New car

MacMacMac

I may have previously mentioned that my car was totaled on Christmas Eve last year.

I went looking for a new one and discovered that there aren't any. I wrongly thought that covid-induced shortages had ended. Nope. Nearly every car is sold before it arrives at the dealership. So we had to shop around to find a dealer who had a suitable car on his bi-weekly "allocation" list. Translation: the manufacturer plans near-term production and hands out new cars to dealers however he sees fit. Wait time: minimum six weeks. More if you're picky about styles, features, and colors.

No dealer nearby had one I wanted, but one dealer said she could get one that was allocated to a dealer in western Maryland ... if I paid the $650 transport charge. I said okay ... but that Maryland dealer wouldn't hand off the car. No go.

So I searched online for dealers located hither and yon (meaning western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio), and I found just the right car around the end of January at a dealer 100 miles away in Ohio.

The car arrived today ... finally ... and the old car is sold. But such an ordeal!

I'm accustomed to seeing a dozen or more cars on the lot ... cars that are pretty nearly what I want. And I just narrow the field by liking this color more than that, wanting this feature more than that, etc. That might still leave several candidates. Just pick one.

But this time? NONE. By which I do not mean none suitable. I mean NONE of any kind.

And the worst part: because the cars are sold before they even arrive on the lot, the only price possible is the sticker price. Yes, MacMacMac paid list. 🙁 How will I ever live this down? 🙁

Drew-r

MacMacMac

Oh !

😅

What are the chances you might double down … find/buy your dream piano, for list?

Here near Altoona, my Subaru dealers calls “dealer/supply chain swap” what yours calls “reallocation”. In early February, i found myself in a rare position; over $4k equity in my 2 year old Forester . I made a tentative agreement to trade up into a new 22’. The swap did not pan out, so the six week clock “the supply chain ….. canal ….. chips ….. Russia” expected delivery delay is almost over. This in large part seems due to a premium people are currently paying for used Subarus; the reason you described, and probably applies to used other popular brands as well…. but, 6 weeks ago, inflation was ongoing but not skyrocketing the way it has been the past 2 weeks….. for now, i’ll continue to wait for dealer guy to call me.

David B

That's definitely an inconvenience, but what I'm more concerned about is the impact inflation is having on my cost of living. I've been on a fixed budget for years and I've always been able to keep the "water level" at a comfortable height. However, now it feels like it's rising up to my chin, not giving much room to be prepared for the next financial wave that comes my way. 😳

I think back to just a few years ago when order was restored on the southern boarder, we were energy independent, economy was booming, North Korea was afraid to test rockets, Russia wouldn't dare step out of line, when we had a president who actually deescalated conflicts, and the only negative was the occasional mean tweet.

Times have changed so quickly and it's not because of Covid or the War, but bad policies from power-grabbing politicians willing to exploit the circumstances and punish anyone that does not conform to their agenda. 😓

God Bless,
David

MacMacMac

The car came just in time to "enjoy" the new, higher gasoline prices.

Question for those of you not in the US: Have your petrol prices increased markedly of late?

QuasiUnaFantasia

MacMacMac Question for those of you not in the US: Have your petrol prices increased markedly of late?

About 40% in Denmark since the low point this year. But actually this is somewhat misleading, because prices are around 20% higher than their average this century. Prices fluctuate a lot in Denmark.

And congratulations on actually getting a car, even if the price was not negotiable.

CyberGene

There’s been 30-40% rise in gasoline end-prices here but we’re largely dependent on Russian imports (more than 90% in Bulgaria if I’m not mistaken).

n-player

With the caveat that US petrol taxes are very low so cost per US gallon/litre/UK gallon still is low.

On the other hand, the politicians have gently moved US drivers to large SUVs & monster trucks, so the spike in energy prices squeezes normal families.

Drew-r

n-player

Rather than dispute whether or not petro taxes are low, for sake of discussion, i’ll agree they may be relatively low but there was a time, here, where one did not need to go looking/researching/theorizing or flirting with Q-land to know the gas tax facts; they were emblazoned right on the glass of pumps…… ergo, anyone with eyes open could know while standing at their car filling up. I do not remember when they removed this data from public awareness but if i were to hazard a guess, it may have been within a few years give or take of when they removed Money Supply shell-game numbers / M1, M2 etc from public awareness. At least here in PA, various State-state & Federal-state handouts “subsidized pork programs” are tethered (held hostage) to gas taxes, ergo, for political reasons, gasoline price at the pumps can only go so low during good times. The flip side has always seemed to be that the sky is the limit during bad times of ….. inflation 😅 🎈

Anyway, in the 90’s, I met Hans - a manager from the Netherlands office - who was invited by the HQ office in south suburban Pittsburgh to come from his office in Utrecht and spend 6 weeks with us learning/seeing how things were done states-side. For some reasons, he and i sort of gravitated towards each other …. probably due to my my sense of hospitality and interest to learn about his culture while showing him around Pennsylvania during after hours/weekends …. I still remember his polite sense of “wow” when i took him to rural central PA to meet my family at our Thanksgiving table. On his second visit a year later, he brought his wife and infant son. Along the way of the first visit, he explained how their before-take-home-pay-taxes ( approx 60 %?) worked to cover the cost of their public healthcare system. While that made for some educational conversation, i could not get out of my mind their rather puny by-the-quart “liter” petro pricing versus our glutenous by-the-gallon system.

n-player

Drew-r i could not get out of my mind their rather puny by-the-quart “liter” petro pricing versus our glutenous by-the-gallon system

hehehe

MacMacMac

We were in Denmark in 2011. We rode buses and trams, so gas prices didn't matter. But I couldn't help noticing that the posted price per liter (converted to gallons) was close to $6 USD gallon equivalent ... at a time when we were paying around $2.50 USD per gallon.

But comparisons need bear in mind that much of the retail price is tax.
And you have to wonder where that tax money is going.

HZPiano

MacMacMac But I couldn't help noticing that the posted price per liter (converted to gallons) was close to $6 USD gallon equivalent ... at a time when we were paying around $2.50 USD per gallon.

First time I was in the States (1991) and had my first tank filled (Utah) and paid the man, I thought he hardly put anything in -- the total due was that low. So I checked the gauge on the dashboard and yup, full it was!

It was then that I learned the huge difference in gas prices in the US versus over here.

Cheers and safe driving,

QuasiUnaFantasia

HZPiano I have had that exact same experience. 😁 (Okay, it was Virginia, not Utah).

In Denmark, officially the taxes on fuel were meant to cover the cost of maintenance of the roads. In reality however, the taxes are not in any way connected to that cost. The money just goes into the big governmental pot, and most of it is invariably used to finance people doing either nothing at all, or doing a disservice to the general public (as in: government bureaucrats creating work for yet more bureaucrats).

Drew-r

QuasiUnaFantasia In reality however, the taxes are not in any way connected to that cost. The money just goes into the big governmental pot, and most of it is invariably used to finance people doing either nothing at all,

Over here, the big pot is known by various names, from lockbox …. to Fort Knox …. and even Stimulus …. TARP …. Social Security for retirement years, but nobody knows if these safe keepings actually contain the billions upon trillions they were supposed to fund … or do they contain anything other than dust bunnies … not at all unlike Schrodinger’s Cat …. but as long as the Fed keeps printing (at interest, to be repaid in gold, of course ) special green paper 💵, few if none are the wiser and debt remains alive …. to the tune of 30-something ( not the TV show) trillion 😐

Like @MacMacMac said …. about wondering where tax dollars go to be spent …. it’s one thing to be sitting here somewhat securely in the comforts of home and realizing how some of my taxes rain down on people in foreign lands by way of bullets and bombs and mass destruction …. but another reality is, like any nation’s tax funds, those American tax dollars no doubt have circuitous ways of raining down upon American soldiers or allies who happen to be in foreign lands where their opponents are beneficiaries, perhaps second-hand, of American 💵 and all the graft & grime such buys, like American-built bullets, bombs, etc. 🙁

vagfilm

On the other hand, the low price of fuel in the US created the same low incentive for producing cars with efficient engines (in the same way pricing in the health industry in the US does not care about individuals, but I digress... ). When I lived in upstate NY in 1997 I had a ford escort with a 1800 engine. It was a fuel sucking engine with relatively low horsepower (you cannot go faster than 60 mph, anyway...); in europe that model had a 1200 engine giving almost the same (bad) performance... Did I care? Not once: I paid less per gallon than what I was paying per liter at home.

MBiG

As has already been sufficiently reported, we have also discontinued the distribution of cars in Russia. The reconfuguration of these vehicles for customers in other countries is currently underway. Unfortunately, this will not significantly improve the situation for customers due to the semiconductor supply situation. I assume that this is currently the case with every OEM.

DPPianoPhil

I just paid $6.199 per gallon in California, this morning, so we are closing in on the near 2 euro per liter they are paying in Europe…

vagfilm

DPPianoPhil I just paid $6.199 per gallon in California, this morning, so we are closing in

Not that close. Adjusting for rate exchange, the gallon in my city goes for 8.12 usd...

DPPianoPhil

vagfilm True, not that close yet, but closing in (getting closer), from the days of $2.50 a gallon vs 6 euros per gallon just a few years ago…

MBiG

Last night at a nearby petrol station-> 2,27€/L (Diesel fuel)

CyberGene

We’re at €1.50 here for regular petrol/gasoline. But we’ve always had the lowest prices in the EU (we’re the poorest too… 😕)