lol. Spending any time on them is a complete waste.

 

I counted 5 new cars at the VW dealer the other day when I went by, all in the showroom and front parking lot was empty.

 

happens in all industries, in my biz there's people who don't want to use the cloud, don't want to get paid anti-virus, hate that they're being pushed to upgrade from windows 7, don't get that their website built in 2000 sucks now, etc.

 

Here, here Same for me. I would keep fixing my cars. I have four cars on my name, so lots of options. Plus, said a long time ago, rather have everything paid off so when the tough times come, I don't have the issue of having to replace a lease, or buy something new etc etc.