As summer comes to a peak, car dealership supply shortages and related price premiums have largely eased in the Washington, D.C., area.
WTOP talked with three dealers who shared that they again have enough cars for customers to be able to visit their dealerships and test-drive vehicles in person. And they said that in some cases, there are deals to be had too.
“I think we’re finally getting back to that place where at least there’s enough inventory to come in and take a look at some of the options,” said Patrick Coleman, president of Jim Coleman Automotive. “That’s one thing customers have kind of been deprived of the last few years.
“You’ve got a reasonable chance of finding something on the ground,” said Mike Walker, general manager of BMW of Fairfax.
But Walker added that in an era of still-lean inventories, ordering a vehicle versus buying one off the lot might lead to the best deal. “I’m more inclined to give an aggressive price on something that’s in the order bank,” he said. “I’d much rather give a deal on that vehicle than one that’s on the lot that somebody wants right now.”
Navigating car pricing now
Although shoppers have noticed that rising interest rates increase their expected monthly payments, Matthew Bibbo, general manager of BMW of Sterling, Mini of Sterling and Sterling Motorcars, pointed out that dealers are feeling the crunch too.
“For the most part, most of us keep all of these millions and millions of dollars in cars on a line of credit,” Bibbo said. “And then one is seeing their credit card bill. Certainly, that has gone up.” Those higher rates, he said, can further motivate dealers to move vehicles.
The bump in interest rates has also put a hurt on lease payments, which have an interest rate baked into them. “That $450 lease went to $680,” BMW of Fairfax’s Walker said. “$699 is [now] $910.” But, he added, that BMW has recently begun rolling out more generous lease terms aimed at helping dealerships retain repeat customers.
Evaluating whether to go electric on your next car
Meanwhile, the fluctuations in automobile stock and pricing come amid the backdrop of electric vehicle adoption, with interest in them varying across brands.
“We see folks coming in somewhat considering it, deciding to take a test drive and then finding themselves seriously considering it” because of the vehicles’ impressive performance, Walker said. “And then, it’s just a matter of range and thinking, ‘OK, how do I work this into my life?’ ”
Bibbo added that he’s an EV adopter himself. “I very rarely hear from a customer that bought an EV that is unhappy with it,” he said.
Coleman, whose brands include Cadillac, Toyota, Nissan, Infiniti, Honda, Land Rover and Jaguar, said that for some of his mainstream brands, “we’re finding the adoption of those EVs has been a little bit slower than we would have expected,” pointing to the Nissan Ariya and Toyota bZ4X in particular.
He said gas models remain the most in-demand vehicles across his dealerships. Coleman said that he’s been most excited about “the full-size new Range Rover, the Range Rover Sport — not EVs, not hybrids, but some of the smoothest and most phenomenally driving vehicles I’ve ever been behind the wheel of.”
Also, the Cadillac Escalade has been enormously popular, he said. “Every one we get is pre-sold. Again, it’s a gas-powered car. It’s a 6,000-pound truck. But we can’t keep them on the lots.”
Demand is even higher further up the luxury food chain. Bibbo, whose Sterling Motorcars sells Bugatti, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce and McLaren vehicles, said his Lamborghini orders are full for the next two years. Price clearly isn’t always an obstacle, he noted. One of his customers is taking delivery of a Bugatti late this month. Its cost? A cool $4 million.
