That isn’t how used car pricing works. If used Accords and Camarys are selling for those prices, they are not overpriced. May be higher than you want to pay but that is another issue.
And if Acura, Lexus and Infiniti are being under priced, presumably used car dealers would buy them at the reduced price and re-sell at the higher “true” market price. But that doesn’t appear to be happening which indicates the used vehicle pricing is working.
May be be a supply and demand issue. Maybe luxury car owners tend to keep their cars for less time than non-luxury car owners (which means there is more supply of used luxury cars). Maybe the view is the luxury vehicles will be more expensive to maintain/insure/own (whether perceived or real). Or a combination of that and other factors.
But the idea that anyone should stop selling their Accords or Camarys for prices that you think are too high when there are other people willing to buy for those same prices doesn’t make sense.
@saillakeerie I should give you their Craigslist email address so you can explain things to them. Their cars aren’t selling. I keep tracking them in the hopes they’ll drop their prices because they’re local.
Searching for a unicorn car did me an enormous favor. Driver’s Ed is not an essential business. My son only got 3 supervised driving hours in before the school we used had to shut down. He’ll still need 9 more hours with the instructor before he can even apply to take the driving test.
I’m projecting that he won’t have his license until at least August now. Pre-virus he was on track to get his license in late April.
Had I bought a car I’d be paying for something he won’t need for months. I got lucky.
@GKUnion I wonder how this will impact the used car market? My oldest is going to need a car before the end of June. I’m wondering if I’ll have a little more bargaining power. I’m guessing private sales aren’t happening due to the stay at home/non-essential order where I live. I’m sure with so many people unemployed, car sales are way down, esp since dealerships, I think, are now by appointment only. At least I assume that, but don’t know for sure, as I haven’t been actively looking yet. And with my MVA closed, getting title for a car is done via mail now and taking longer.
Anyway, glad your search was incomplete and you aren’t paying now for an unused car!
@thumper1 Agreed, I’ll find a car eventually. My poor son is going nuts with school canceled, his drivers license in limbo and his entire soccer league folding.
Side issue- My DH’s car needs to be inspected and we will be needing to get the new sticker for the tag. So far they’ve only extended the date for people whose tags expire 2 weeks before ours expires
Well…the journey is finally coming to an end. My son has his final Driving School hours on Friday morning, and we’ll pick up his first car Friday afternoon.
It’s been a crazy 8 months. I’ve looked at so many Craigslist ads that I feel like an authority on used car prices in my area. The funniest part is that I found the car on Facebook Marketplace, despite my Craigslist chops…
I don’t know if it’s a unicorn, but it’s a nice car in truly excellent condition. It’s a 2009 Acura TSX with only 69,000 miles on it. While ever so slightly over budget, this car should easily last him through college. I had a pre-purchase inspection done at an Acura dealership and they were impressed with the car’s exterior, interior and mechanical condition. Honestly, the leather seats look more like those of a 3 year old car rather than an 11 year old one. It is fully loaded with navigation and a back up camera.
An added bonus, this is by far the cheapest to insure of all the cars I looked at.
It’s been an interesting experience start to finish.
@GKUnion what was the process for arranging for the pre-purchase inspection at the dealership? I’m in the market for a used car and found 1-2 of interest from private sellers. I’d love to get them checked out but I’m about 90 minutes away from them.
@GKUnion that is the exact same car my kids drive-a 2009 Acura TSX. I can’t even recall if I commented back in the beginning of your search though I do remember reading about your quest for a car for your son back when it started. We bought our TSX when it was about 5 years old. We had just bought me a new car and were not in the market for another yet when my husband’s car unexpectedly needed replacing. He wasn’t really ready to get something new for himself, but with our oldest about 18 months away from driving back then, we decided to get the used TSX with the plan it would be our “kid” car. My husband drove it for that year or so while deciding what he wanted for himself. Our kids are all two years apart, so the oldest drove it until she left for college, then my son drove it until he left, now my younger son has it until he leaves next fall. Hopefully it will still be going when youngest starts driving next year. It has around 140K on it now. A little beat up on the inside from my kids and starting to show age on the exterior.
I have to say, it is a pretty nice ride. Since it gets the best gas mileage out of our three cars, we often use that car when one of the kids had an away tournament, or if one of us had to take the kids on a road trip (i.e. college visits).
Last summer, my older son was picking my daughter up from work and hydroplaned in the rain on the highway, spun out and landed facing traffic in the median. So thankful he was driving that car and not my top heavy SUV as it could have been a much different outcome. For a sedan, it handles very well.
From a maintenance standpoint, it has held up very well - no issues or expensive fixes other than routine maintenance. The only downside…I find it very easy to speed without realizing it! ?
@eb23282 It’s fairly simple, just call and schedule it. They may call it a “multi-point inspection.” It’s essentially the same process a dealership would do to label a used car “certified pre-owned.” They take about 90 minutes to go through the car completely and the provide you with a written report. They cost $150-$200 depending on the make and the dealership. In my case they even determined the front right speaker in the door was blown. That’s no bid deal, but I would never have guessed they would find something like that.
To your point, I drove it 25 minutes on the highway to get to the dealership for the inspection and found it to be very fun to drive. Merging was easy, passing was as well, I forgot how fun it was to drive a smaller car. My truck is a lumbering pig.
Congratulations on your purchase! My DS16 also drives a 2012 TSX and also has had a great experience thus far. I do find it a bit funny that a sedan is cooler than an SUV for them because they grew up with SUVs being the family ride.
Well, I have to admit, my son, when faced with driving the TSX, said, “do I really have to drive a girl car?” ??
I told him he was more than welcome to ride his bike or walk everywhere. He never complained again, especially when he saw how much farther he could drive on a tank of gas that he was paying for compared to my SUV.
That said, when he was home the last six months due to COVID, I had two teen drivers at home and they were both working. Since I wasn’t going anywhere, and if I needed to, I could drive dh’s car, I let S19 drive my SUV. He was more than happy to drive my SUV and let his little brother drive the Acura.
He’s saving up his money to buy something next year-he really wants a truck or a Forerunner. Of course, until he saw the price tag for both, even used.
I am the only one in my extended family that doesn’t drive a truck. Never have driven one. Don’t want to drive one. So far my kids are car people too. I suppose that could change though.
@saillakeerie we are not truck people either. No one in our families has ever owned a truck. SUV yes (Family of six so it was SUV or minivan and I am not a minivan person), but truck/pickup truck, no. I have no idea where this desire came from. His friends don’t even drive them!
@4kids4us I drive a Toyota FJ Cruiser and love it, but the massive blind spots require your constant attention. You really get good with your side mirrors.
In VA the DMV is appointment only. Problem is you can’t get an appointment before the end of the year. When we transferred ownership to older S in June, we were clued in to the private DMV select place an hour away. Wait wasn’t too bad for H and S. Maybe an hour. However, word has gotten out. My co-worker bought a used car and went to get plates this week. He got there at 8am, an hour before opening. He wasn’t seen until 1:30pm! And that doesn’t even count the two hours driving time to get there and back
