usedcar

Why Detroit Loves That Used-Car Smell

By Michael J. Moody 5 months ago

General Motors and

Ford


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are veering into online used-car sellers’ lane. How quickly can they overtake them?

GM announced earlier this month that it will launch a new website, CarBravo, which will help its U.S.-based dealers market and sell all types of used cars online, not just its models. That would place it in direct competition with online used-car retailers such as Carvana, Vroom,

Shift Technologies


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and even

CarMax,


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which has both a bricks-and-mortar and e-commerce presence. Ford started inching into that territory last year when it launched a platform, Ford Blue Advantage, that also lets dealers list and sell used cars, though it is limited to its own-brand certified vehicles.

The move would help GM take a piece of the red-hot used-car market. Almost three times as many used cars were sold in 2021 as new vehicles in the U.S., according

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Wichita used-car dealer to pay $21K to settle complaint

By Michael J. Moody 10 months ago

A local used-car business and its owner have agreed to pay $20,000 plus more than $1,697 in court costs and other fees to settle a consumer complaint case alleging the company refused to honor implied warranties on their vehicles — including on a Nissan Altima that a repair shop described as a “Fred Flintstone” car too dangerous to drive because of a hole in its undercarriage.

Thomas Bland II and Quality Automotive Group LLC II, 3933 S. Broadway in Wichita, denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay the money to settle a Kansas Consumer Protection Act lawsuit filed by the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, according to a news release. An attorney for the dealer, Todd Shadid of Klenda Austerman law firm, declined to comment Wednesday.

But Bland told The Eagle he thought the dealership “went above and beyond . . . to go well over what the warranty stated.”

“It’s

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Used-car prices are finally starting to fall from their pandemic peaks, but deals are still far away

By Michael J. Moody 12 months ago
A car dealership lot with Ram pickup trucks.

Used-car prices will only truly get back to normal once new-car prices come down. David Zalubowski/AP

  • Used-car prices have shot through the roof in the past year.

  • The market may have finally peaked and prices are slowly returning to normal.

  • But it could still be more than a year before you can truly get a deal on a secondhand vehicle.

  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

In today’s topsy-turvy car market, people are shelling out thousands more for used cars than they did just a year ago, with prices jumping more than 10% in June alone.

And although prices appear to have peaked, it’ll be a long while before you’ll be able to pick up a secondhand set of wheels on the cheap, experts say.

Prices are finally dropping

After surging for months, wholesale used-vehicle prices went down between May and June, according to data from Manheim Auctions

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How a perfect storm of shortages and rental car chaos sent used-car prices skyrocketing

By Michael J. Moody 12 months ago
Cars sit outside a used car dealership with spray paint on the windows advertising the vehicles.

Used car and truck dealers have bought models for more than their original sticker price. Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images

  • Used-car prices have skyrocketed over the last year.

  • A supply crunch in new cars is spurring demand for used models.

  • Prices may not return to normal for at least a year, one expert told Insider.

  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

If you’re looking to get a sweet deal on a used car to take advantage of the warm summer weather, it’s not going to happen.

The market for secondhand cars is absurdly and unprecedentedly hot right now. Used vehicles went for a whopping 40% more in June than they did before the pandemic in February of 2020, according to data from JPMorgan.

The average nine-year-old car changed hands for $13,250 in June, according to automotive research site Edmunds. That’s a 30% hike over the same

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