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Ask HN: Do You Have Any Tips for Buying a Car Without Tremendous Markup in 2023?

I was looking at the Ford Maverick and thought, "Wow, this is a remarkably functional vehicle for a reasonable price", until I looked up dealers and they were all selling each model for at least 40% over MSRP and used are even more expensive... Can you offer any recommendations for finding a good car for close to MSRP? Any particular brands that are more reasonable these days?(You don't need to tell me about Tesla).

GianFabien 3y ago
Have a read of: https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/buyer-beware-dealer-markups/ https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/buyer-beware-dealer-markups/ Might help, especially with the list of most inventory.
- idontwantthis 3y ago
  Does that site work for you? I get access denied.
  - GianFabien 3y ago
    Works fine for me in both Firefox and Chrome. But I do note that masses of errors are shown in the console logs. Perhaps your browser doesn't like all the errors that the site is generating.
Kon-Peki 3y ago
In the last month, Ford introduced and new Ranger and Toyota introduced a new Tacoma. Any of those two trucks on dealer lots right now are are old, outdated, leftovers that you might be willing to take off their hands with a large enough discount ;) Also, look at out of state dealers. Not sure where you live, but huge markups aren’t a thing anymore, everywhere. A one-way plane ticket in the US isn’t expensive compared to huge markups.
brudgers 3y ago
Remember: Whatever car it is, it's just a car that a dealer is trying to move off its lot. Whatever the asking price, the care sales person would rather get a cut of a small markup than zero percent of a dream price. The goal of a dealership is to not maintain inventory. Because the factory will make more cars. Now the practical tip: use the power of the internet to contact individual sales people about what you want. I mean a few hundred within an arbitrary radius. You can always fly to pick up a car. You can always have a car delivered. The cost is rounding error on the price. Sales people who sell a lot of cars don't need to make their entire nut on you. Good luck.

GianFabien 3y ago

Have a read of: https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/buyer-beware-dealer-markups/ https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/buyer-beware-dealer-markups/ Might help, especially with the list of most inventory.

idontwantthis 3y ago
Does that site work for you? I get access denied.
- GianFabien 3y ago
  Works fine for me in both Firefox and Chrome. But I do note that masses of errors are shown in the console logs. Perhaps your browser doesn't like all the errors that the site is generating.

Kon-Peki 3y ago

In the last month, Ford introduced and new Ranger and Toyota introduced a new Tacoma. Any of those two trucks on dealer lots right now are are old, outdated, leftovers that you might be willing to take off their hands with a large enough discount ;) Also, look at out of state dealers. Not sure where you live, but huge markups aren’t a thing anymore, everywhere. A one-way plane ticket in the US isn’t expensive compared to huge markups.

brudgers 3y ago

Remember: Whatever car it is, it's just a car that a dealer is trying to move off its lot. Whatever the asking price, the care sales person would rather get a cut of a small markup than zero percent of a dream price. The goal of a dealership is to not maintain inventory. Because the factory will make more cars. Now the practical tip: use the power of the internet to contact individual sales people about what you want. I mean a few hundred within an arbitrary radius. You can always fly to pick up a car. You can always have a car delivered. The cost is rounding error on the price. Sales people who sell a lot of cars don't need to make their entire nut on you. Good luck.