Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As inflation remains a prevalent issue across the nation, coupled with shortages fueled by the pandemic continuing to make new cars rarer, car prices continue to increase at unsettling rates.
"The prices have increased dramatically," says The Car Coach, Lauren Fix. "You've got the cost of labor, or you got the UAW threatening a strike, they want to triple the cost of labor fees. The thing is, they're gonna pass that price down to you, the consumer.
"We've had a [computer] chip shortage. Again, that's been a challenge, everything's gotten more expensive, whether it be the gas, the materials, the labor, even all the benefits. And because of that, that gets passed down to the consumer. That has always been the way whether you're talking about cars. In this case, we're looking at cars going up in price as the government puts more demands on safety features, backup cameras, and things that have to be on these vehicles and light weighting them in order to make the corporate average fuel economy, that means you're going to pay a higher price for that new vehicle."
According to Fix's research, there are only six new cars that you could buy under the $20,000 price point, a price that was, not too long ago, the "threshold" in gauging new cars.
"These are all base vehicles. They have all those standard safety [features]. They include newer technology, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto, the things people want," Fix said. "But the lowest price car right now is the Nissan Versa. I just posted a review on my website, $15,869 will get you into the base vehicle. If you don't see it on the dealer lot, you can always order one that has no options on it and that's another way to get the vehicle that you want if the dealer doesn't have it on their lot."
The price for a new average car now? About 25% higher than what it was during the pandemic.
"The average cost of a vehicle right now, through Edmunds or Cars.com is about $48,000 on average. If you're looking at an electric vehicle, the average cost of that is $66,000, much higher, which is what's turning consumers away because obviously everyone's on a budget, we're still dealing with inflation, and everything's just getting more expensive," Fix said.
If you insist on buying a new car at a good price, it's best to shop around. Believe it or not, Kia has some of the more reasonably-priced vehicles on the market right now.
"I would look at some of the product that's out there. Whether it be the Nissan Versa, the Mitsubishi Mirage. The Kia and Hyundai lineup are all very reasonably-priced vehicles. The one thing about the Kia and Hyundai is they have that 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty and all safety is standard, which should be, in my opinion. If you want all that collision warning, blind spot detection, all that should be standard, because safety is something you cannot replace," Fix suggests.
