Kanpai

You think those people will realize this or they live in blissful ignorance?

vpar23

people who spend 10+k over for the car give zero ****s imo

abdrury

Just to play devils advocate—I wouldn’t be shocked if no one is actually paying that much over. Think about it, that really is a lot more and it just doesn’t make sense. Firsthand I had a dealer with something $10K over go to $2K over in literally 15 min. So, I just wonder how we could ever know if anyone is actually paying that much.

vpar23

this was back in December when supply was a lot lower. I’m in the Midwest, I told them I would buy for 5k over if they could cover shipping but they didn’t budge. Thank god I held out but yeah it’s a different market for this car than 4-5 months ago

abdrury

oh wow, that's crazy! Yes it does seem that things have changed quickly for the dealers. My experience was from late-Feb, a dealer in the South wanted $10K over for a Molten Pearl they'd had a few weeks and I told them "I couldn't do more than $2K over" and they called back 15 minutes later and said "OK." But like you, thank goodness I didn't because I ended up finding one at MSRP!

TipsyTonio

Agreed. Unless if I see a bill of sale I’ll never believe how much a sales person says they sold a car over sticker for. Remember they tell you this while actively trying to get you to be a sucker. A Facebook user walked into Lexus of Orlando asking to get an IS500 LE at MSRP despite them listing it at 40k over (yes not a typo). They said no and he walked out. And 15 minutes later they called him and told him to come back and he got it at MSRP. Dealers will always play these games which is why I expect you smart Lexus folks to smell that crap from a mile away.

vpar23

yeah I ended up getting my absolute preferred spec which is caviar on red for 2500 over msrp but they started at 10k. At the time, I didn’t know about supply of these bad boys or I might have waited but I also thought interest rates would have gone up which they have. I regret nothing, I can’t time the market but I know I got a great car at a price I could swallow that was local in Chicago (don’t have to worry about freeway driving without ppf, not worried about transport etc)

sunamer

That is because the music has already stopped. The dealers have been hoping to find some more suckers, before they all run out of chairs.... Also, they were hoping for good tax returns, which did not pan out for the majority of people...
In addition, many dealers sold super-overpriced cars during the pandemic. Now, banks wont refinance those 130-140% MSRP cars, since then the prices have come down quite a bit, so most of those "frequent buyers" are stuck upside down.

So, the dealers know that it very well could be that in 1 year from now their is500s might be sitting on their lots for $30-40k with no one wanting them because there is no money to buy them with... yet they would be obligated to continue their payments on them to the banks (since dealers dont buy cars with cash, but rather on a very expensive credit line from a bank).

There is already strong indications of the upcoming credit crunch (like months from now)... downturn is here, and rich people dont really buy IS models anyway. It is rather overstretched low income or middle class guys. The former got capped by high rates and lack of jobs + "adjusted" credit reqs, and the latter got incinerated by inflation and all the craziness of the last 2 years.

macmaster

IS500s are not ever going to be $30-40k on dealer lots. I couldn't even get a CPO IS350 for less than $40k before the pandemic.

I'll agree that rich people don't buy IS models though.

sunamer

because we were doing okay economically pre-pandemic.
That "doing okay economically" isn't the case anymore...