A huge car shortage?

[dinneR ★]

39 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Yeah - a selection thing.  If someone needs a car or truck or SUV, there are 1,000,000+ brand new ones to choose from at any given time.  A 30 day supply sitting on lots.  Is that great? For some.  Is that awful? For others.  But again, it's a spin up that then spins more stuff up that then spins it some more

From a prudence side of things, it makes sense to not buy a new vehicle right now.  Similar to pausing before buying a house or any other item that may be non-essential for folks who have working vehicles or a perfectly fine home.

Your econ textbook from the 1980s needs updating. How does a nine month wait equal a 30 day supply? Your company needs a delivery van, but all they have are SUVs. 

[12string]

The shortages are real.  I've been reassigned full time to coming up with solutions.  Got an email this morning saying that we now have zero inventory of one of our bigger selling products.

[Rattlecan ★]

1 hour ago, Randomguy said:

What is the hugest car out there?

This one would be a contender.

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, denniS said:

Your econ textbook from the 1980s needs updating. How does a nine month wait equal a 30 day supply? Your company needs a delivery van, but all they have are SUVs. 

I think separating the hype - THERE ARE NO CARS! - from the there is not the EXACT car I want available THIS INSTANT from the dealer in MY NEIGHBORHOOD. is the challenge.

Your friend can swing by Sterling Subaru and grab an Outback.

Or Tysons Subaru.  Here's the limited, but existing, inventory at Tysons:

[Kzoo]

2 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I think separating the hype - THERE ARE NO CARS! - from the there is not the EXACT car I want available THIS INSTANT from the dealer in MY NEIGHBORHOOD. is the challenge.

Your friend can swing by Sterling Subaru and grab an Outback.

Or Tysons Subaru.

I remember early 80's was similar.  You didn't get a car that wasn't on an order sheet somewhere.  I vividly remember a Dodge sales guy flat-out telling me in '81, "Here are the cars we have on order from the factory.  If you want one of those it's list price.  If you want it, it's your's.  If not, the next guy will buy it. We only have one in stock and it's our demo.  You can't buy the demo."

My first 'new' car was a '76 Camaro.  It was ordered from the factory and I had to wait.  There were cars in stock but never equipped the way someone wanted them.

[dinneR ★]

18 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I think separating the hype - THERE ARE NO CARS! - from the there is not the EXACT car I want available THIS INSTANT from the dealer in MY NEIGHBORHOOD. is the challenge.

Your friend can swing by Sterling Subaru and grab an Outback.

Or Tysons Subaru.  Here's the limited, but existing, inventory at Tysons:

They are waiting on a van so neither of those would help. 

I'm not talking about hype. I never said there are no cars. Be realistic. If you live in the mountain west and want a van, an Outback on the east coast is not a realistic option. 

[Razors Edge ★]

3 minutes ago, denniS said:

They are waiting on a van so neither of those would help. 

I'm not talking about hype. I never said there are no cars. Be realistic. If you live in the mountain west and want a van, an Outback on the east coast is not a realistic option. 

Oh, I was writing about there being no real shortage of vehicles, just a lack of selection and full MSRP.  I think if folks want to view it as a shortage - again, as in I want exactly what I want right now from a local shop for less than MSRP - then we have a shortage. But if you need a car, you can walk into any dealership (near me) and walk out with a car after signing a check.

[Kzoo]

I think ya'all are missing the political component to this.  @Wilbur mentioned this in about the second post.  There are people that don't want you to have computer chips.  Yes there are material and logistical issues.  There are also political issues.

 

[Razors Edge ★]

2 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

There are people that don't want you to have computer chips.  Yes there are material and logistical issues.  There are also political issues.

The anti-vaxxers?  Sure, those little tracking chips are nefarious, but not causing the car "shortage".

Or are they????

[BR46]

4 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Oh, I was writing about there being no real shortage of vehicles, just a lack of selection and full MSRP.  I think if folks want to view it as a shortage - again, as in I want exactly what I want right now from a local shop for less than MSRP - then we have a shortage. But if you need a car, you can walk into any dealership (near me) and walk out with a car after signing a check.

The Ford dealership down the street has about 6 new cars and 3 or 4 new trucks in stock and about the same in used vehicles. They say that they can't get new vehicles in. It might be different in bigger cities but a lot of dealerships around here are looking pretty slim.

[Razors Edge ★]

14 hours ago, BR46 said:

The Ford dealership down the street has about 6 new cars and 3 or 4 new trucks in stock and about the same in used vehicles. They say that they can't get new vehicles in. It might be different in bigger cities but a lot of dealerships around here are looking pretty slim.

Yep - must be region and size of dealer.  My one Ford dealer has 500+ vehicles in inventory including 150 F-150s.  Even declaring 0% financing on the '21 trucks.

But the smaller dealership farther out has 50 vehicles total.  A big difference for sure.  If you want an Edge or Escape, not too much to choose from at Jerry's! A third dealer sits right in the middle of those two in inventory.

 

[12string]

21 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Oh, I was writing about there being no real shortage of vehicles, just a lack of selection and full MSRP.  I think if folks want to view it as a shortage - again, as in I want exactly what I want right now from a local shop for less than MSRP - then we have a shortage. But if you need a car, you can walk into any dealership (near me) and walk out with a car after signing a check.

Really good point.

And a kind of sad commentary about society