Will rental cars flood the used market?

At this point, I barely drive my existing 3 cars, I don’t even know what I would do with a rental car, haha.

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Good idea on their part, don’t need to worry about parking the car.

Standby for the massive car dump

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What are your thoughts on the used car market for the upcoming second half of 2020? Initially, I thought that new car prices, lease OR purchase, would tank since nobody would be driving with corona. But seems like the factory closures counterbalanced this pretty hard as prices seem to be going UP due to low supply.

But what about the used car market? Factory closures won’t affect used cars coming out. As far as I can tell, plenty of people got rid of their cars because they didn’t need to drive during coronavirus.

Is now a good time to buy a used car?

Hope so. I’m looking for a used Kia Sorento and right now used lots are very very thin on all models. Just passed a lot yesterday that normally has so many cars jammed in you have to turn sideways to walk in-between, now there’s enough space you could drive a car through it.

Used car prices rebounded hard and are actually higher now than they were pre-corona, which defies all logic.

Somehow, personal sales of automotives is far more resilient that we anticipated going into COVID and people just keep on buying cars… many of whom are buying used cars thinking that used car prices are tanking because of COVID.

Most people don’t want the trims and history of a rental car so they avoid buying them used. I do not think dumping used rental cars on the market is going to have as much of a detrimental effect that some are projecting here. Auction prices seem to also be going up.

Fat chance on getting a great or phenomenal deal on anything vehicle related at the moment (I’m sure there are exceptions). I would wait the COVID crisis out and check the market then, there may be lingering effects we haven’t accounted for.

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Not sure what the auction numbers are looking like, but the amount of rental cars parked at the airport is really starting to thin out.

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Are these cars being sold or auctioned off?

I’d assume both, I don’t think the rental outfits have enough capacity to offload everything retail, some will have to be wholesale.

All of my in-town hertz closed, and consolidated inventory into a spot in a nearby auto mall where they are selling off hundreds of Elantras and Altimas and Fusions in white, silver, and grey.

Idk that it defies logic. It makes sense if you think about it. New car inventory is low, and if Joe Blow needs a car, but doesn’t find what he wants in his price point new, he’s got to look used. Then there are those that lost jobs or hours, yet still need something. They can’t afford new anymore, but maybe a slightly used fleet queen fits the bill.

Sure, a small percentage of people in a pandemic or economic crisis are still going to need to cars because they may not have had one that fit their lifestyle before hand and now have to go from buying new to buying used, but that still doesn’t explain the sales numbers we’re seeing.

A lot of people lost their jobs or are struck hard by the depression, I definitely expected to see more used car sales than new, just not at the numbers we’re seeing it. Feels like business as usual if you go just based off the sales numbers.

And real estate in still rolling along too, I know rates are cheap but that can only go so far

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Forcing people to make a transaction every 2-3 years is a difficult to quantify value of leasing for manufacturers. In this economic climate, if you need a car and own/finance one, you can probably keep what you have to save money. But if you lease and your lease is up then you need to buy out the lease or lease a new car. Most people opt to return lease and lease a new car.