Disruptions in the Used Car MarketSo if you’re in the automobile market looking for a new car or used car, you may be finding that there are a lot of pricing disruptions in the used car market. Why is that? Well, even though prices spiked up quite a bit a few years ago, they kind of leveled off. But expect that they’re going to go even higher or maybe even stay high because here’s what happened.
New Car Manufacturing DisruptionsThree years ago, in about 2021, there was a very serious disruption in new car manufacturing, meaning that a lot of automakers had trouble getting inventory for their parts. They had trouble with their supply chains. They had trouble with even COVID disruptions of their factories with employees. So there were a lot of reductions in new car inventories. Remember when you drove by dealerships in 2021 and 2022? There were empty lots. There were maybe five or six cars out front where there used to be oceans of cars.
Impact on the Used Car MarketWell, used car markets come from previously sold new cars. There’s not a used car factory. The used car factory happened three years ago. So all the three-year-old cars you’re looking for today would have had to be manufactured in 2021 or 2022. That didn’t happen. So there will be a lot fewer used cars in the market in the next few years. It’s kind of like those empty lots that happened on the new car side are now going to be empty lots on the used car side. It’s the same inventory, the same cars.
What to Expect in the MarketSo expect that you’ll find older cars with higher mileage. You might find some newer cars with low mileage, but they’re going to be a lot more money. Or sometimes, it’s even better to buy a new car. So if you can find an older vehicle that’s in good condition, maybe 10 years old or 12 years old, that would be usable for the next couple of years to kind of bridge the gap. That might be a way to go until the used car market sorts itself out.
Ensuring a Smart PurchaseAnd again, sometimes those older cars come with title problems, and that’s one of the things we deal with in our vehicle title division. Just make sure you get a good inspection. Make sure you have very good research on the history of the vehicle and that you have any title problems squared away before you move forward. So that even though you’re saving money on a used car, it doesn’t turn into a nightmare for some other reasons.
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Issues with Getting Answers from the DMVWe hear a lot from our customers that they’re having trouble getting good answers from their local DMV. A lot of times, we hear that they called the DMV or went in person to the DMV, and they were told something they could do—”Hey, if you do this, you’ll be able to get a title.” And they do that, and they find out later when they go back, “No, that didn’t work. You have to do something else.” Why is that? Is the DMV trying to mislead you? Well, they’re not really. It’s just that sometimes, for more difficult or complex title issues, the DMV employee you talked to initially may not know the right answer.
Lack of Training Among DMV EmployeesA lot of times, the DMV employees are not necessarily trained on all the possible scenarios, so they might just give a guess or something they think is right. And then when you come back, they look it up, and it’s wrong. We deal with the DMV 80–90 times per day, and a lot of times what they tell you is incorrect. Again, not intentionally misleading—it’s just sometimes vague information.
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DMV Offices Closing Due to Non-ComplianceThe offices that are actually being closed down because of non-compliance—sometimes these offices are doing things so badly that the main office for the DMV has to shut them down. This happened in Texas, where one county was closed by the DMV for non-compliance. They had to go through some training so they could learn better. And it’s not a one-off—it’s an ongoing trend of violating their rules and statutes.
The Importance of Getting Information in WritingDon’t be surprised if you go to the DMV and might not want to take what they say at face value. Maybe get it in writing. We recommend if they tell you you can do something, have them give it to you in writing so that if you go back later and they tell you something different, you can say, “No, I have it right here.” Or look up the statute yourself to know what the rules are. Or get some third-party verification of the procedure you can use to get a vehicle title so you don’t get stuck with a car that you can’t get a title for.
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