Yes, it’s Caveat Emptor time here at CC! We’ve all heard that there is a new car shortage and perhaps a used car shortage as well, so transaction prices are up, discounts are down, and there is no selection on the lots. Ed Snitkoff texted me on Tuesday to ask how many F-150s my local dealer has (way less than usual due to the chip shortage), while on their site I looked at the used car selection and thought the used Fiesta pricing seemed a little rich.
While perhaps not a highlight of Stefan Lamm’s (the designer) portfolio, it’s not a particularly bad looking car. In the US of course the Fiesta has been cancelled after 2019 due to lack of sales or lack of Ford being able to make a profit on it anyway, and also that nobody apparently wants either small cars, or sedans, and especially not the combination. Or just Ford’s combination, I don’t know, but that’s their call of course.
This particular one dates from that last model year of 2019, has 17-odd thousand miles, and is the base “S” model. As a bonus for enthusiasts it also has a manual transmission (!), which is lot poison for pretty much every car here in the states, and it’s the rare enthusiast looking for a base Fiesta sedan, so maybe that’s not the target market after all in a world where the Fiesta ST exists. At least it now has a Ford Certified Pre-Owned Warranty, which it didn’t have back on Tuesday when I first saw this listing – at that time the price was also $19,790 but I neglected to take a screenshot then…However I did find the listing history on CarGurus and screenshotted it below.
Clearly there have been no serious tire-kickers since. Maybe someone won’t let this get away now that the price has been discounted 10% from Tuesday’s which the dealership will likely be sure to point out to any buyer in order to nip any negotiating attempt in the bud.
The dealer even provided a handy link to this car’s actual sticker right in their listing, which shows that full freight even including the nebulous but required Destination charge was only $15,235 when brand new. This car has the 1.6liter inline-4 producing 120hp and 112lb-ft of torque which is decent for this size of car, and exactly zero options, only standard features. This is the car you might see on The Price Is Right!
Of course to the buyer in 2019, that sticker price was before any of the copious discounts and rebates on offer, I can’t imagine it would have been too hard to get the price pretty close to $10,000 even just so the dealer could get a greater allotment of Raptors or F-350s or whatever they actually want to sell and buyers wanted to buy when it was new. Fiestas were not big sellers out here and I have every confidence that nobody ever paid full sticker on a 2019 Fiesta S sedan. With a manual. I’m amazed it was actually built, this is the car we would feature in two decades and treat to a full CC post.
But here we are and this used car has a current asking price of $17,893. What a world when a Fiesta is apparently an appreciating asset! Finally something for the little guy collector/investor whose pocket change is a little shy of the necessary winning bid for a Ferrari GTO or Bugatti Royale at Sotheby’s Pebble Beach Auction. I guess when the F-150s aren’t rolling onto the showroom floor for the time being, a dealer has to make do with something to make a profit.
But if you do rush on down here to snap this up (and someone just might, a special someone is born every minute from what I hear), at least ask them to take care of their own manufacturer’s recall. The Autocheck updated the mileage with today’s date on it, if the recall was fixed it should have been on there as well, they’ve had the car all week.
Me, I think I’ll be sitting the current market situation out. If the worst were to happen with any of our cars I think I’ll be trawling the local Craigslist and buying something dirt cheap to tide me over until next year. Shopping for a car doesn’t seem like much of a fiesta these days, caveat emptor indeed.
5/3/2021 Update: It appears that the dealer dropped the price to $15,037 on May 1, finally putting it just below the original sticker price that the dealer was themselves making available. Apparently buyers aren’t quite as stupid or desperate as they thought or hoped.
Most of the private sellers have noticed the increases too. I have seen Craigslist and FB marketplace ads steadily increasing in price. When something does come across as a deal or even close to a deal it disappears that day. Dealers must be loving their per car profit.
I played around with a few buy my car now sites and two of them will pay what I payed (or a little more) for my wife’s Pilot a year ago and 6k miles ago. At retail the same car seems to be going for 3-4k more than we paid. A number of people on twitter with Jeeps, Tacomas, and 4Runners are getting buy now offers on 2-3 year old cars higher than what they paid for them. Which is all a bit nutty.
I searched Gladiators the other day and found a number of used ones with asking prices over the original MSRP.
Just wow. But somehow not surprising.
We are beginning to look for something spacious enough to haul a harp and isn’t over 20 years old (ie, our Ford van). The prices aren’t attractive new but especially so on the used side. Last night I found a 2020 Dodge Grand Caravan straight out of the Enterprise rental fleet with 30k on the odometer for $25,000. Alternately, I found several new, leftover 2020 GCs for $28k to $30k.
Like you, I shall keep running what I have for a while. The chip shortage seems to be widespread. New International dump trucks being purchased for where I work were delivered to the upfitter with only one chip for the batch, so the chip is being moved between units as needed.
Time share on the chip. Don’t loose the chip!.
Ford just announced the other day that it could well lose one half of its production in the second quarter due to the chip shortage. And GM announced today that the Equinox, their second best selling vehicle, is going to be out of production for two months.
That Fiesta price is crazy. Can you keep following it to see what it ends up selling for?
Sure I can check the asking price but of course it’ll just be gone when it sells.
Crazy times for car and truck prices for sure. On another site I recently read about a guy who sold his 4 month old Wrangler to an “i-buyer” for more than he paid for it. So they are certainly thinking they can get more than sticker price for it. Of course that is a Wrangler which is in much higher demand than a Fiesta.
Looking at local prices I figure I could sell my pickup for more than I paid for it 3+ years ago. I did buy it right and haven’t put that many miles on it but still it is crazy to think that I could sell it for more than I have into it.
It’s too bad, and also not at all surprising, these didn’t catch on in the US. I drove a rented one in Ireland a few years ago and it was very fun to drive, and most likely had a less powerful engine than was available Stateside.
Much like the Echo featured yesterday, I find the hatchback versions of these cars to be quite attractive, but the sedan versions like the one for sale here are just punishing on the eyes. The high beltline and decklid combined with the small wheels is a bad look that plagues subcompact sedans.
Agreed. The sedan’s proportions are terrible. Looks like it came out of the wash when it wasn’t supposed to be washed.
Not sold in Europe because unlike North American they prefer small hatches. Mid size hatches sell better than sedans in the UK but not in Ireland…
A friend was due a new Golf 1.5TSI DSG back in March. Revised delivery date now. Some day in August. Lucky he still likes his 2018 one.
Mad, mad World.
The Fiesta sedan’s proportions were definitely “off,” but the same can be said about the boxy Crown Vics and Grand Marquis (especially before their 1988 refreshes). When it comes to the Fiesta hatchback, it looks like a very attractive car, and one that would be particularly appealing to teenage girls and college-aged women.
Looks aside, both the Fiesta and the Focus received poor reviews. (The same can be said about the final generation Taurus, though it served a long-dead market segment.) IMO, Ford’s failure to make and market a successful small car in the U.S. would be classified as a deadly sin were it not for the fact that FoMoCo is still the same legal entity today as it was 100 years ago. Perhaps some might take issue with what I wrote in the last sentence by pointing out the declining demand for passenger cars in this country. But this same logic would force one to conclude that the 1986 Buick Riviera wasn’t particularly deadly to GM in the long-run: while there was a massive decline in Riviera sales from 1985 to ’86, the market for personal luxury coupes died within the succeeding ten to fifteen years anyway.
While some of it will depend on what you consider successful, but fact is the Escort took the title of best selling car in the US at least once and was Ford’s best selling non-truck until the Taurus kicked it out. The Pinto did very well for them too leading the segment for a number of years.
There should be a $5000 discount just for the car being white with a black interior. Yuk!
Hopefully not buy back. I know of three people each with a 2018. One happy with his car after giving up his 350,000 mile Escort. The other two ended up with Ford buying back their cars as lemons. Where do those cars go?
Manual transmission, though. Last of the basic three pedal runabouts, and it’s a nice-driving platform to boot. I’d happily own this one –though not for that price.
Only 35 MPG? A midsize SUV can hit 30 MPG these days. It probably doesn’t matter if a person is making short local trips.
My personal commute is so short (and very hilly) that I ebike part of the time.
Not as surprising, but still interesting story. I bought a 2018 Ford F150 last May, I recently took it into the dealer for service and they offered me $6,000 more than I paid for it last year. I put 7,000 miles on it since I bought it.
For once I can tell my wife this car purchase was a good one….
It appears that waiting a year or so before buying a new car would be in order.
There is tremendous pent up demand after the hellish year of 2020. From what I am reading here in Canada is that in the last year, Canadians have had record savings. I saved a lot of money in 2020, too. There is a lot of newly minted money out there, too. The fear of inflation (unknown to anyone under age 40) and low interest rates is driving real estate crazy. Property values are up 30% over a year, which is clearly unsustainable.
We couldn’t have zero interest rates forever. I’m glad they are going to go up, as I am a saver and not a buyer.
The used car market has got to be tough in Canada. Lots of late model cars went south of the border before all of this but apparently it has gotten worse as the shortage of used cars in the US is leading to increasing imports from Canada.
Due to the exchange rates I guess. Besides converting the speedos back to miles I wonder what else you have to due to make them legal stateside?. I’ve read that Canadian Bargain BMW buyers got stung when they had to convert US cars to Canadian Spec. Had to fit daytime running lights, alarms and immobilizers etc.. Costs run into the thousands.
This is happening but not as severely as in the USA. A year ago, my Golf was worth $16,000ish. Today I could sell it for $18,000 in one day. That said, I have no interest in selling it.
On my Golf, one can set the speedo to miles per hour in the settings for the infotainment. I would assume the BMW would be the same.
The Canadian dollar has appreciated by 15% in the least year so the exchange rate is not as attractive as one might think.
The exchange rate thing cuts both ways. While the strength of the Can$ makes it less attractive to US buyers it makes taking them to the US auction more desirable to the Canadian wholesalers.
Well I guess it depends on the vehicle. Many companies sell the same vehicle in both countries except for the DRLs, which can stay active. But with digital readouts being so common it is just pushing the right button in the right menu to swap back and forth between mile/kilometers.
Our Fusion was from Canada. When the battery was disconnected it did default to Metric. The DRL’s could be turned to operator selectable with the right scan tool, which the Ford dealer certainly could have done, but didn’t.
But it’s an I4 Ti-VCT. Says so right on the listing title. That sounds impressive at the dinner parties we’re now starting to get back into. The correct title for this article should be: “Grab this low-mile I4 Ti-VCT for only 18 grand while you still have the chance, or you’ll be stuck shopping for a regular Fiesta S”.
Whether the housing or the vehicle markets, I am truly grateful to be in a position to stand pat with what I have.
I just sold my Daughters 2011 Fiesta SE on Craiglist for $3200 last month.
It had 189,000 miles and probably number 3 condition, but I cleaned it up and it looked decent.
Never had a problem with the dual clutch automatic and she took care of it with regular maintenance.
I was shocked at the number of emails within an hour of posting, but perhaps a clean San Diego Ford is popular.
First person that saw and drove the car gave me full price.
Strange times indeed !!!
I just checked out the used inventory listings for that dealership. This Fiesta isn’t the stupidest price on there, not by a long shot. How about a 2001 Malibu base trim with 100K miles, peeling paint on the front bumper, for $12,000?
Or a CVT 4-cylinder base Altima S with 42K miles for $23,000?
They also have 2 Fusions, a 2017 basic 2.5 and a 2018 Hybrid with low miles for only $1-2K more than that Fiesta and 3-4 grand less than that Altima. Poor Fusion, can’t get any respect from its own dealership.
Yeah I was looking at those too. The Malibu would be a great way to make the Fiesta’s price look quite reasonable. The Fusions are probably the best things on offer relative to the money asked for them.
Hasn’t that Malibu got one to many 0 on the price?. “Peeling paint on bumper” Must be made from gold then at that price. Paint don’t stick well on gold. Dealer must be on drugs…
Note to self: avoid Spradley Barr Ford like the plague. Is that really how the car business operates in Fort Collins?
These are strange times, indeed…how about this one:
I purchased a beautiful 15.5 XC70 T6 Platinum with 28K miles private party for 24K even in Sept. 2020. Fast forward to February of 2021 and the car has 34K miles on it, and I check its value on Carvana…They offered me $31203 and I took it. They picked up my car within a week, but not before leaving me with a nice $8900 check.
Oh, and the car was sold to a lucky buyer in PA for $27,990 about another week later! Not sure about that business model, but not my problem. Like I said, strange times, indeed.
That is insane. Carvana is pricey too, how did they manage to lose money on this one
I wonder are these (used) prices with us to stay, or what will make them subside?
Watching results on auction sites like Bring a Trailer, it is clear there is a lot of money available for emotional purchases, and even just on local marketplaces vehicles in any sort of reasonable condition are either gone in 15 minutes or priced like show cars.
I’m trying to buy another Wrangler to replace my my old one. I bought a ’97 with 54k miles in 2001 for $9k. Today, a similar ’97 but now with 154k miles, is asking nearly $20! For a 20yo hunting rig!
I can’t believe these prices are sustainable over the long term, but is it an automotive bubble fueled by pent-up desires to be out among the world again after a year of social distancing? Or will it take a larger financial correction to reshuffle demand, whenever that might occur? I hesitate to find out…
Let’s think over a year not spending ones disposable income .There is a lot of money burning holes in pockets and a car is the most popular item on the wish list. If no new cars are on the lots then its got to be used and buyers will pay what it takes to get a car. The bubble will burst when all the saved thurlow money has been spent.
I think they have to come down at some point. But you have a loss of production for new cars and some natural elimination of some of the used ones (accidents major mechanical failure, that bar is higher to cross now of course). In total I think this mean it would take quite a bit of time for the supply side to catch up. I’m guessing prices will be high (maybe not this high) for another year.
What a great way to get a guy’s idle mind off of car shopping! We keep getting mailings from the local Kia dealers trying to buy our Sedona. So they can pay us $7k and turn around and offer it for $18? No thanks.
Dave Saunders’ Studebaker is making more and more sense as a potential DD. 🙂
One interesting follow up – my office is in the middle of one of the “Car Dealer Rows” in my area and I have not yet noticed lots starting to get thin. I am sure I will at some point, and maybe some dealers have been loading up on late model used cars to fill lot space – which would really squeeze prices up.
I wonder if the US auto industry is going to take anything from this lesson – that chasing low cost is fine unless it drives the entire supply offshore and puts that supply in jeopardy.
I can attest to this. I’m searching for something that can pull a 3,000 pound camper and the only thing I saw locally on FB Marketplace with an actual title and in running condition were a ’69 Caddy with serious rust issues like the one posted here recently for $3,600 (I was thinking a tub of Bondo and a visit to Maico would make it temporarily decent) and a 90 F150 with 200,000 miles for $1,999. The rest were not running rollers or ‘can’t find the title’ listings or scammers.
Bought my 2017 MKZ last April at $15,200. Didn’t need it anymore, sold it last week to Carmax for $16,400 with 55k miles on it (drove it 25,000 miles last year). Carmax didn’t quibble on the price they offered, paid it off and wrote me a nice check for $4,000 to boot. In and out in 30 minutes.
Spradley is my local dealer too – though in Cheyenne, not Fort Collins.
Today on the lot (front row) I saw a 1995 Mercury Cougar. 4.6 V-8, white with dark green (really!) interior and dark green vinyl top. Rack on the trunk and a big black bra on the front. Perfect for trip to the airport golf course 26 years ago. This is an original Cheyenne car. 114,000+ miles, $5,990.
That’s pretty crazy money for the miles. I bought my white 94 4.6 for $4000 with almost half those miles in 2005 and mine didn’t have a cheesy vinyl top!
All the more reason to keep your CC running!
Three months ago, I bought a stripped-out, 94k mile, 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for $5500.
That’s 30% of MSRP. For a nineteen-year-old truck. It was also 30+% over what NADA said it was worth.
I felt a little foolish about it, but I liked the truck so I bought it.
Now I look at what $5500 will buy and I’m not so sure I overpaid.
Like the old saying goes
“A fool and his money…”
Dealers are having a go at price gouging here claiming a shortage of new and recent used imports car lots look full and there are adverts onFB for people to drive used cars off ships and the usual suspects have used cars on special offer.
My sister just bought a new Mazda it took a week including importing it and fitting a towbar, shortage, my eye.
With chips scare making new cars scare we now have the Hertz and Enterprise entering the used car market which will no doubt raise used car prices even more. Used car prices are now 52% higher than a year ago. Can’t imagine where the retail prices will be heading. Bidding wars for new cars?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-03/rental-companies-buy-up-used-cars-as-microchip-crisis-gets-worse?srnd=premium
Amazing .
The used vehicle lots in and around the L.A. basin are all over flowing with inventory .
No wonder people keep asking me to sell my 2001 Ford Ranger with 126,000 miles .
-Nate