So far, I have test driven 3 cars. If the dealerships weren't so understandably greedy these days, I might have dropped the hammer and bought one of these cars. No, I am not knocking the dealerships. They are doing exactly what they should be doing when a product is in short supply - raising prices to reach a stable point on a supply/demand curve.
RQS and I stayed in most of the day, as the weather was dreary. It was raining hard throughout the morning and early afternoon, and it was not good for taking test drives. By 3:00 pm, the weather started getting better, and we went to Central Avenue to start our car shopping expedition. The first of the cars I drove was a Hyundai. As much as I liked the Kona, I felt that there was something missing. (It is still on my list of possible purchases.) Next was the Elantra (shown above). I liked the car, but had my usual problem of bumping my head upon entry. This dealer was willing to haggle a bit, but didn't seem too greedy.
The next dealer was a Honda dealer, where we tried out their HR-V. This car said "Buy Me at the right price!" But the salesman said that the dealership was asking $3k above MSRP. There is no way I will pay that much as the manufacturers are ramping up production and that supply chains will soon get back to normal. The salesman had his obligatory meeting with the salesman, and said that they had some wiggle room. (I figure that if I offer $1k over MSRP, I could get the car for $1.5 if I hold firm.)
As you can guess, I hate paying MSRP for anything. So I'm not in too much of a hurry for now. But I want to get a new car purchase done by the time I leave my job. Keep your fingers crossed....
