chinacat
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Post by chinacat on Jun 18, 2022 4:40:51 GMT -8
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 18, 2022 8:51:05 GMT -8
It's interesting to hear some first hand info about the economy from various sources, even if they may be highly specific. A friend at a bike shop said sales have eased off just a little. At the same time, he said it's still hard for the shop to order bikes, since several of the makers have ramped up their online sales. Often these makers still work a little with the shop, sending it to them for final assembly and giving them a little money, but it's not the same profit they used to make selling a bike. OTOH, he said it does help a little bit with inventory.
At the Toyota dealer, the random younger sales guy knew all of the buzz about interest rates on the rise, and shipments on many models still being slow. He claimed a wait list of 160 for a new Sienna (I'm sure including people who are on multiple lists, or that are no longer looking), while they get 3 per month. I asked about a '22 4runner they were selling as used with under 2k on it. He looked up the pricing, and they are asking more than the new MSRP. He felt that things were actually getting a little worse, on receiving new vehicles at a slower rate and pricing on used ones increasing. Apparently compilation is happening, with people giving up on new ones and settling on a used, but also doing this before interest rates go up more. We've heard of that general premise for nearly 2 years, but I hadn't heard the "before interest rates go up" part as far as cars.
OTOH, he is "talking his book", using the key points to push the "buy something now" line. I imagine they are prepped in the morning or evening from the people that actually keep up with this stuff.
This was a busy place. While most were in for service, new and used cars were going out. They conveniently have a "fancy mini garage" on the side of the building where they put these cars being picked up, complete with oversized bow. I only spent an hour and a half there, with another 2 at Costco across the street, and wasn't watching too closely, but a few changed over including a 4runner and a new Corolla Crossover, while the people next to be were buying out the Highlander they had been leasing.
It will be interesting to see how things change in the next 1-3 months. This didn't quite have the luxury of the Acura dealer (they had an expresso maker, hot cookies, and a nail solon), but I might need to drop back in before our next likely maintenance in 3-5 months, to have some coffee while checking out how things are going.
(EDIT: I forgot that we have a recall on the old Sienna, so I have an excuse to check it out. I'm currently reading "The Toyota Way", but didn't bring it with me since I didn't want to look like a fan boi. FWIW, the book fairly closely describes what Apple does too, in many/most/nearly all situations. I also forgot how empty some of the lots were at the start of the year, vs now the lot at this dealer looked pretty solid. Maybe not at capacity, but quite a lot of cars. It sounds like some models are keeping up with demand, while others are not. But that's better than at xmas time, where at the other dealer there were no available new cars, and 11 used from trade-ins, more than half from other brands)
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Post by archibaldtuttle on Jun 18, 2022 15:09:35 GMT -8
My wife has been wanting a new Subaru for a while. I checked this week and they’re also going for over MSRP. I’ve never paid over MSRP before and since it’s not urgent I’m not eager to. If I could find a good deal right now we’d probably get it, but it seems like we’ll get better deal if we wait another 6 months.
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Dave
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"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
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Post by Dave on Jun 19, 2022 1:47:07 GMT -8
I’ve watched several of the on-the-street interviews that are available on YouTube where they ask, what should be simple questions, such as the number of states in the US or when this nation was founded. The answers are shocking. In a age where information is available so easily, few seem to care about asking the question of why, but simply accept the higher price, the higher interest rate, the lack of selection and go on without investigation. I definitely do not have all of the answers by any means, but I do have the desire to understand. Maybe that is what’s missing. Desire.
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chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
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Post by chinacat on Jun 19, 2022 6:55:49 GMT -8
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Dave
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"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,103
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Post by Dave on Jun 19, 2022 11:01:49 GMT -8
Here’s a link that works. Apple fought the union and the union wonI think that it would be wise for Apple to go ahead and announce that it is going to close that store down. Dealing with a labor union is a bottomless pit of problems that will only grow as time goes by. Unionization of retail will quickly move to the manufacturing of components such as the new chip plant in Arizona and any other plant that Apple was planning to bring to the US. This is not good.
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 19, 2022 12:26:31 GMT -8
My wife has been wanting a new Subaru for a while. I checked this week and they’re also going for over MSRP. I’ve never paid over MSRP before and since it’s not urgent I’m not eager to. If I could find a good deal right now we’d probably get it, but it seems like we’ll get better deal if we wait another 6 months. If you have the option, it's not bad to try a few dealers. They aren't likely to give you a discount in this market, but you should be able to find one that doesn't have a surcharge over MSRP. On Toyota dealers, we called or went to 4 of them. The one in Simi Valley didn't yet have a surcharge on everything yet (1 year ago), but they were adding $3k to MSRP for at least some trim levels of the Sienna. Roseville had a $15k premium on them, which just made me laugh. South Lake Tahoe didn't have a premium over MSRP, aside from their $300 "we'll mark the glass and fill up the tires with Nitrogen", but they also didn't have any available cars. So when we were able to get one in Carson City for MSRP, that someone backed out of, we nabbed it. It had a few extra things that we wanted, maybe $1-2k in extras. But it's been good. That's the crazy thing, that for an under 2 year old car they are asking so close to or even above the new MSRP. It makes it well worth while to just get a new one instead, if you can find one.
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