Looking for your experiences on purchasing a car right now... availability, etc?

[NewHendoLib]

Hey fellow DUers - we tend to drive our cars into the ground, and are coming up against it - we love our Subaru Forester and want to consider either a Forester, Outback or CrossTrek (so will wish to test drive one of each to get a sense).

I just spoke to our local dealership and it turns out they have exactly 1 of each of the above around to test drive (and one of them is used), with lead times of months and a non-refundable deposit if ordering one.

Is anyone finding similar in our area? We are by no means in dire need to replace our car yet, but want to start the process of evaluating possibilities. Clearly must be an impact of COVID/supply chains.

thanks for anyone who has something to share!

[RussBLib]

1. We just ordered a new car

A 2022 Lincoln Corsair, the PHEV model. PlugIn Hybrid. Put down a $100 refundable deposit. They will start the build in about 3 weeks, and we should have the car by December. We usually keep our cars for 5-7 years. This will be the first one we have ordered this way, as there were 0 models on the lot.

[Liberal In Texas]

2. I love my Kia Niro PHEV. I just drove all over doing errands and didn't use a drop of gas.

I had a pretty hard time getting one back in late '18 even before the chip shortage.

[mcar]

13. I was just looking at a Niro

I'd never seen them before. We're looking at buying in the spring/summer.

[MineralMan]

3. Well, about a month ago, I was in the market for a new car.

My wife and I were looking for a subcompact SUV with AWD. We considered the Forester, but it was a little out of our price range and there weren't any available here in the Twin Cities of MN in the basic trim level we were looking for. In fact, there were almost no subcompact AWD SUVs available from anyone or built by any carmaker.

I was searching for a car to replace my 26 year old Ford Ranger pickup after we had moved to our new house. It had be be AWD and it had to be able to fit into our tight 2-car garage next to our 2020 KIA Soul. The Ranger wouldn't fit.

I finally found a 2021 Chevy Trax AWD on a local dealer's site. They didn't have it yet. It was "In Transit" on their website. It was priced right and would suit our needs, so I called the dealer and put a $500 deposit on it, sight unseen. That's what they wanted to hold the car for us. Four days later, the car arrived at the dealership and we went and picked it up, paying cash for it, since we had the money available. $24,500 out the door. One of the least expensive AWD SUVs available anywhere.

So far, it has been just fine, and we are easy on our cars and don't have high expectations of them. It's a good little runabout car with AWD that does just fine on the Interstate highways as well.

New car inventories are even thinner now than they were a month ago. If we were looking right now in our price range, we'd be out of luck, frankly. There's nothing available. Not 2021 or 2022 models. The 2021s are all sold already and nobody seems to have any 2022 models on hand, either.

That's especially true if you're looking for base trim vehicles. They're always scarce, but they seem to be unobtainable at the moment.

[d_r]

4. I ordered

A Ford Maverick hybrid in June and I still haven't gotten a build date, but other people have especially for non hybrids.

[pandr32]

7. We recently ordered one, too.

We are in Hawaii and were told our truck would likely arrive between Jan and March '22. We've signed the order and the build has yet to start.

[d_r]

9. It's going to be great

When it gets there, I think it will be a perfect vehicle for Hawaii

[pandr32]

14. It will be--can't wait!

[3Hotdogs]

5. N.J. --- Hyundai dealer usually had 40+ cars in the front lot.

Now about 10 cars in the lot. On the showroom floor, there was one car --- 2018 Tucson..... that was it.

[obamanut2012]

6. My parents just a Forester

It was the only one on the lot, but it was not for sale, only for test drives. They drove it, put down $250, choose exactly what they wanted, and got it literally two days ago, six weeks after they ordered it.

[Ocelot II]

8. It would appear that new cars are now being made of that rare material, Unobtainium.

My 2009 Saturn is going to have to keep going for awhile longer.

[Shellback Squid]

10. I would question the non-refundable deposit, most states it's fully refundable unless

the car arrives and you ask them to tint or modify it past its listed price and you back out.

Find a dealer who will take the order WITH a deposit but refundable, if you don't buy it they will have no problem
selling it to another due to the shortage

I sell new luxury cars btw

[mnhtnbb]

11. New Subarus in stock at the Subaru dealer near me in Durham

https://www.subarusouthpoint.com/new-inventory/index.htm?geoZip=27701&geoRadius=0

I haven't bought a new car since 1988 when I had a new Jeep. Instead, I've bought 2-3 year old BMW's that I find with low miles. Once I even flew from RDU to Cincinnati in 2009 to get a car--a 2007 BMW wagon that I drove for 10 years--and drove it home. Came time to replace it in December 2019 and I just happened to find a 3 year old BMW coming off a lease with low miles at the Southpoint BMW dealer (near the Subaru dealer). I just do city driving and not even much of that. A tank of gas lasts me at least a month.

[Corgigal]

12. You can by from the local,

or you look at Vroom or Cars and see what they have.

We purchased our car when they drove it to us, and we did all the paperwork at the house. Not much of a selection right now, I just lucked out to find the car and color I wanted.