There seem to be lots of car people here.
I am looking to buy a Honda odyssey or Toyota sienna or Kia Carnival anytime soon. However, I hear horror stories of covid pricing right now.
Is it indeed a bad time to buy? If not, used or new?
I am in Canada if that makes any difference.
Thanks.
Like anything else, there are going to be people that try and take advantage of a situation. It’s definitely a seller’s market, mostly due to supply chain issues that are keeping inventory tight. The result is that dealers are less likely to negotiate, but there’s no way you should pay over MSRP for new. Personally, I’d walk away from a dealer that even asked, on a commodity car like a minivan (supply limited rare cars are different). You may have to wait for the exact model you want, and probably won’t get as good a “deal” as you might have 2 yrs ago.
Used cars day’s supply seems to be coming up again, which is good, but the used market right now is def a seller’s market. Prices are up, significantly above lease-end values right now for many popular vehicles (my F150 is selling for almost 8k over current buy-back, for example) so some people are buying their cars out, either to keep them or flip them. End result is you’ll likely not find, say, that Kia available as a CPO anywhere…
Not sure about pricing etc, but the reason we bought a Sienna was because it was all wheel drive and other minivans didn’t have that option. Have been very happy with the vehicle.
Amazing space, even with the third row seats up. And the third row seats are pretty comfortable even for longer journeys. Would also recommend the captains seats for the second row, unless it’s important to have eight seats instead of seven.
Yup, it is a bad time to buy new or used. Not familiar with how things work in Canada, but normally you buy new cars here for well below MSRP. Those same cars are now mostly going for MSRP. Usually you can get end of year deals as dealerships try to hit quotas or sell off last years models. In such a supply crunch, neither of those are relevant.
On the flip side, inflation may not have hit MSRP for the models on the floor just yet. Toyota announced their 2022 model pricing and most were up 5-10%. It will be some time before supply catches up with demand, so if you do need a minivan in the next year, you might be better off buying a 2021 if you can get your hands on one.
The used market was crazy with older model cars selling for more than new MSRP but that might start to get more sane before the new market as the new car supplies start to correct. But probably another 2-3 years before both markets return to normal.
Not sure about pricing etc, but the reason we bought a Sienna was because it was all wheel drive and other minivans didn’t have that option. Have been very happy with the vehicle.
Amazing space, even with the third row seats up. And the third row seats are pretty comfortable even for longer journeys. Would also recommend the captains seats for the second row, unless it’s important to have eight seats instead of seven.
We had the Sienna AWD. What a dream car! I loved it.
Supply is part of the issue, There may also be pent up demand. I am looking for a 1 ton pickup and there are none on the lots. Show rooms have been empty of all new cars and trucks. As soon as a dealer gets one on the on-line list people are calling them to buy it. I plan to go order one in the next week or two, but it will take about 6 months to comei in. Prices are at MRSP. Though i read some dealers are listing well above MRSP.
A friend is mechanic at large Ford shop. They regularly send used pickups (most only a few years old) to US because get more money for them
So it sounds like if I can wait, I should.
I am currently driving a 12 year old car with the dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and 250k on it (I am not a car guy - I spend my money on other stupid things like boats) but maybe it make sense to keep it on the road for another year and see where supply goes?
A friend is mechanic at large Ford shop. They regularly send used pickups (most only a few years old) to US because get more money for them
This is especially true for pickups. I’m a low-mileage driver, my last 2 lease-ends were sent to the US by the Dealer because of the insane money they could get for them there - after giving me alot more than I was expecting as trade value towards the new. I’ll likely be buying this 3rd one out at lease-end, and keeping it for a long time…
There seem to be lots of car people here.
I am looking to buy a Honda odyssey or Toyota sienna or Kia Carnival anytime soon. However, I hear horror stories of covid pricing right now.
Is it indeed a bad time to buy? If not, used or new?
I am in Canada if that makes any difference.
Thanks.
If you have the ability to wait out the chip shortages, you should do so. That would likely be around the end of 2022. Supplies of most vehicles are low so retailers have no incentive to offer lower than MSRP pricing. In some cases they are going over MSRP pricing.
Remember what the S stands for in MSRP…
we bought the only new Sienna in Massachusetts last summer, now there are 32 at a couple local dealers.
The NADA value for it now is about $10k more than we paid just 6 months ago!
We went truck shopping in September/ October. Test drove a new Nissan, then went to the Toyota lot where all they had was used Tacomas (some 4 years old) for over MSRP. Gave them the finger and walked away. We will wait until the next model year of Tacomas comes out and see from there. Not sure how much inventory has changed since then. But 4 year old Tacomas with 100k miles for more than new MSRP is insanity.
Depends. Decision should be driven (see what I did there?) by how much you need it.
If you need the minivan now, then you go ahead and find one and buy it.
If you don’t need it and can wait… then wait. With cars, there’s always an argument about waiting 'til next year (especially if it’s more of a want than a need).
Other other random considerations:
Looks like you hold onto cars for awhile… So any deal or higher costs becomes less of an issue if you hold onto the car for a really long time.
If resolving the various warning lights on your current car means you’re spending dollars on a series of fixes now. Could you be putting those dollars towards a purchase now?
Does AWD/4WD really matter for a minivan? Unless you’re taking it on off-road trails, seems less of big deal. We had an Odyssey years ago and for a long time. FWD+winter tires each winter got us through many years of CT, NY, and DC winters just fine (especially in DC, when they don’t plow and clear effectively as here).
If you wait until “supply” is better, you may be also competing against all other buyers that waited. That increased demand may keep prices up.
Well I went with my wife to test drive a Ford 350 similar to one i would order. They have no trucks to drive at one dealer and very few that are not exactly what i want at another. for instance they have 1 gas crew cab with 8 ft bed and one diesel 6.5 ft bead crew cab. Nd i want a diesel 8ft non dually. So my wife feels comfortable driving the non dually. (though i will probably do 90 percent of the driving, she will drive some times)
I was ready to order with al questions answered when I find out they want $5000 over MRSP, plus they charge the max admin fee the state allows. I am pretty sure i confirmed they charge MRSP I visited in December. I walked out, they said they would check if they can wave the $5000. At this point i may go to another dealer who confirms that i would not pay over MRSP and about half on the admin fee.
Not a good time to buy a truck.
Bought a 2022 Odyssey Elite in June and got it for 500 under MSRP… looking back I was lucky. Looking back here is my take.
Carnival — No doubt the best and most modern option package. Drawback is Kia reliability… could be offset by warranty depending on how much you plan to drive. Unfortunately Kia dealers are used to dealing with people who have very little financial prowess. They specialize on 3000 down and 450 a month for 96 months type of buyer. I had a dealer try to tell me the Carnival is not depreciating and it is an investment actually. The only dealer who would give me an out the door price for cash sale was 6300 over MSRP on a 45K model.
Odyssey — Very dated and needs a redesign. Solid choice, transmission issues seem to be fixed. Gas mileage is not good. Rear seat entertainment is a joke. Circa 2012.
Sienna — Probably the most ugly, but no one buys a minivan to be cool. The hybrid engine is a win at 36 MPG. Other than that very similar to the Odyssey.
I regret not buying the Sienna. At the time I just felt it was the ugliest and didn’t realize how much I would be driving. Also gas prices are up a bit so we are going through about 70 dollars a week, a lot more than I care to.
I can’t say it enough, if it is possible to delay buying do it…. I was moving home from abroad and couldn’t import my cars from overseas. I had no choice. Good Luck.
Edit to add I didn’t consider the Chrysler although it has a hybrid plug in option. My brother has one and I haven’t heard complaints. Not sure why, but I won’t buy a car from Fiat.