It’s becoming increasingly hard to get your hands on your dream wheels. Used car prices are up and the ongoing chip shortage is continually affecting new car inventories.
But if you’re in the market for a new ride, where can you look instead? That’s exactly what we asked this morning. Here are some of the best pointers we heard back.
“Craigslist Beaters!
“From my experience, <$3,000 beaters have not seen the price inflation like late model cars. Lots of Mercury Mystiques and Park Avenues, ripe for the picking. Even a sweet 1991 Dodge Shadow Convertible for $1,500. Only 55k miles!”
We’re always a fan of a Craigslist find here at Jalopnik. The online marketplace is full of people looking to ship off their old wheels, you just have to spend some time sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Suggested by: hangovergrenade
“I’d say that Michigan makes it pretty easy to buy a car. If you buy used, just make sure the seller doesn’t write the sale price on the title. Then you write in whatever the lowest plausible amount is, and pay 6% on that. You make a reservation online at the Secretary of State (our DMV), waltz in, pay your tax and title fees, and you’re done.
“If you buy at a dealer it’s even easier, and they give you a plate right there and the state mails you a title. But you pay full 6% tax, of course.”
Our own David Tracy resides in Michigan, and he’s sitting on a mountain of 13 cars at the moment. So maybe buying a car is easier up there?
Suggested by: deezler
“The answer for me, after several months of looking, was a Vermont dealership that was not adding a markup to a RAV4 Hybrid. Everyone else wanted $1500 to $5000 over sticker.”
Vermont, possibly the only state where you won’t find ridiculous dealer markups. If this commenter is to be believed.
Suggested by: squirrelhenge
“Online car shopping is becoming a major thing. My last two car purchases were done entirely online.
“One was a Tesla Model 3 where I customized it on the website just like you would with a Dell laptop, and it showed up on the side of the road down the street from my house. The other was a used Fiat 500 Abarth from Cars & Bids, bought from half the country away and delivered to the truck stop near my house.”
It’s amazing what you can do with technology these days.
Suggested by: stalephish
“We drove five hours out of town to buy my wife’s Subaru. I’ve bought our past few cars from dealers that aren’t in big cities and it’s been an infinitely more pleasant experience. We got an awesome deal because we bought a car that didn’t fit their demographic nearly as well as the one we traded in to them, they were way more friendly and there was none of that typical dealership nonsense, just a straight forward transaction, like it should be.
“So I guess I don’t have an answer on the ‘best’ place as it’s gonna vary person to person but shop around, find a smaller dealer if possible and enjoy the trip back in your new car!”
Heading out of town could be a gamble worth taking. You might find a dealer stuck with cars that don’t appeal to its local buyers, so are ripe for bargaining over.
Suggested by: forty61graphics
“Bank/Police Auctions
“Anywhere the normies don’t look”
Police, parking lots and even airports all host auctions for lost, abandoned or surrendered cars. It might be worth swinging by one day to see what lost treasures are up for grabs.
Suggested by: futuredoc
“Doing research on 1500 class diesel pickups for a possible purchase in the spring, the MSRP’s for the mid level trims are running about CA$7,000 cheaper here in the land of maple syrup after converting to $CDN.”
Cross the border and you could cut the costs significantly. Just watch out for any additional fees you might incur when driving back into the land of the free.
Suggested by: basspaulthesecond
“Anyone selling to you private. My brother-in-law freaking SCORED a low-mile mid-trim 2013 Silverado for on 25 grand that he saw parked on a front lawn while driving through rural IL. Owner had died and son was selling. A comparable truck at home in Chicago would have been at least another few thousand bucks, or double the miles.
“Obviously there is luck (and shady people to watch out for) involved, but if you can find what you are looking for, now is the time to buy private.”
Leave car dealerships and used car lots in the dust and find yourself a friendly local who’s up for selling their car. Just be sure to take any sales pitch with a pinch of salt.
Suggested by: tahoe-guy
“Definitely NOT Hawaii! I’ll tell you that for free!
“If you think it’s hard to find a car on the mainland, try on an island 2000+ miles from any major land mass and each island is it’s own mini hell of finding the car you want and with dealers have zero incentive to bring prices down... yeah it’s pretty bad right now.”
“Also the state has the highest cost of electricity so EVs don’t save nearly as much as sticking to ICE but at the rate fuel is rising that may change pretty quickly.”
It may be a dream destination for holiday-makers, but it sounds like a nightmare for car buyers. When in Hawaii, stick to surfing rather than car shopping.
Suggested by: Islander Steve (Facebook)