Which Car For Me?

I participate regularly in an active consumer discussion board about cars and a common topic is related to seeking help selecting a vehicle to purchase or lease. Some are asking for advice as to whether a Toyota is better than a Honda, or if a Kia is reliable, or if they should buy a SUV or Minivan.

The problem with the advice that one gets from these kinds of forums is that you only get snippets of information that represent the biases and limited experiences of a small number of individuals. A claim that a particular make of vehicle has horrible reliability will often evoke a response from someone that they drive a vehicle of that make that has 250,000 miles on the odometer and has never had the oil changed. A similar claim that a particular brand of car lasts forever will nearly always draw out someone who's car was a lemon.

The point to be made here is that, regardless of a vehicle's overall or average reliability, there will be exceptions. Furthermore, one person's opinions only represent his single experience, based on his needs, his priorities, and his limited perspective. The only way to get cumulative data is by consulting sources such as JD Power or Consumer Reports who do extensive annual surveys of thousands of vehicle owners.

Best Time to Car Shop

I've found that many automotive consumers still believe that the best time to buy or lease a new car is at the end of the model year, just before next year's models arrive. Or that the best time is at the end of the month, or quarter. Not necessarily true anymore.

Over the past few years, the automotive industry has become very competitive. No longer can car makers and dealers simply wait around for customers to drop in. Customers have to be stimulated -- to the point of being made to want a new car even if they don't need one.

This means that good deals are available throughout the model year, not just at the end. There are employee price plans, internet prices, factory-to-consumer rebates, factory-to-dealer rebates, holdbacks, discounts, no-interest financing, long-term financing, loyalty programs, trade-in deals, and more. Often, combinations of these programs result in deals that simply can't be any better, any time.

Car manufacturers are beginning to realize that they can't continue trying to outdo themselves with new discounts and promotions. They are now looking at a concept called "value pricing," which means that sticker prices will be lowered to more fairly represent what customers are willing to pay without messy negotiations. This is a little different than the old Saturn "no-haggle, one price" concept in that the prices are pre-discounted, like a sales price. The problem that car manufacturers will have is that of convincing automotive consumers that the prices really are discounted and this is not just another deceptive scheme. If this concept works, which is questionable, then there may not be a "best time" to buy or lease. The best time will be any time.

So if you're still hearing your father's car shopping advice of years ago, forget it. It's a different world out there now. And it continues to change.