MotorHeadline: Buying a car is the easiest, most difficult thing to do nowadays
Taylor Bryant
The time has come for me to start looking for my next car purchase. Like most people, it is a process that I don’t particularly care for. The stress of finding the right vehicle and constraints on my budget are the most challenging.
Since the Covid pandemic started, automobile purchasing has been difficult and challenging.
The used vehicle market is pricing things out of reality, and the new cars just don’t exist due to supply restraints. If you can find the new car you are looking for, chances are you will pay more than sticker or go without, especially for the highly favored models and brands.
When I started buying cars, there were few shopping options. The internet didn’t exist, leaving you with buying a Consumer Reports book and siphoning through the hundreds of options. For new cars, you picked a brand, showed up at the various dealers, snagged a few brochures and made your choice.
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First you test drove several models, filtering out packages and options, and landed on the car you wanted. After that was the even more difficult part of painful back and forth negotiations, scribbled on papers to be walked up to the godlike manager.
If you came to terms, the car was rushed to the detail department, and you were escorted to the finance office to divide your fate into “low monthly installments.” It was a system that worked well for dealers but loathed by buyers for generations.
Monolithic glass walled dealerships crowned with inflatable attention seeking mascots, flapping balloons tied to antennas, and advertising everywhere possible relied on traffic that had to physically show up, most of the time without notice. I have a soft spot for the time and the place but admit things must change as buyers do.
Times have changed, and younger buyers are refusing to purchase vehicles traditionally.
The generational shift from in person car buying to online and home delivery of new and used cars was starting to boil before the pandemic, but the threat of possible infection has made it a permanent option now.
The millennial and Gen Z car buyers want their cars like anything else they buy — hassle free and bought from the phone in their pocket. Car companies that have adapted to this strategy have flourished and gained market share from competitors.
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Carvana, a company that specializes in low mileage used vehicles went as far as to install huge automobile vending machines in larger cities to dispense vehicles at the click of a phone application. With trial periods and money back guarantee promises, buyers see no need to test drive or inspect a vehicle before committing to ownership. Tesla has proven that the dealership isn’t even needed for a majority of their sales, which has turned the whole industry upside down. Thirty percent of new vehicles were purchased online last year according to Haig Automotive Consulting.
For me, a 42-year-old Gen X guy who has worked in this business my entire adult life, I am taking a hybrid approach to buying a car.
I have been studying what I want for about six months now, but the market has not produced a viable candidate. I am searching online for my next ride, but I will be showing up in person for the actual buying process with my financing already secured.
Buying a car before driving or inspection is unfathomable to me. Cars are the second biggest purchase we make outside of a house, but now people are buying houses without seeing them. Madness!
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I am also in a position where I can take my time and not rush into something that doesn’t fit my needs. If you have lost your vehicle to theft or a car accident, you may not have that luxury. The insurance company is going to give you a check for “fair market value” and thrust you into a market that is not fair at the moment. Car production is increasing, which will lower the price of new and used vehicles over the next year if you can wait that long.
However, if you find what you are looking for at a fair price, there is no reason to not buy right now. There are deals to be had, just not as many as two years ago. Whatever you purchase, make sure it fits your needs and budget. I know I will.
If you like the old school process of buying a vehicle, it can still be had in almost every dealership in America, for now.
I’ll see you on the road… maybe in a shiny new car… someday!
Taylor Bryant is an automotives instructor for Augusta Technical College.
