#used cars

[bignaz8]

Kurt Russell on the set of Used Cars. Met him on this day with my cousin and his dog.

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Ron Blumberg, Used Cars, ca. 1934. Gouache.

Photo: 1st Dibs

[stone-cold-groove]

Variety and value are always in season at your Chevy dealer’s. Chevrolet OK Used Cars ad - 1961.

[cinemaautomobilia]

John Bromfield seals the deal for a 1955 Buick Special Riviera Coupe in "Hot Cars" (1956)

[netscapenavigator-official]

Looking at used Chevrolet Bolt EVs online like, “Ooh, this one seems like a good deal! Let me check out the interio-”

*photo of car seats that are dual-toned in the ugliest shade of gray you’ve ever seen and the most stainable white you’ve ever laid eyes on*

[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-fi prompt from royaltrashpanda:

Saw your answer about why car dealerships tend to be in the same geographic area of a city. In my childhood neighborhood, we had a street with like ten used car lots all in a row on five blocks, and I’ve always wondered how that worked. They were much smaller than a standard dealership, and not all of them had repair shops attached. (Unfortunately that area has majorly gentrified and there’s none left on the original five blocks.) Based on your dealership research, what would be your take on tiny used car lots all being on the same five blocks? Also kind of related but not really, have you run into anything in your research about the history of the giant statues of men in suits that used car lots tend to have? If you have, I’d very much like to commission another question later about that topic because I’m so curious and have had no luck researching it myself!

My guess would be that they have a higher profit margin since they can probably leverage purchasing in their favor when buying those secondhand cars (especially from things like police auctions), and they can have a fairly consistent and predictable level of demand (there's almost always a new crop of teenagers getting licenses, without the cash for a brand new model), while the clustering strategy probably works even better when your business model appeals directly to a secondhand market where you might have a wide variety within one lot.

But let's see what the research says.

According to website CarEdge, some secondhand dealerships can have average profit margins as in excess of $4k. Now, that's probably skewed by some secondhand cars being luxury vehicles; there's a reason Carvana is topping that list, and most people do seem Carvana's prices on newer, low-mileage models are actually too high. The others are more like 1.5-2k profit margins, which is still respectable.

Granted, these are large dealership groups, rather than small, privately-owned businesses. Independent used car dealerships are looking at a gross profit margin of something like 10-20% depending on how well people bargain with the dealer, according to website ProfitableVenture. After the costs of owning and running the dealership (wages, mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc), there is about 2-3% left for the owner.

I actually want to quote this paragraph from them, as I feel like it's pretty informative on the issue:

The average amount of money that a car dealer makes per used car today is around $500 to $3,000 per car, with your typical run-of-the-mill used cars selling for about $2,500 to $5,000. Have in mind that profit margins on used cars are narrower than they have been in the past due to more information is available. Keeping profit margins a secret is what allows dealerships to take advantage of customers.

Now, that explains how they stay afloat, but the clustering?

...it really does come down to the same reasons as the regular car dealerships, but with the lens of anticipated costs. If you are a parent helping your teenager buy a used car, because they want your opinion and you're better at haggling than they are, then you want to make sure they get both the best possible deal, and the best/safest car possible... but also, you have work in the morning, and do not want to drive twenty minutes to each used car lot. You want to either be able to look up all the options on the internet, or hop from one lot to the next in the span of two minutes. Even with the internet, you want to do a test drive, no?

You also said that none of those dealerships exist anymore, which means they also predate the internet option. Being small means they had to sell fewer cars to stay open, but also that they didn't have the luxury of being a wide enough selection for people to do a cost-benefit analysis of coming to visit them with the expectation of finding a car when they might be able to see more options at that dealership that's only a block away from the other one. Without the internet, especially, their advertising would be limited to car commercials and newspaper ads.

(My thoughts go to Big Bill Hell's Cars and that Tobey Maguire Spidey scene where the used car from the newspaper is doing powerpoint transitions across the screen.)

So the clustering tactic is even more important, in that case. The only way to get your products in front of eyeballs is traditional media and in person, and it's a lot easier to make 'in person' happen if they're already headed to the neighbor.

[karagin22]

[bitchesgetriches]

Hey bitches! I have a question for you about cars! My friend and I ended up buying the same make, model, and year of a car at roughly the same time almost five years ago. She mentioned that she is thinking of trading in her car to get a new one. To me, this is inconceivable—I come from a family that was a maintain-repair-sell for scraps when it’s truly dead and gone kind of family. My first car at 16 was as old and this was the first car I ever bought new and have planned to keep it 10+ years. I think she views having a newer car as a kind of investment since cars do depreciate over time. It doesn’t seem like it’s smarter to do financially on the surface, but is it? Am I wrong?

You're right, your friend is wrong.

Cars DO depreciate as soon as your drive them off the sales lot. They're in no way an investment (with a few exceptions). The most financially efficient way to own a car is to pay cash, keep it in good repair for as long as possible, then get rid of it when it is no longer affordable to repair. My last car was 15 years old when I sold it for parts. I plan on driving my current car until it's at least 15. Then I'll pay cash for another relatively young USED car.

Here's our philosophy on car-buying, in a two-part nutshell, my dove:

Buying a Car with the Bitches, Part 1: How to Choose Your Car 

Buying a Car with the Bitches, Part 2: How to Pay for Your Car 

Did we just help you out? Tip us!

[nostalgia-eh52]

Vintage Los Angeles

1970s Castle Ford Located at 4531 Hollywood Blvd

📷 Stephen Roullier

[machetelanding]

Chicago (1940s)

[reasonsforhope]

The U.S. Department of Treasury’s gift to electric-vehicle shoppers (and global automakers) for the new year was to make many more EVs and plug-in hybrids eligible for the federal tax subsidy of up to $7,500 — including vehicles built outside North America — as long as drivers lease them or buy used rather than buy new.

EV credits and [rules] took effect Jan. 1.

One category extends the former credit of up to $7,500 for consumers buying new EVs and PHEVs, but it puts new limits on vehicle price and buyer income and will soon add requirements for the sourcing of EV batteries and materials. Additionally, since August [2022], it has required that the vehicles be assembled in North America.

A second is a new credit of up to $4,000 for buyers of used EVs.

A third is a “commercial” credit for businesses acquiring EVs. It offers up to $7,500 for light-duty vehicles (under 14,000 pounds) and up to $40,000 for heavier vehicles. Significantly, the commercial credit does not have the origin, price or other restrictions of the credit for consumer buyers.

On top of all that, the Department of Treasury guidance released at the end of December allows the less restrictive commercial credit to also apply to vehicles leased by consumers; that means most plug-in and fuel-cell EVs currently on the market can qualify, including those built in Europe or Asia. The credit goes to the leasing company — the vehicle owner — but it can be passed to the consumer in the form of lower lease payments.

The new federal rules do not affect state and local subsidies available for EV buyers [which may be able to get you even more savings].

-via Cars.com, January 12, 2023

[misforgotten2]

You promise?

[fuzzyghost]

[thegoodmorningman]

Friday means no rules or consequences!!!

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

It’s the cast of USED CARS (1980), “Trust me”.