Thread: Car sales

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Yes Charlie, there are a lot of cars for sale, moreso than in recent years. There's a lot of uncertainty out there. If you've got money, you're often pilloried in the world of politicians and their lap dogs in the media as greedy, mean, yada yada. If you're one of those who think they don't have money you're constantly barraged with the message that you're a victim. Blah, blah, blah. Regardless of where you put yourself in that range the outlook for the future is very cloudy. People with more of a business mentality see a much more intrusive government and are trying to figure out how the game will be played in the future. Some, GE and Walmart for example, are working overtime to suck up to the politicos in the hopes they'll be the favored ones for handouts and favorable legislation (sort of like paying protection money to the mob). They can see that companies such as Goldman Sachs whose employees donated over $1m to the victorious Presidential candidate end up getting TARP money AND having high second quarter profits. Graft pays. But I only paint the politics to underscore the sense of unease those further down the economic ladder who don't have the ability to buy politicians have. Those well off folks are the ones with automotive toys in their garages. The environmental attacks of the CO2 scams, such as Cap & Trade legislation, send a message that future energy costs will be going through the roof. Less sophisticated folk may not share these concerns because they've chosen to not pay attention, but all of these things impact some slice of the market. Enough slices add up to a significant segment of the hobby market. Add in the folks who have or seriously fear job losses, or those who foolishly financed their auto hobby by using their home equity as an ATM machine, and the body of "panic" sellers grows, and the reduction of potential customers shrinks. It COULD be a good time for someone with money to buy in as prices drop, or you could be buying into a dying hobby that will indirectly be killed by political interference.

Certain cars are still doing reasonably well price wise, say a genuine '32 Ford 5 window coupe that has a nostalgia style. Glass '32 roadsters are sucking hind tit. The comparatively limited number of buyers are moving to quality. In muscle cars, Hemi Mopars are considerably down, especially the clones, but even the Camaros, Mustangs and Challengers have softened. Only the rarest of rare ones still stir the wallet at near two year ago prices. Ironically, from what I've heard, rod shops around the country are still plugging along pretty well with lots of projects in the works. My guess would be there are guys who have been sitting on project cars that they think they'd better get done and then enjoy, then sell before the potential worst happens. It'll be interesting to see if my guess on that is right or wrong.

The thing is most of the advertised cars are overpriced for the current market. This is probably a combination of wishful thinking, denial, or ignorance. The ones who are really motivated will keep advertising and lowering their price. I've noticed that a lot. It's not uncommon to see a car sell for $10-20k below starting price. The real joke is the guy who has a car that's been over appraised (happens way more than many realize), and thinks he's discounting from that inflated number, completely ignoring real world comparables. There's a curse purported to be Chinese, but also disputed as to origin, but it goes "May you live in interesting times". We live in interesting times.