First of all I want to thank this forum as it has so much helpful information!
Now I know no one has a magic 8 ball to predict inventory levels at dealerships BUT as car professionals and enthusiast who are in the “know” my question to you is… My lease is up September 1st and I’d love to get into a new car. Based on the current inventory levels and dealers apparently having the upper hand due to demand still being high (especially here in south Florida) should I extend my lease and wait until the market becomes a buyers market or should I just hope for the best in august?
You can always throw some feelers out there, there’s still some deals to be had, just depends on what you’re looking for. Doesn’t cost anything to shop!
I’ve heard some manufacturers (subaru) are projecting little to no downturn in production from all of this, while other obviously are. I’m thinking that there are gonna be certain models / trim levels that aren’t selling well that dealers may actually start entertaining “low” offers on since they won’t be as many other cars to sell. At the end of the day, we’ve all gotta eat.
I think this is the correct approach. It can’t hurt to look around now, maybe you will find the deal you want. But if not, just wait it out. Trying to guess the market and incentives, though, is hard enough in normal times, and even harder now.
I just went through the exact same thing. Lease is up in September and I started to shop around. I was prepared to wait unless I found the exact car I wanted. Although inventory is tight and people will say it’s a sellers market, when I did happen to find the exact car, I felt empowered in terms of the negotiations because if it worked out fine and if it didn’t I was also fine.
This allowed me to wait out the dealer until I finally got the discount I was looking for.
So I say no harm in looking and if you find something you love, go for it if it’s a good deal.
I’m in the same boat. Its hard to know whether or not to jump on a deal now or wait and see how things are in late aug/September.
I am having trouble even getting test drives. All the dealers near me are doing appointment only, and wont even let you make an appointment without doing a full on sales call / pre-negotiation prior. I dont really want to waste hours on the phone when I really just want to drive a few cars.
This is definitely a hard time to be getting a new car.
I was in the same boat - Audi A3 lease is up Oct 21. Audi dealer just quoted me on a 2020 Q3 MSRP $43,995 and said its the best they can do. I was like no thank you. Long Island is horrible. And apparently when they say they will get me out of my last 2 payments it really means we will just add it to your next lease.
Good lord, that A3 lease offer is criminal. Even in the Bay Area I can’t imagine something that bad.
My .02 on the Wait vs Buy is lean heavily on Wait on any in-demand models. There are some caveats around EV vehicles, including the Audi Etron SUV, but I see those as very few and very far between.
FWIW I was a NorCal Toyota dealer test driving trucks and the finance guy basically said deals suck right now, even with different banks. When 2021s hit the lots in the next couple months, maybe you’ll find some 2020 inventory deals.
If you can wait it out then wait it out. I’m about to dump my lease since a dealer offered the buyout. I’ve been shopping around in case I did dump it and I’ve had no luck so far. You should put feelers out there though. There’s always more pressure on dealers / salesmen near the end of the month so you don’t know who will come crawling to your inbox. This is definitely a bad month but we recently had some good months for desirable cars. Inventory could catch up soon or sales could dry up because of the outrageous prices resulting in possible incentives. Hard to say what could happen but I’m kind of banking on October being a great month for leasing… will see. Luckily I’ll be working at home until at least October, likely much longer so I don’t need a second car at the moment. I only gain money waiting it out so if you’re in the same boat I suggest waiting.
Asking myself the same thing. For some reason, I strongly doubt that inventory will be up to par once september comes. October and onward is what I’m banking on
@mp11477 can I ask what you’re basing that on? I don’t disagree (I really have no idea), I’m just wondering if you can share more of your thinking on this.
I am in S. Fla also. My Tacoma lease is up in November and I have 3 payments left. So I decided to do so window shopping. First stop was Carvana to see what they would give me. Guess what, I am making $897 off my lease. If all goes as planed they pick it up Saturday and hand me a check for $897. Then I will be free to shop with no worries about an upside down or wear and tear costs. Only problem is inventory is low but I can wait for awhile at least. If not I can buy. We will see what happens.
Start to looking for next car in June, and then realized since I am WFH now I really do not need a new car at the time, maybe check back in Aug or Sep, that equals 3 payments savings
