Automakers CAN'T LOWER PRICES Fast Enough | Episode 981
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
31:03
Concept
incentives
Incentives are discounts or special deals that car companies offer to help sell more cars. This can mean lower prices or better financing options for buyers.
Term
0% financing
0% financing means you can borrow money to buy a car without having to pay any extra money in interest. It's a way to make buying a car cheaper.
Brand
Mini
Mini is a car brand famous for making small, stylish cars. They are known for being fun to drive and have a unique look that many people love.
Term
MSRP
MSRP is the price that the car maker suggests the dealer should charge for a new car. It's a good starting point when you're looking to buy a car.
Term
dealer invoice price
The dealer invoice price is what the dealer pays to get the car from the manufacturer. It's often less than the price you see in the dealership, which can help you understand how much room there is to negotiate.
Car
Ford F150
The Ford F-150 is a popular truck that many people use for work and everyday driving. It's known for being strong and reliable, making it a favorite among truck buyers.
Car
Toyota Camry Hybrids
The Toyota Camry Hybrid is a car that uses both gas and electricity to run, which helps it save on fuel costs. It's a comfortable sedan that many families like.
Car
Hyundai Genesis
The Hyundai Genesis is a fancy car that feels very nice to drive and has lots of cool features. It’s a good choice if you want a luxury car without spending as much money as you would on other brands.
Car
Porsche 718 GTS
The Porsche 718 GTS is a sporty car that offers great performance and handling. It's part of the 718 series, which includes models like the Boxster and Cayman, and is designed for both fun driving and practicality.
Term
price increases
Price increases mean that cars will cost more money than before. This can happen for many reasons, like if more people want to buy the cars or if it costs more to make them.
Car
Subaru Outback
The Subaru Outback is a type of SUV that can handle rough terrain and bad weather. The 2026 version will have new features and improvements compared to earlier models.
Term
OTD
OTD means Out-the-Door price, which is the total cost you pay for a car, including taxes and fees. It's what you actually spend to take the car home.
Term
Out-the-door price
Out-the-door price is how much you pay in total when buying a car. It includes everything like taxes and fees, not just the sticker price.
Car
Hyundai Tucson
The Tucson is a small SUV made by Hyundai. It's popular for being comfortable and having a lot of features that make it easy to drive.
Term
lease end inspection
A lease end inspection is when the leasing company checks the car for damage before you return it. They look for any issues that might cost you extra money.
Term
residual value
Residual value is how much a car is expected to be worth when your lease ends. It helps decide if you should buy the car or not based on its current market value.
LIVE
Two hours ago, Kyle arrived at the bar.
Hey, what's everyone drinking?
30 minutes ago, Kyle got his friends another round of drinks.
Cheers!
Five minutes ago, Kyle decided to drive home drunk.
A minute ago, a law enforcement officer pulled up behind Kyle.
Sir, have you been drinking tonight?
A chain of events that began two hours ago
is about to change Kyle's whole world.
Drive sober or get pulled over, paid for by NHTSA.
Ever see an idea so clearly in your head
but struggle to make it real?
We've all been there.
With Wix, you can build a website for your business
just the way you pictured it.
Get the best of both worlds with AI and drag-and-drop tools
all in one place.
Stay in your creative flow and use AI when you want,
how you want.
Create a website your way.
Try it out at wix.com.
With the state of today's economy,
it is more important than ever to invest in products
that last for years to come.
As the seasons shift and get cooler,
make sure your closet is stocked with durable layers
that stand the test of time from American Giant.
American Giants' clothes work harder
and are wearable season after season.
Their greatest hoodie ever made
is made of the highest quality materials
that are cut and sewn right here in the United States.
So you're investing right back
into your local community.
Choosing American Giant means taking a stand
for American manufacturing and hardworking Americans,
something other megacorporations don't care about.
From fleece to knit,
all in a range of colors for versatile daily wear.
American Giant delivers everyday pieces
designed for everyday life.
Feel the difference of quality
made to last clothes from American Giant.
Get 20% off your first order with Code Staple 20
at american-giant.com.
That's 20% off your first order
at american-giant.com with Code Staple 20.
It's noon here.
Where were we?
What were you doing?
We were live for like 10 seconds.
No, now it says we're live.
It's noon here in Ventura City, New Jersey
and this is Courage live for Friday, December 12th
with your host, me, Ray here in Ventura
and well, Zach there in his apartment in DC.
And I apologize for that
because it didn't say you were live.
How are you today, young man?
I'm doing well.
Happy Friday, everyone.
Gonna be a fun, goofy day here at CarEdge Live.
We're gonna be talking about that,
how automakers can't lower their prices fast enough.
Sorry if you're hearing the background noise.
My heater in this old building is quite loud.
Now, Dad, the first thing we need to do,
we do a sponsor for today's program.
Our friends over at Delete Me,
we're gonna be talking about them in about 10 minutes
but we need to remind everyone caredge.com.
We've got for another two days, 20 hours,
58 minutes, 24 seconds.
A promotion running our year end promotion.
If you are in the market to buy a car
and you're interested in using our car buying service
or CarEdge Pro, please, please, please take advantage
of this end of year promotion we are running.
We'll talk more about our products and services
later on in the show.
Please note, you can go to caredge.com
to learn more on what we are able to do.
Dad, the big story this morning,
we've got the latest inventory data
from our friends over at Cox Automotive
and wow, there were a lot of directions
we could take today.
Show new vehicle inventory holds steady
as industry navigates year end uncertainty.
I love how the industry is saying
their inventory is holding steady
when we have for the first time in a long time
reached over three million vehicles
in dealer inventory in a 90,
90 days supply of inventory nationwide
for all automakers.
These are the highest levels we've seen in years.
So sure, you can say it's holding steady.
It's also an indication that automakers
can't lower their prices fast enough.
Inventories finally building up,
sitting on dealer lots and not selling.
We're gonna break down the data here on today's show.
This is a big deal, Dad, this is a huge deal.
Well, you're assuming for a second
that the automakers are interested
in lowering their prices.
I am not convinced of that.
Everything we see always seems to indicate
that the prices are either remaining steady
or increasing slightly,
in some cases, more than slightly.
So I think this is, what I see in this
is that inventories are growing,
day supply is growing.
The number of people in the market is dwindling
and those who can afford to purchase in this market
is dwindling as well.
They can't lower prices fast enough.
They decided they ain't lowering prices.
And the hell with all us people?
No, I think you're wrong, man,
because you're the man who went viral on YouTube.
We're gonna pull it up really quickly here.
Let's all take a peek together.
I went viral too.
Yeah, you went viral.
Unsold new cars.
Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it.
There he is, right there.
1.3 million views five years ago.
My dad, six years ago with a light shining out of his back,
explaining to all of us that there is no such thing
as an unsold new car.
Dad, you and I both know that this is a leading indicator.
90 days supply of inventory is a leading indicator
that automakers are going to have to do one thing
and one thing only, and that is lower their prices.
And it's dealers too.
They are going to have to lower prices
because there's no such thing as an unsold new car.
We already know it, we have the data for this year.
There are more lingering 2024 new cars
on dealer lots right now than there were 2023s
at this time last year.
They have a problem.
The auto industry has a problem
and the antidote to that problem
is not to just keep raising prices.
Prices have to go down eventually
because these cars sitting there cost money.
You don't make money having cars sit.
I get all that.
I do, I get all that,
but there's another way that manufacturers can impact that.
Okay.
Other than lowering prices.
Make less cars.
Limiting production and producing fewer vehicles.
So right now they're proving that they're not doing that
because we're over 3 million for the first time in years
and we're at a 90-day supply for the first time in years.
These numbers are so much higher
than where they were during the pandemic that.
So I don't think they've shown a capability
to actually restrict production.
Well, I think that that could be one of the things
we see moving into next year.
I don't think there's any headlines of like,
hey, General Motors says we're gonna cut back production.
I don't know that we'll see the headlines that say it.
I think we will see the inventory levels decline
and the day supply decline
simply because most of the manufacturers
will have decided to cut a little bit of production here
and there without having to make an announcement about it
so that things can get back into their comfort range.
But I don't see any of them really rushing
to lower prices or produce less expensive vehicles.
I have heard them all say, oh, we need to do that,
but none have actually stepped up and started doing it.
They've all made the requisite soundbite
of yes, we need to address the affordability issue.
We need to look at producing more affordable vehicles
at lower price points, but that's just been talk.
You know, words are empty
if you don't actually increase the production
of those lower priced vehicles
and it seems from reading that article this morning
that the sweet spot for whatever reason,
and I don't buy it for an instant,
but the sweet spot is between $40,000 and $50,000.
I think that is pure nonsense.
I think the sweet spot's a lot lower than that,
but they're trying to convince the world
that that's where the sweet spot is.
I think this is a big deal, y'all.
I think, well, my dad may be onto something here
that the manufacturers will pull the lever
of producing fewer vehicles and do it kind of quietly
to try and get their inventory house back in order.
I think for the meantime, you have a market dynamic
where both automakers and dealers
have too many vehicles they can't sell
and we know what that yields.
That yields discounts or at least negotiability
and it also yields incentives from the manufacturers,
which we've seen increase a little bit,
44 or 0% financing offers, for example, this month,
unlike we've seen at any other point in time,
this year, dad Cox Automotive also shares with us
the breakdown by brand and you can see here,
even Lexus and Toyota days supply is starting to creep up
a little bit where at 44 and 45 days, respectively,
they're still significantly below the industry average at 90.
And then I'm gonna remove the comments
on the screen for a second here.
You can see Lincoln has a 161 days supply
of inventory right now.
Chrysler over 150 as well, Jeep at 148.
The higher the number here,
the more desperate the manufacturer,
more desperate the dealer body is.
And I wanna do a brief example.
We always do this on the show,
but I'm gonna go to caredge.com,
I'm gonna click on shop new.
And then dad, name a brand that you wanna look at here.
Well, let's do one of my favorite brands, Mini.
Okay, so we're gonna do Mini.
The thing that I want to look at when I go to
caredge.com is I actually wanna click
into some of these vehicles.
So we'll click into this one here.
Mini in North Scottsdale,
it's been on this dealer's lot for 86 days.
It's got a $35,440 MSRP
and the dealer's advertising it for sale,
$35,440 as well.
Dealer invoice price on this vehicle is $32,842.
And if I scroll down here,
I can see that there's moderate leverage
on this vehicle.
If I were to negotiate it,
we can see that's primarily
because it's been sitting there for so long.
We actually don't have sales data
on the new hardtop Q-Door.
So I'm gonna go back,
let's do another one,
maybe the four-door here.
We'll scroll on down.
No, man, these brand new Minis,
they haven't even sold yet.
Let's do another brand, dad.
What if we do like, I don't know, Ford?
Okay.
All right, so let's pull up a Ford here
and let's like share at an F-150, a 2025 F-150.
We can see here, there's your,
what do we got?
We've got high leverage, strong leverage
in part because there you go, 173 days supply.
This vehicle's been sitting for 241 days,
92 of them for sale in that area,
but only 24 have sold the last 45 days.
This shows you at a micro level
how the dynamics are impacting dealers
in that area and your leverage.
This is essentially the double click-in of this chart, right?
We know Ford has a 118 days supply nationwide,
but what does that actually look like
in Scottsdale, Arizona for an F-150?
This tells you that.
Yeah, it looks good from a customer's perspective.
Yeah, dad, if you're the dealer
and you've got this, this is bad.
No, absolutely, I don't disagree.
I mean, you look at that chart
and there's so few manufacturers
whose inventory levels at dealerships
are below 90 days.
It is the vast majority of the brands out there
that have more than a 90-day supply.
So I think there, I will agree with you.
I think there's any number of opportunities
for a leverage and for some better deals
through the end of the year.
And I think that is because of two things.
One, it's the end of the year
when the push is really on to move the remaining inventory.
And two, because there are some increased incentives
from the manufacturers to help right about now.
Yeah, definitely.
Dad, you wanna speak about help?
Let's take a second and thank our friends over at DeleteMe.
Now you and I both know, dad,
that there are bad actors out there
selling our information online and anyone can buy it.
Things like your phone number,
social security number, home address and so much more
are sold on the internet every single day.
They're available to marketers, scammers
and those elusive folks in between.
Now DeleteMe, the sponsor of today's program,
they help you take control over your data.
You're looking at my personal DeleteMe dashboard
where over 197 data brokers have been analyzed
and my 48,000 listings reviewed.
DeleteMe removes your personal information
from those data brokers on your behalf
and for the CarEdge community
we have a 20% off coupon code.
Just use the code CarEdge
or click the link in the top of the description.
Join deleteme.com slash CarEdge
to get that 20% discount.
Dad, you and I both use DeleteMe every single day,
runs in the background for us
and it removes our information,
which we really, really appreciate.
Thank you DeleteMe for all that you do.
Okay, so dad, you're right.
They are awesome there.
When you mentioned bad actors,
Jim Carrey immediately jumped to mind.
I don't know, but I don't think
those were the type of bad actors
that DeleteMe was speaking about.
I think you're correct.
Now that we've gotten here from Scott,
thank you for this Scott.
Hops of onto something.
Toyota has reduced production in vehicles.
That Toyota has perfected on time production
of vehicles for inventory that they are producing.
Nobody does it better than they do
when it comes to producing just the right amount
of inventory to keep sales high,
the sales pace high and prices high.
They've done a remarkable job of that.
And yet, even doing that,
they are still producing more vehicles
than they've ever produced for worldwide consumption.
We fixate on North America
and predominantly the United States,
but there are a lot of other countries in the world
where there's an awful lot of Toyotas being sold.
Yeah, definitely.
We've got here, though, another Toyota question.
Seriously, how much can you really negotiate with Toyota?
Here's some guidelines that we've been using
in car edge land here, just share this on the screen.
Some discounts that we're shooting for.
Corolla's, there's a breakdown.
Camry Hybrids, Corolla Crosses.
I mean, we've got guidelines.
So we offer a car edge at car edge.
We offer car buying services.
We also, to be very clear, provide this information back
on the car edge car search as well.
So when you're on a particular vehicle,
there is a target deal range for you as well.
So use the information that we provide,
but there are still, to be very clear,
there are deals to be had on Toyotas,
even though they have a relatively low days supply.
Let's go back to that chart though, Pops.
Let's spend a few minutes on it here.
For brands that are in the most dire,
straights right now would be all of those
to the right of the green columns.
So you've got Kia with a 91 days supply,
GMC, then Genesis Dodge, Cadillac,
Land Rover, Volkswagen, Mazda,
at a 107 days supply, Buick, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Hyundai,
Mitsubishi, Ford, Mini, Ram, Audi, Jeep, Chrysler,
and Lincoln, those are in successive order.
They're the brands that are in the most dire, straights.
Those are the brands that do need to lower their prices
because their vehicles are not selling.
We know that these are the brands that are,
in some cases, up to $3,000,
is what they're paying their dealers.
When they sell one of their vehicles.
So there's some desperation for a lot of these brands.
I think realistically, what it really shows
is that it's not that the automakers
can't lower their prices fast enough.
It's that the dealers are the ones
that need to lower their prices faster
because ultimately that's where it comes down to.
It comes down to the dealer being willing to
be more motivated and to accept a lower profit margin
than they would have in the past.
So the automakers themselves,
once they've invoiced the car, they're done, okay?
It's now gonna start costing them money
for every one of those cars through the PDI expense.
And then what?
Very delivery inspection for those of you
that haven't worked 40 years in the car,
the pre-delivery inspection
that the manufacturer pays for the dealership
and then whatever warranty costs
are associated with the vehicle.
So it's not the automakers.
It's the dealers that can't seem
to lower their prices fast enough.
And then the dealers beat up their brands to say,
okay, listen, we're the ones taking the shorts.
We need you to assist.
If we're gonna have to lower our profit margins,
then we need money from you to compensate us for that.
So it's the dealers that are the ones
that don't seem to be lowering their prices fast enough
at the moment, but when they do,
they're gonna turn to their manufacturing partners
and say, we need help.
Yeah, partner, exactly.
I don't know about you,
but when I'm using AI for my business,
I don't need it to tell me what to do.
I know what I want.
I just need help making it happen.
With Wix, I finally have an AI tool
that gets things done the way I want.
I just have to describe the type of website I need
and it's ready.
I can even ask it to manage my inventory,
plan my next marking campaign,
or help out my customers.
Wix gives me AI wherever I need it.
Try it out at wix.com.
Did you know that parents rank financial literacy
as the number one most difficult life skill to teach?
Meet GreenLite, the debit card and money app for families.
With GreenLite, you can set up chores,
automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids' spending
with real-time notifications.
Kids learn to earn, save, and spend wisely,
and parents can rest easy knowing their kids
are learning about money with guardrails in place.
Sign up for GreenLite today at greenlite.com slash podcast.
I wanna turn our attention to some final data points
from Cox Automotive,
but before I do, I wanna remind everyone
that back at CarEdge.com,
we are extra busy this time of year
as people are taking advantage of this buyer's market,
and I wanna share a few reviews we've gotten recently.
Just 10 hours ago from Brett,
CarEdge was fantastic.
Zee from CarEdge was fantastic to work with,
proactive, responsive, found the right vehicle,
negotiated a good deal,
and tracked all the details.
The outcome was very positive.
I highly recommend CarEdge.
We appreciate that from Mel, 15 hours ago.
Great folks, great folks, great service.
My associate was Stuart,
and I would highly recommend him.
So it's fantastic to see the positive responses
coming through.
We really, really, really appreciate it.
As far as I know, Dad,
I think we're the world's largest company
doing something like this this month.
If we're lucky, we'll help over 500 people
through our car buying service, which is incredible.
So please, please, please take advantage of the fact
that we have a promotion running
and meet our team before you do it.
Now, the other data point
that I wanted to bring up here, Dad,
from Cox Automotive is right here.
As the year ends,
auto makers are likely to offer more aggressive incentives
on remaining 2025 models,
especially in the hyper competitive
40 to $50,000 range.
Luxury vehicles should have been as strong
as they historically do in December,
while mainstream brands must choose
between deeper discounts
or carrying older inventory into 2026.
The affordability crisis persists
for low income households,
even as inventory remains available
and models selling well below
the industry average transaction price.
Here we go.
Current inventory levels are manageable,
but underlying demand appears soft,
strong sales earlier in the year
will likely carry industry sales volume
above 2024 levels by year end.
The good news is that the industry
appears more disciplined
than in the past boom bus cycles,
but challenges like affordability,
higher costs in the EV transition
remain unresolved.
The first quarter of 2026 will be critical
in determining whether current strategies
can hold or if more significant changes are needed.
So some interesting and ominous words here
from Cox Automotive.
May I suggest that the industry appears more disciplined
than in past boom bus cycles
is true until it's not.
And trust me, in the hundred and some years
that they have been building cars, manufacturers
have never been disciplined enough
to be able to figure it out.
They have had any boom and bust cycles,
many boom and bust cycles
in order to extrapolate data to figure it out.
And they never have.
So the fact that at the moment
they seem disciplined would just indicate to me
that history will suggest that in short order
they will be undisciplined
and we will see where they'll be stuck a little bit.
Dad, I mean, I could see the first quarter of next year
being an awesome time to be in the market
because the automakers haven't restricted production,
they haven't oversupplied inventory.
It was actually, I mean,
just to pull it up on the screen,
give me a second here, I'll make you this up here.
It was January of this year, dad.
We actually had a 96 days supply of new car inventory.
The data on that, this is from February 3rd of this year.
So this was right when we got post year end sales bonanza
last year, 2024, right?
As we got into the beginning of 2025,
there was a 96 days supply of new car inventory.
You wanna talk about a buyer's market,
we had it in February of this year.
I would not be surprised if we see the same trend
happen again this year where end of year sales
probably won't be as strong as they were last year.
A lot of people have taken themselves out of the market
and then we end up with overproduction in the first quarter
and not enough demand.
I wouldn't be surprised.
What will be interesting to me, okay, moving forward,
especially into the first quarter,
is what happens with health insurance costs?
If, as is expected, that for many people,
the cost of health insurance could double or triple
especially on a monthly basis
because that's how most people pay for it.
That is going to preclude people from being able to buy cars
because if your health insurance costs doubles,
well, suddenly you have less money available
to put towards your monthly car payment.
So buying a car when you have all this added expense
is gonna become even more difficult, I think,
in the first quarter until that gets addressed.
And so there's many factors above and beyond
what automobile manufacturers do and dealers do
when it comes to rising costs of just,
I don't know, being able to protect yourself.
Here we got from Matthew
and then we're gonna go to the community forum.
It's Friday, so we gotta go to the community forum.
From Matthew, appreciate this, Matthew.
Portia screwed up and is shipping my 718 GTS to Jacksonville.
You might have to drive home cross country,
Zach Stickship lesson at the Atlanta Portia Performance Center.
All right, I'm in.
I'm in, email me, Matthew, I'll fly down.
I'll be there in a heartbeat.
That sounds fun as hell.
I gotta do that.
Wow.
God knows you are willing to travel anywhere
for some form of excitement,
whether it be climbing rocks
or I guess learning how to drive a stick on a 718 GTS.
All stuff.
I don't know if you noticed or knew this
but Portia announced that,
well, there'll be price increases starting January 5th.
So even one of the more popular
and sought after sports car brands,
we're gonna see their prices going up shortly.
Here we go, Dad, from MJC 63.
Thanks for the kind contribution.
Dealer fee is negotiable, go Ray.
Thanks, Michael, absolutely.
If it's taxable, it's negotiable.
We appreciate the kind contribution.
We're gonna turn our attention, folks.
Every Friday, we do question and answer.
If you're not on the CarEdge community forum,
you should be.
CarEdge.com slash community space over there
who's also here in the chat posts every week
where we are able to get some questions
from community members and we end up answering them.
Dad, you ready to go through these?
Yes, since I've never seen them before.
Absolutely, let's see what we can do.
From Robert.
Thank you, Robert.
2026 Seabroo Outback Update.
Hello from Leesburg, Virginia.
A couple weeks ago, I asked if it was even possible
to get a deal on a 2026 Outback.
Long story short, yes.
I went to the dealership.
I got my 2015 Outback from it.
I was told 26 is they're selling at MSRP.
That's exactly what I was looking for.
And I could reserve it with a fully refundable deposit
as it wasn't due in until late January.
Contacted a couple other dealerships.
One was below MSRP.
Another gave me an OTD quote at just below invoice price.
I sent that to the dealer I had the deposit with
and was told quote, the sales manager
will honor whatever you have.
Yeah, right.
Well, I told them I wanted it in writing
and spelled it out for them.
When their back was against the wall,
they bailed and said they didn't want to take
the loss on a brand new model.
Always get things in writing.
Folks makes me wonder what they would have done
in January when the car arrived.
I went to the other dealer
and the OTD was $50,582.
That's just a few hundred more than the car edge OTD estimator.
Got my full refund from the other dealers,
saved $3,500 contacting other dealers.
Thanks for the insights, Rob.
Not a question here, Pops,
but a hell of a success story.
Well, and it might not be a question,
but it provides us with the information
that we need to really understand.
And that is, even on newer models,
there are deals to be had
if you are willing to work at it.
Okay, if you have the time, effort and energy to put in
to pick one dealer against another
or multiple dealers against each other,
ultimately you can end up saving yourself some money.
The dealer that's getting this deal is happy
because they're thinking,
okay, we got one more deal than we should have had.
The dealer that passed is thinking,
well, that's our customer.
We really shouldn't be losing our customer.
And I don't know why they're willing to,
but it just shows that if you put in all that effort,
you can save yourself some money.
Don't always believe the first things
that a dealer tells you.
And this is why we built Car Edge Pro the way we did.
Not only does it give you the data that you need
to have an informed negotiation with the dealership,
it also gives you the AI agent
that will contact the dealership.
So instead of your email and phone number
going to the dealership,
your agent will actually contact the eight dealers,
get the responses for you
and organize the out the door price quotes on your behalf.
That's what I've got up here.
Mine says 79 because we were doing some fun work
for a 104 dealer video coming out soon.
But I encourage everyone, take a peek at using
some of the tools we've built to help them get that deal.
From Greg here pops, hi, I plan on buying a 25 Tucson,
0% financing expires at the end of the year.
In Missouri, they charge personal property tax
each year based on the vehicle value.
If I could delay my purchase until the first or second,
I will secure 0% and won't owe personal property tax
until 2027.
However, I also realized that by delaying the purchase
to January, it might negate
any OTD price negotiation power.
So let's talk about this, Deb.
Is there a big deal or a big difference
between December 31st and January 2nd?
If you're a publicly traded dealership group,
there is.
If you're not, then no, many dealerships
that are not publicly traded will hold their month open,
so to speak.
So if for the manufacturer,
the closing date for the month of December
is January 2nd,
because that's when all their programs run through,
then many dealerships will hold their books open
for December through January 2nd.
So it would be incumbent upon those type of dealers
to get as many deals on the books
by January 2nd as they can.
For publicly traded groups,
the responsibility,
they have a fiduciary responsibility to the stockholders
that they can hold the month open
for an extra couple of days.
So if you're looking to take advantage
of a strong close for a dealership
that's not part of a public group,
then you can hold out to the first or second.
If it is a dealership that's part of a public group,
then you're gonna need to complete the transaction
by the 31st of December.
Love getting those insights from your pop, from Al Sleed.
Well, price shopping dealers either by phone or email,
what do I say to the dealer who says,
call me back after you've collected your offers
and I'll beat your lowest?
Well, if you'd like to have the opportunity
to match or beat the lowest,
you need to provide me with a quote first,
whether it ends up being the best or the worst,
at least by providing me with a quote and you saying,
well, give me the opportunity to match or beat
the your best offer,
then I would accommodate you
and allow you the opportunity to beat it.
But if you're not gonna give me a price at all,
then I'm not interested in coming back to you.
I think that's spot on.
We've got here from Kevin.
Once my lease is coming to an end,
what's the best thing to do?
Well, it depends on what it is that you wanna do
once your lease comes to an end,
but you need to get a lease end inspection done.
And so you'll find out if there's any excess wear
and tear that they might wanna charge you for.
And there's, you might wanna look into the possibility
of buying it if your residual value
is below its current market value.
So there's just follow the guideline set up
by the leasing company is to have a wanna inspect the vehicle
when they wanna do the pre-inspection and all that stuff.
I think that I appreciate you going to the inspection,
but I actually think that's a little in the nitty gritty.
Your options are return the vehicle,
get into a new lease or buy the car.
So I would just start there,
like really assess what you wanna do.
And then regardless of what you want to do,
yes, there will be an inspection,
but I would not,
but the question from Kevin being,
what's the best thing to do?
The inspection is gonna happen no matter what.
Don't worry about that, Kevin.
You need to decide what do you wanna do,
which my dad wrote a great article about.
This is a long time ago,
but you can just Google search,
lease and car edge and this will pop up.
Looks like I updated it and stole your thunder here, dad.
But you wrote this article that really breaks down
with options are at the end of the lease.
Just between you and me,
you've been stealing my thunder for six years now,
but that's okay, I don't mind.
From Jesse here,
what are your thoughts on the new provisions
that allow for interest you pay on a car loan
to be subtracted from your taxable income?
I think, yeah, I don't know if space put the answer in here,
but the too long didn't read on this one is,
you gotta have obviously a specific type of vehicle
and a specific manufacturer of origin.
And then you also have to have a hell of a lot of interest
on that thing to deduct any of it.
I forget the exact dollar amounts,
but this can help no way.
You've deduct up to $10,000 of interest a year.
A year, yeah.
But do you have any idea
what the size of the car loan would have to be
in order for you to accumulate $10,000 worth of interest
in a year, that would have to be astronomical.
But it is limited to country of origin
and things of that nature.
The idea is the tax credit for interest on your car loan
is if you buy an American car, not a foreign car.
Yeah, but space is right.
Lots of vehicles do qualify.
Dad, we had a kind contribution come in earlier
from David, thank you, David.
You said that the automakers don't care
about making affordable cars.
They cater to the top 13% of earners.
The bottom 87% of your gambling life is becoming draconian.
Whether you agree with draconian or not,
this is generally an accurate statement.
Everyone's talking about a K shaped car market
and appealing to those that make the most money.
So yeah, that is where our auto industry is today.
And that's why partly we're seeing
day supply inventory grows so much
into being a shoppers market.
Because they've gone too far in that direction.
It is painfully obvious with the average transaction crisis
hovering near $50,000 that the manufacturers
have abandoned the vast majority
of potential customers out there.
And they've done it for a couple of reasons.
And one of the reasons is, well,
there's obviously a higher profit margin
and the more expensive vehicles for the manufacturers.
But there have been manufacturers out there
who have offered less expensive cars
and they have not sold well.
So part of it's on customers not being willing
to buy the lower priced stuff.
And part of it is on manufacturers saying,
well, they ain't buying it, we ain't building it.
Just that's-
Draconian, it's our reality.
Folks, again, a friendly reminder, caredge.com
and one final call out here,
click on insurance up at the top.
Please, every single day we're hearing more success stories
of folks shopping their auto insurance
and saving some money this holiday season.
You should be doing that once a quarter.
So please try it out back at caredge.com,
click on insurance.
And again, if we can help you out the car buying service,
we've got discount carage pro, we've got discount,
please take advantage of those offers
back at caredge.com.
We've got the weekend on the other side of today's show.
So we're gonna go enjoy that.
But we're back on Monday with more Car Edge Live.
We hope you tune in and spend some time with us.
Yes, well, and you, young man,
have a great weekend and everybody else
who's watching, listening, viewing, whatever,
have a great weekend and we'll see you back here Monday
and please tell a friend.
Did you know that parents rank financial literacy
as the number one most difficult life skill to teach?
Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families.
With Greenlight, you can set up chores,
automate allowance and keep an eye
on your kid's spending with real time notifications.
Kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely.
And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning
about money with guardrails in place.
Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com slash podcast.
This isn't just a game.
It's a once in a generation event.
The Harlem Globetrotters 100 year tour.
Celebrate 100 years of high flying dunks,
100 years of showstopping moves
and 100 years of changing the game.
Bring the whole family and be part of the legacy.
This game is once in a century.
Be there at Motor Center on January 24th.
Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com for your tickets
to the 100 year tour.
Did you know you can save up to 70% on the best brands
just by shopping at fromrebel.com?
We're talking about strollers, car seats,
high chairs, espresso machines, cookware,
everything you need for way less.
Here's how it works.
Every single day, Rebel drops thousands of new products
on the site for up to 70% off.
It is a constant stream of endless deals from top brands
like UppaBaby, Nuna, BabyBjorn, Breville, Nespresso,
KitchenAid, LeCrusse, and more.
But you have to act fast
because every deal is one of a kind.
So if you see something you love,
make sure you add to cart fast.
So stop paying full price when you don't have to.
Whether it's baby gear, kitchen upgrades,
or a treasure for your home,
you didn't know you needed.
Rebel has it for way less, up to 70% less.
Shop from rebel.com and save big.
If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant,
you know having a trusted partner
makes all the difference.
That's why hands down,
you count on Granger for auto-reordering.
With on time restocks,
your team will have the cut resistant gloves
they need at the start of their shift.
And you can end your day knowing they've got safety
well in hand.
Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Granger.com, or just stop by.
Granger for the ones who get it done.
Looking for the ultimate car talk?
Buckle up for CarCast,
the podcast that blends horsepower, insider knowledge,
and big personalities.
Join me,
the moderator, Matt D'Andrea, along with Edmunds.com,
Editor-in-Chief Alistair Weaver,
and WWE Hall of Famer, Bill Goldberg.
As we dive into the latest rides, car culture,
and behind the scenes stories,
you won't hear anywhere else.
From track tested reviews to legendary car collections,
this is where passion meets performance.
Subscribe to CarCast now
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
About this episode
The discussion centers around the current state of the automotive market, highlighting how automakers are struggling to lower vehicle prices despite increasing inventory levels. With over three million vehicles sitting unsold, the hosts debate whether manufacturers will take action to reduce production or if they will continue to hold prices steady. They also explore the implications of rising interest rates and the affordability crisis affecting consumers, emphasizing the need for better deals as the year ends. Insights from Cox Automotive provide context on inventory dynamics and pricing strategies.
Original notes
Today on CarEdge Live, Ray and Zach discuss the latest new car market inventory data. Tune in to learn more! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
for information about our collection and use of personal data for
advertising.
CarEdge Live
Ray and Zach Shefska, Bleav
0:00
31:03