July 8, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Luxury Auto Mall.

The car business has never seen a year like this.

With unprecedented demand and ongoing supply chain issues, you’ll likely find your next car-buying or servicing experience could be different from in the past.

Luxury Auto Mall general manager Mike Chaplin shared five realities of today’s car-buying world and how to navigate through them.

Supply is short

There’s just no getting around it: Drive by any auto dealer, and you’re likely going to see some empty spaces on the lot.

We’re hearing that June is the lowest of the low on the lots for inventory. The question is what happens next – will it ramp up to what it was two or four years ago? I think going forward you’re going to see a more limited selection than we have in the history of the car business.

But in our line of business, this isn’t as impactful as other auto dealers because we’ve always offered and encouraged customization, allowing customers to build exactly the car they want. You can still test-drive models, understand available options and sit down with an associate who will guide you through the customization.

It’s truly a fun process, and you know you’re receiving exactly what you want in your next vehicle. Typically, if you allow four to six weeks, you’re going to have your vehicle here and ready to go.

Demand is high

In addition to limited supply, buyers are flocking to auto dealers. We’re still seeing many buyers from within our five-state region.

Buyers also are realizing they should consider trading up or selling that third or fourth car gathering dust in the garage because the value of trades definitely has gone up. So that’s made more customers open to the idea of a new vehicle.

We’re seeing demand across the board. The Cadillac Escalade essentially is a unicorn — there are so many interested buyers. Same with the BMW X7. But, again, we can order these and get what you want; we just need to plan for the time it will require. The Mercedes GLS and GLE continue to see strong demand, and in Cadillac, the XT6 and XT5 are selling really well too.

Used vehicles are at a premium

There’s so much demand for used vehicles, if you see one you like, you should buy it. That sounds like such a car salesman, but given the rate at which vehicles are coming and going, it’s just being honest. And you can’t buy the wrong car here. If you don’t like it the first week, you can bring it back. I am certain there will be another driver who wants to buy it, so don’t miss your own opportunity by waiting a day.

You can check back often as we do continue to take in pre-owned inventory, but I really encourage you to develop a relationship with one of our associates. They’re veteran staff, they enjoy taking care of customers, and once you make that connection and find someone you trust, you should make them your “car person” just as you would an insurance or real estate agent. They’ll look out for you and let you know as soon as a vehicle arrives that fits your needs.

Service technicians are busy

If you’re in need of service on your vehicle, plan accordingly. The market opened up fast, kids got out of school, and cars needed to be brought in for deferred service.

The funnel is overloaded, and the pipeline for parts is constrained. We’re waiting on parts from factories both because the system has been pushed so hard and body shops are busier than they’ve ever been as people are taking a closer look at their cars and deciding it’s time to fix them up.

What all this means is that you just need to plan. If you have travel coming up, reach out to schedule service even if you think you might not need to yet. We really want to take care of you as a customer, and the more we’re able to plan with you the smoother service will go.

Dealers are going to show you what they’re all about

Given all the above realities, dealers have decisions to make about how they do business. Do they take advantage of the market and increase prices? Do they put unnecessary pressure on customers to make decisions?

At Luxury Auto Mall, we’ve made an intentional decision to hold to our core approach to business that we’ve promised for more than a decade. We’re continuing to abide by our one low price plan, simple and dependent service and setting the proper expectation for our customers.

We believe this is a short-term impact. We want to stay true to what we’re all about forever, which is operating like a Main Street business and not a Wall Street business.

Begin your car buying, selling or servicing experience with Luxury Auto Mall by clicking here.