Used vehicles prices 1 year after covid

[Magyars]

My 06 F250. May not look like much but she's a great farm truck.

 

[CHCRandy]

I have been thinking the same thing. I need a new truck, been looking at used ones and really want a 2017 or newer F-250 or 350, but the prices are off the chart. Thinking about just ordering a new 2021 Chevy 2500HD WT 4x4 with extra cab. This is the truck I am looking at and this is with GM discount. I hate to pay this for a truck.....but will probably last me the rest of my life, I hope.

Silverado 2500 HD for Sale: 2021 Silverado 2500 HD Pricing | Chevrolet-ff

Build and Price the 2021 Silverado 2500 HD: choose trims, accessories & more to see pricing on a new Chevy Silverado 2500 HD.

www.gmfamilyfirst.com

 

[kickbacked]

I dont think the prices are a direct reflection of covid. I think trucks have been over priced for years. If you pay 70 grand for a new truck used its going to cost 55k. By the time its actually at a realistic price they'll be illegal and we'll have to pony up 100k for an electric "truck".

I remember when my grandfather went to the dealership to replace a key and they told him it would cost $60(2010ish). He walked out and vowed from that day to never own another vehicle that wasnt made in the 50's. I wonder sometimes what he'd think of today's prices.

 

[Limpy88]

I have been thinking the same thing. I need a new truck, been looking at used ones and really want a 2017 or newer F-250 or 350, but the prices are off the chart. Thinking about just ordering a new 2021 Chevy 2500HD WT 4x4 with extra cab. This is the truck I am looking at and this is with GM discount. I hate to pay this for a truck.....but will probably last me the rest of my life, I hope.

Silverado 2500 HD for Sale: 2021 Silverado 2500 HD Pricing | Chevrolet-ff

Build and Price the 2021 Silverado 2500 HD: choose trims, accessories & more to see pricing on a new Chevy Silverado 2500 HD.

www.gmfamilyfirst.com

If your ok with a double cab instead of the crew cab there are lots of good deals on those. If my kids weren't going to be in these giant car seats for the next 5 years I would get a double cab my self.

 

[JTScribe]

I dont think the prices are a direct reflection of covid. I think trucks have been over priced for years. If you pay 70 grand for a new truck used its going to cost 55k. By the time its actually at a realistic price they'll be illegal and we'll have to pony up 100k for an electric "truck".

I remember when my grandfather went to the dealership to replace a key and they told him it would cost $60(2010ish). He walked out and vowed from that day to never own another vehicle that wasnt made in the 50's. I wonder sometimes what he'd think of today's prices.

I was wondering about this. Didn't Cash for Clunkers destroy the cheap market for used cars?

 

[maxwelhse]

I was wondering about this. Didn't Cash for Clunkers destroy the cheap market for used cars?

At the time, yes, but that's been ages ago now. It completely destroyed the junkyard inventory of heaps of '80s-'90s cars since it was so profitable for people to C4C them than to just trade them in and on down the chain of parts they would go. So the only used cars for sale were either very old or very new. You couldn't touch anything in the middle for years.

That's the biggest crime of that program. The cars had to be crushed and couldn't have their parts sold. It sent scrap prices off a cliff for years after that too.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

At the time, yes, but that's been ages ago now. It completely destroyed the junkyard inventory of heaps of '80s-'90s cars since it was so profitable for people to C4C them than to just trade them in and on down the chain of parts they would go. So the only used cars for sale were either very old or very new. You couldn't touch anything in the middle for years.

That's the biggest crime of that program. The cars had to be crushed and couldn't have their parts sold. It sent scrap prices off a cliff for years after that too.

Typical of government programs that try to "help". They most often create more problems than they solve.

 

[maxwelhse]

Typical of government programs that try to "help". They most often create more problems than they solve.

That was a straight up redistribution of wealth into the hands of the UAW. The only "help" was to Obama's political career.

I'll be mad about C4C forever. Destroyed the ready market of S-boxes for me to drive cheap.

 

[AtTheMurph]

Only in America would the government buy up perfectly good capital goods and destroy them as a way to make us all better off. SMH.

The insanity of it is incredible.

 

[KittySlayer]

I was wondering about this. Didn't Cash for Clunkers destroy the cheap market for used cars?

Yeah, CFC came out about the time my teenage son needed a car(s). Made finding a good used car at a decent price really difficult. Another brilliant idea from people who have never worked outside of the government.


Truck prices were weird before COVID. When I was looking for a Tacoma in 2017 I bought new because 2-3 year old used were within 10% of new prices.

 

[HoughMade]

In January/February of 2020, I started looking at 1 or 2 year old pickups as my truck was nearing going to hit 200,000 miles in the next year.

I was looking at crew cab 1/2 tons with a V8. I was able to find numerous used 2018-2019 F-150s (XLTs) with under 35,000 miles and the 5.0L V8 for $27k-29k.

I decided not to buy at that time. In about September of 2020, I started looking again. Yeah, I know time of year affects the prices, but because I didn't buy, I'll stick to January/February 2021.

In 2021, the same 2018s and 2019s are going regularly for $32-37K. 2020s start at around $35k, and again, these are used trucks with 25,000 miles or more.

So my truck now has 207,000 miles and I'm still kinda looking, but not liking the prices.

BTW- equivalent Chevys are more expensive yet, usually.

 

[CHCRandy]

Yeah, I swear the more I look at used ones the more I am thinking of ordering a new one. I just hate paying that for a truck to work out of....but it may be my last new truck in my lifetime, I tend to drive them forever.

 

[KittySlayer]

I tend to drive them forever.

So eight years is almost 3,000 days. If you pay an extra $3k for new it is costing you $1 per day, so add or subtract depending on your variables.

With new you know anything screwed up or broken is your fault. You start with a new warranty. You might have a little more trade in value or get an extra year or two at the end but I would not put much merit in those criteria. Of course with new you pay more than used but maybe not so much in this weird market.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I was wondering about this. Didn't Cash for Clunkers destroy the cheap market for used cars?

No. It's been posted before but I don't care enough to search it out again. The number of vehicles taken out of circulation was miniscule even compared to a month's worth of manufacturing of new cars. Of that miniscule amount, even a more miniscule amount would still be on the road today.

As for the original question, I bought new on my truck. If you aren't buying a "luxury" trim, I think it makes sense to buy new and then keep it for a loooong time. You can keep up on the maintenance, you know how it's treated, you get exactly what you want so you aren't tempted to swap out again, etc. The price difference between a new truck and a reasonable used truck spread over my (currently) 9 years of ownership is negligible.

Sports cars, luxury cars, things that depreciate quickly buy used. Entry to mid-level trucks, Jeep Wranglers, etc, buy new.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Sports cars, luxury cars, things that depreciate quickly buy used. Entry to mid-level trucks, Jeep Wranglers, etc, buy new.

It's like the rule of 3 F's applies here. "If it Flies, Floats, or ****s, don't buy it, rent it."

 

[maxwelhse]

No. It's been posted before but I don't care enough to search it out again. The number of vehicles taken out of circulation was miniscule even compared to a month's worth of manufacturing of new cars. Of that miniscule amount, even a more miniscule amount would still be on the road today.

It's also what vehicles were taken out of circulation. It pretty much crushed (literally) the S10 market as well as many other SUVs that broke people would have been happy to drive their families around in. It pretty much made the idea of a "beater truck" an obsolete thought all the way until today from the looks of pricing. F150 occupied 2 of the top 10 spots for those crushed under the program.

Rather than the raw numbers, it was also the speed. C4C took 700,000 such vehicles off the road in less than 2 months. That's an entire year of F150 production. It absolutely destroyed the used market for those vehicles for a couple of years after and has effects lasting until today (parts availability that would normally exist in the junkyard).

Where we will agree is very few people would still be driving those vehicles by now. I will never forgive them, but I'd say 12 years later the effects are passed us other than small pockets of hobbyists like me with our ancient garbage boxes.

 

[JTScribe]

I mean, my truck is 23 years old, but I fully realize that is not an ordinary situation.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I mean, my truck is 23 years old, but I fully realize that is not an ordinary situation.

Same here. '97 Dodge Ram rust bucket. Oh! I guess it's 24 years old now! One more year and I can get a "Classic" plate.

 

[maxwelhse]

My newest vehicle is an '01. My most usual daily driver is a '95. I have considered a historic plate just to troll.

 

[Leo]

I saw cars that were ruined in the cash for clunkers that were better than the ones in my driveway. A $5000-$6000 car back then was still pretty decent. A lot of people used it to get out of debt where they were upside down in their payments.

Stealing my tax dollars to pay for waste was offensive. Wait until the new tax rates come it on this last "covid relief"