Buying a car is one of the largest purchases a person makes in their lifetime, and also one of the most stressful. Dealing with the dealerships through all of the haggling to get the best price is the biggest reason people dread buying a car. But once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it changed the way cars are bought and sold.
When it comes to purchasing a vehicle, a new car is the most enticing. They have the latest technology, the most advanced safety features, and the best gas mileage. However, at the beginning of the pandemic, many of the car factories in America either shut down or limited staff to help curb the spread of the virus.
This paved the way to dealerships nationwide struggling to find new car inventory. Demetrios Klindonas, the internet sales manager at Maus Nissan, discussed how Nissan had to delay some new models due to low production volumes.
“Nissan, they have major savings on their new cars right now, the 21s released. Yes, I think a couple of 2021 models have been delayed as to where they should’ve been out already,” said Klindonas.
Despite the savings on new cars, used vehicles are what people have in mind. Used cars are much cheaper in comparison with new cars which is good when people are trying to stretch what little money they might have because of the pandemic. Vice President and Partner of Maus Family Automotive David Maus Jr. says that used cars are the hottest market right now.
“It’s the hottest market I have ever seen for used cars, so people who are looking to trade in their car… if they were looking to trade in their car a year ago, it’s probably worth more today than it was a year ago,” said Maus Jr.
While it may be nice to get some extra money by trading in an old vehicle, the price of current used vehicles has increased as well. People looking to spend less on a used car may check out an auction rather than a dealership. Not surprisingly, the prices for used vehicles and equipment at auctions have also increased due to the lack of new vehicle and equipment production.
“The auctions, they have been very minimal. There are not a lot of people going to the auctions, there are not a lot of cars getting sent to the auctions, because pretty much every car that is on the market right now, there’s a customer ready to buy it,” said Maus.
Dealership auctions are where most dealers get their used vehicles. These cars tend to be previous rentals and have very low mileage. Unfortunately, most of these auctions are for dealerships only and are closed to the public. Royal Auction Group, however, is a government surplus auction where government vehicles and equipment are sold to the public.
Nathan Bloomfield, a sales site manager at Royal Auction Group, says that even government vehicles that have high mileage are still going for more than they used to because of COVID-19.
“We’ve sold vehicles, like cop cars for example, Crown Victorias, they’re going for twice what they used to. So, it has actually gauged certain parts of the economy, at least with us, a boost. I can see numbers up quite a bit,” said Bloomfield.
Due to the increase in used vehicle sales at dealerships and auctions, these companies are trying to make it easier for customers to remotely purchase cars during the pandemic through online bidding and ordering services. Celvin Lopez, a customer service representative at Royal Auction Group, has seen this firsthand.
“What I’ve noticed is that a lot more people are doing online bidding because they just don’t want to deal with the crowd, and they can just do the bidding from the comfort of their own home,” said Lopez.
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are finding innovative ways to meet the needs of their customers and remain successful.
