Buying

Here’s a buying opportunity for smart used-car shoppers

By Betty C. Morrow 7 days ago

Americans bought more than 225,000 Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) cars in September. That’s a 2% increase from August and a 1% increase compared to September of last year.

Selling too fast for certification

But the slight increase masks a startling phenomenon. CPO sales could have been much higher, except that dealers may be selling used cars too fast to pass them through the certification process. That creates a unique buying opportunity for smart shoppers (more on that in a moment).

Kevin Chartier, vice president at Manheim Consulting, explains, “In today’s market, everything is selling so quickly and at such high prices, that I think that in many cases the dealers are selling cars before they get a chance to pull them into their shops to spend the time to recondition them up to full CPO standards.”

(Manheim Consulting and Kelley Blue Book share the same parent company, Cox Automotive.)

Also see:

… Read More

DC Based Car Buying Service, inride, Finds Huge Success Helping Area Car Owners Sell For Top Dollar

By Betty C. Morrow 2 weeks ago

Published: Oct. 12, 2021 at 3:40 PM CDT|Updated: 8 hours ago

SILVER SPRING, Md., Oct. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — In April 2021, DC based Automotive Executive Alex Perdikis saw no end in sight to the vehicle shortages affecting the automotive marketplace and took matters into his own hands, repurposing his subscription company, inride, into a premiere vehicle buying service. inride guarantees area car owners the best offer available for used vehicles of any type.  Whether the vehicle is owned, leased, or carries outstanding payments, owners are walking away with thousands in profit. Used vehicle offers from Perdikis and his team are so strong, vehicle owners have driven hundreds of miles to sell their used vehicles to inride.

Founder of inride, Alex Perdikis, states: “In our area, the demand for vehicles of all types including luxury and commercial models continues to rise. Individual and commercial

… Read More

Car dealerships have turned ‘cutthroat’ amid a buying frenzy and dwindling car inventories

By Betty C. Morrow 3 months ago
Car Dealership

  • The frenzied car market is pitting car salespeople against one another, Bloomberg reported.

  • New and used car prices have skyrocketed during the pandemic amid a shortage of vehicles.

  • Some dealers are even shelling out to buy leased vehicles years before the end of their term.

  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

The pandemic has upended the market for new and used cars, sending prices skyrocketing and inventories dwindling.

A buying frenzy – coupled with soaring prices and a historically low supply of vehicles – has turned car salespeople into enemies, one dealership employee told Bloomberg.

“It’s really cutthroat,” Jared Luner, a salesman at Columbia Honda in Missouri, told the outlet. “Normally we’re all friends and coworkers, but right now, when someone pulls up, it’s a little edgy.”

Luner said he recently had a fellow salesperson sell a vehicle out from under him. Hawking cars was always a

… Read More

Tips for buying a new or used vehicle in a red-hot market

By Betty C. Morrow 5 months ago

If you’re in the market for a new ride, here are some money-saving tips to keep you from getting burned.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Car sales have done a 180-degree turnaround from a year ago when sales plunged 30%. New cars, used cars, the boom is one of the hottest and trickiest markets for consumers.  

Tom Leonard, President and CEO of Fury Motors in St. Paul believes demand for vehicles is at an all-time high. “What has changed in the last few months is the availability of the new vehicles,” he said. “Where we use to have a 100-day supply, we probably have closer to a 30-day supply.”

That makes Leonard a happy man. But the demand comes as a microchip shortage is stalling production at many auto plants. Couple that with employees returning to work, low interest rates and buyers flush with cash and finding your new vehicle could

… Read More