Aaahhh… the good old days of 2008. A time when you could poach for a decently equipped gas sipper right around the 10k range. Of course we had (and still have) bogus fees aplenty. The processing fee. The documentation fee. The ‘we are gonna screw you any way we can’ fee. Out the door most of these vehicles hit the 12k to 13k mark. But with enough luck, a little demo miles, and a clunker in the driveway, you could always limbo close to that 10k mark. Can you still get this deal in October 2010 ?
The manufacturers are now controlling their inventory… in most cases. The average vehicle supply has now dipped to 60 days which is right where the American economy had been on October 2007. Dying brands are… mostly dead. Scion, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Suzuki are all pretty heavy on the days of inventory with the occasional Jaguar thrown into the mix. But the volume of vehicles has gone down considerably and with that comes newfound faith in resale values.
Forget about the parts bin Taurus and Regal of old. The new ‘lease’ vehicle is one that now has at least 80% of it’s competitors virtues. Why? Resale. If it can’t hit the number, that teaser monthly payment won’t take place. The Honda Insight is to me the quintessential 80% vehicle. You get 80% of the Prius’s fuel economy (41 vs 50), 80% of the back seat room (got small kids?) and 80% of the interior quality for a lease that may very well end up being about 2/3’s of the cost of one for the Prius. Why?
They don’t sell unless they are cheap, and the Insight is likely the biggest sales disappointment of 2010 .The nee-Prius is now being pushed out the door in some places for $169 a month for 36 months. Yes you do get the usual onslaught of tag, title and bogus fees to deal with and your credit history has to be better than the Chinese government. But most folks don’t read that small print. Just the big number.
If gas hits the $3 average you may very well recapture the sales tax and ad valorem expenses through your gas savings. Of course a beater will be much better. But for someone who can’t drink the Steven Lang Tightwad Kool-Aid it’s a better deal than most. But wait… another $1700 due at signing? Forget it! Just go dicker down a Chevy Cobalt XFE coupe, pay cash, or just keep what you have. Or maybe get cheap financing now that GM is using AmeriCredit to make all their bad financial decisions.
Or get a CPO Cobalt sedan with a stick. Once the warranty is up and the payments are done… http://cobalt-addiction.com/performance.htm but I know you guys will just keep your upgrades quiet and under the stock exterior right?
Sigh I wish the ricers would realize sleepers are cooler.
Though anybody who knew about Dodge’s pocket rocket from the mid-80s would instantly recognize the metallic blue paint and offset hood grille (yes, the ductwork beneath it was functional) as a big warning sign, I was surprised by how many people would bite at my turbocharged Omni’s stumbling idle at the stoplight. I had peeled off every single GLH and Turbo sticker on the body using a hair dryer on a hot summer day to “conceal” its origin. Eventually moving up to a well cared for GLHS, I am still astonished by how astonished today’s kids are when that lightweight terror (sub-ton econoboxes were a casualty of the 90s, I’m guessing) dusts their brightly painted buzz-bomb. Yes, the bypass valve circuit has its own muffler to aid even further in the “what the hell does that thing have?” guessing game. The P-car stole all the turbomotors after ’86, which is a shame as a “no frills” turbomotor option for the Omni America series would have been the perfect last hurrah for those final L-body years.
I should keep an eye out for one of those nice 4-door Cobalt SS turbocars and pick up a spare factory power upgrade kit for that ~300hp number when one shows up. Make mine boring blue with no wing and then go out and break some more hearts. Again.
Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a man who knows how to have fun. De-SS an SS so it just looks like a rental Cobalt.
@Felis: Yes, I miss that generation of Turbo Mopar. Several of my friends and I had them back in the day, and occasionally I like to troll eBay Motors looking for a nice Shelby Charger of some kind. Still haven’t pulled the trigger on that daydream, though…
As for the Cobalts, don’t count out the earlier supercharged ones. There’s a kit out there for a smaller pulley to crank up the boost on the blower, and I believe there are reflashes available to unlock even more power. A local Chevy dealer here in Grand Rapids did it with a Coby, got the car to produce something like 320 HP at the flywheel. I never drove it, that must have been one wild beatst, though…
Trash that ridiculous wing, and swap out the factory wheels for something from the cheap-o line at Discount Tire and you’ve got a pretty good sleeper.
Steven,
Great post and spot-on as usual.
But a lot of us are waiting for the rest of the story about the Stan and the Junior Gypsy.
Soon?
JT
Has anyone noticed how corporate America is quietly taking over our country? Imagine if the cable company that controlled what you watch (Cox) also controlled how you buy cars (Autotrader) and the wholesaler (Mannheim) and then took control of the very values of vehicles themselves (Kelly Blue Book)?
It happened today, and nobody even reported on it.
One more reason I’m glad I haven’t paid for cable in over ten years. (Satellite too.) And I haven’t missed TV in at least nine and a half years. Try it. You’ll like it.
And that Coca-Cola products are available at BOTH Burger King and McDonald’s? SherbornSean, do you know why this is? It’s because the guys who fly the black helicopters over your house prefer Coca-Cola products and can usually park their silent whirlybirds on the roof of Mickey D’s on a lunch break.
Go back to 1975 and watch the original “Rollerball” movie to understand what SherbornSean was hinting at! Dead-on. Also think “traveling merchants” as recorded in Scripture. Stay tuned!
I used to be against leasing, but honestly if you don’t know your way around a car and/or just don’t want the hassle and expense of doing repairs and maintenance, it makes sense, and often times the incentives make it a better deal than actually buying a new car and selling it once the warranty has expired. I almost always buy used, but I can definitely see the appeal.
I personally would recommend spending a little more money and getting a much better car. You can lease a new Hyundai Sonata for $199 a month. That’s hard to beat.
The best financial strategy though is till to buy a reliable, used car. I’ve saved an incredible amount of money over my lifetime by avoiding dealerships.
Leasing has its advantages if you’re not sure you’ll care for a car long term. With solid credit, a one year lease beats trading and re-purchasing. (Although, that may not hold for GM’s toe-tag credit practices).
@ihatetrees: There was a period of time when my kids were younger we did a fair amount of traveling for club sports, and leasing a car made the most sense. We don’t have long commutes, so the overall mileage was kept within the amount of the lease terms, and we paid very little for reliable transportation during those times. The way I rationalized it was it was my “transportation” bill, not unlike one of your regular utility bills.
Now that the kids have their own cars, we’ve purchased our latest car. It will probably be our only new car purchase for a while now that we don’t drive as much again.
Right now go to http://www.fitzmall.com/ which is a DC Metro and Florida dealer.
They have brand new in stock 2011 Hyundai Accents no-haggle for as low as $8,801.00
Four in total under $10,000
These guys are right around the corner from my house. Decent dealer… a little pricey on used cars but a nice simple buying process. But I dont know why more people dont snap up those Accents!! The $8800 probably doesnt have AC, but its just under $10k with AC, and just a tad over if you add the conv. pack with power windows. And its a nice looking car! I wouldnt spend the extra money for the “sport pack” with the bigger rims, but slap on a set of firesale 16″ rims and the look really nice.
According to the IIHS website, the Cobalt ranks “substantially worse
than average” in medical and injury losses. It leads me to think the car might be unsafe and expensive to insure. Given the choice, I’d still lean towards the Insight, even if it isn’t the Prius-killer Honda was hoping it would be.
Does anyone know the actual payment versus the advertised payment? Honda advertises $169 plus $1699 down for the Insight (http://automobiles.honda.com/current-offers.aspx), which sounds like a great deal, but what is the ACTUAL payment one would make in the real world (after taxes and fees)?
@matthew: It looks like Honda is trying to blow out the last of the 2010 Insights, that’s a fairly attractive lease. If you follow the link where it says “See Details” it explains how it all works. All of the stuff about taxes, titles, etc., depends upon where you live. You may have to visit a dealership to find out for sure.
I am an automotive masochist, and thus I have always preferred older European cars. Not just any Euros though…we’re talking JD Power’s Hall of Shame: Land Rovers (including a ’68 IIa), old Saabs, old BMWs, that sort of thing. I love tinkering, DIYing, all of it. A Saturday morning spent replacing ball joints on my wife’s 9-5 wagon was heaven. Leasing was always out of the question. What fun is that?
Then…we had kids. Not only did the economics of a 13 year old 5 series no longer make sense, but time became a big issue. Replacing ball joints was no longer as much fun when I could be collecting leaves with my daughter.
Leasing fits my needs at this point. I leased a new, no-worries car (manual Accord) for a pittance ($169/month, $830 down inclusive of all fees). It’s a great commuter, I can fit the family in it when necessary, and I can just give it back in 3 years. And I’ll never have to change the struts. When the kids get older and my wife goes back to work, I can revisit my sickness. There’s a small shop on the way to work that has a TVR for sale…
You sound exactly like me.
I also enjoy working on cars, but a family has taken up that time. I can’t spend my entire weekend under a car anymore. Between a family and a demanding job, many people simply don’t have the time to work on their car. Leasing is a good option for people who just want reliable and stress-free transportation for very little cash outlay.
I can’t wait for retirement when I can get back to wrenching.
Back in the mid-2000’s, you could only get the ‘musical three’ vehicles bargained down to the 10k range. The Accent, Aveo and Rio.
Then things started to change in 2008. The Cobalt became heavily discounted. Nissan started to aggressively price the Versa’s low-end trims. Even the Yaris, Focus and Lancer started to come plummeting down to the 12k range. Throw in the PT Cruiser and Caliber being utter sales flops and there were nearly a dozen vehicles that were slugging it out in the cheap side of the market.
Now everyone is vacating that side of the market… at least on paper. The Cruze and Fiesta are going upscale. The Yaris now starts at 13k and looks to be well established with those folks who can’t ante up for the Corolla. Mitsubishi is limiting production and Suzuki is as well.
Long story short…
A close out Cobalt, Accent, Rio, Aveo or Versa may be the way to go these days for a new car ‘keeper’ ont he cheap side. The Cobalt deal I saw seemed to be the best one out there but I would put the Versa on the list as well. The other three just aren’t that competitive. Hmmm… maybe a Yaris demo model if you can fine one.