Sandy Brings Storm of Rising Used Car Prices: How Should You Prepare?

In the wake of late October's devastating hurricane, industry experts are now telling us to  prepare for another storm, albeit one of a different variety. While as predicted, hurricane Sandy brought with it rain, wind, floods and power outages, it also brought with it something that was a little more unexpected – Rising used car prices.

The reasons for this seems simple enough: As hurricane victims begin their search for replacement cars, they will do so by turning to the local dealerships in the Northeast, an area which accounts for almost twenty percent of all new and used car sales in the United States. Unfortunately, those local dealerships were hit just as hard, and their inventories are already at record lows.  

So what is going to happen when consumers come knocking and those dealers have only limited options? Yep, you guessed it: prices are going to rise. In fact, in an interview with Auto Remarketing, Edmunds.com director of analysis Ray Zhou predicted that "Used vehicle prices will increase $700 to $1,000 in the impacted area"

Unfortunately, while the immediate impact will be on the Northeast, car buyers across the country should begin to prepare for a rising price storm. Because those local dealerships are going to cast a wide net to meet demand, pulling in cars from all over the country, used car prices everywhere will be affected throughout the upcoming months.

Prepare yourself for the rising price storm.

The question then becomes:  If you are one of the thousands of consumers in need of a car during the next several months, how do you avoid paying those higher prices?

Well I sought out the advice of the used car buying experts over at UsedCars.com. As the prominent online used car search engine, they were able to shed a little light on a few money saving tips:

·         Buy now:  While this may seem like a contradiction in terms, you should not wait for prices to go down – especially if you anticipate needing a car within the next several months. Right now, the hurricane has interrupted car sales in October and early November, and we have yet to see the prices jump.  This means that if you have the opportunity to buy a car within the next week or two, it’s almost imperative that you strike while the iron is hot.

·         Think Compact: The compact car industry was best prepared for the increased demand. New and used inventories for compact cars were in surplus before the storm, which means that there may be enough supply to meet this demand.

·         Avoid Luxury: According to Edmunds.com, New York, Philadelphia and D.C. account for 25% of all luxury cars sold in the United States. This means that now may not be the best time to think about buying a luxury car.

·         Shop Online: The dealerships in the Northeast are turning to the internet to replace their inventories, and truthfully, there is no reason you cannot do the same.  Car buying search engines have made it easy for car buyers to shop for deals all over the county. You simply enter in the make or model you are interested in, and the search site returns a list of dozens of cars that meet your criteria.

One final piece of advice shared, is the potential for flood damaged cars infiltrating the market. Car buyers over the next several months need to be on the lookout for cars that were damaged during the massive flooding that accompanied the storm. 

Used Car Online Sales Up Following Hurricane Sandy

An unexpected, but certainly not surprising, outcome following the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is the storm’s potential effect on used car inventory.

With a widespread reach that encompassed a majority of the northeastern part of the nation, the hurricane spread destruction on just about everything that stood in its way – tossing cars and trucks as easily as a toddler does a Tonka Truck. And with used car demand already on the rise over recent months, early industry estimates indicate that this level of storm damage could result in the depletion of dealership inventories, as car buyers scramble to replace their damaged vehicles. 

In an interview with Auto Remarketing, Ricky Beggs, senior analyst at Black Book, was cited as saying, “There is going to be a quick influx of demand for additional used cars, especially all the way up the East Coast, and will reach up to New England and down South.” Adding, “People are going to need to replace damaged vehicles.”

Beggs also predicted that as local dealership inventory becomes depleted, you will “see more activity online.” And in just a few hours following the storm, Beggs predictions already seem to becoming a reality. In fact, early reports from the prominent online used car search engine, UsedCars.com, indicate an upsurge in traffic.

“Within the last 24 hours, we’ve experienced an incredible spike in the number of shoppers visiting us online,” the website reports. “And maybe not surprisingly, the pages experiencing the biggest spikes are those geographically focused on the Northeast. Our New York City Used Car Page, for example, is experiencing some record numbers.”

While a lot of this is still speculation, and it may be several months until we really understand the level of effect the hurricane had on the industry, it may be wise for car buyers to prepare for slightly higher used car prices. Car dealerships across the country are going to be fighting to replenish their inventory, leading to fewer options for the car buyer and possibly higher sticker prices. 

Hand Gestures to Control you Car?

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, Mercedes-Benz showcased an experimental system called Dynamic & Intuitive Control Experience (DICE), which lets motorists control basic functions with hand gestures.

New technology allowing drivers to control car radios, telephones and climate with hand gestures or even by raising an eyebrow may not be far away.


Electronics experts think the technology will follow central control switches, touch-screens and voice commands and the audio firm Harman is already establishing a "gesture catalogue" based on human behaviour studies.

The system will have to be careful to avoid any hint of distracting drivers or people could be left open to prosecution but the company's director of technology, marketing and business development, Hans Roth, says that won't be a problem.

"It will be no different to taking your hands off the wheel to shift gear or change the radio station," he said.

"As with everything, it will be the responsibility of the driver to operate the car safely."

Harman, whose brands include Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL and Mark Levinson, is working on integrating gesture recognition into future systems but the gestures will need to be intuitive, easily recognised and differentiable by sensors.

Roth thinks that infra-red sensors will turn out to be the best solution for cars and that the best position for them will be near the gear lever so that they operate over just a small area.

Kids and Car Safety: Revaluating your car’s danger zones

The Perception: Your family car is a safe, fun, convenient way to travel.
The Reality: Your car, capable of exceeding speeds of 100 MPH and weighing more than one ton, is full of potential hazards, putting the safety of you and your children at risk.

Sure, the above reality may seem a little extreme. But with an average of 1,900 children ages 14 and under dying in car related accidents each year,¹ it is a reality that is impossible to ignore.

Now, this does not mean you should run right out and trade the family sedan or SUV in for a horse and buggy. Instead, this should serve as a positive reminder to never take car safety for granted. When it comes to protecting the lives of you and your children, take careful stock of the following car danger zones:

Blind Zones:

In the United States, an average of 50 kids EVERY WEEK are victim of a back over accident.² In many of these cases, the majority of the fault is due to a vehicle’s blind spot, meaning the driver simply does not see the person they are backing over.

Do not let this happen to your family. To ensure the safety of those around you, it is important to become familiar with your vehicle’s bind zones. Check out this handy blind spot chart from ConsumerReports.org for more information.

Air bags:

It is an undisputable fact: Air bags save lives. However, the unfortunate reality is that they also lull the driver and passenger into a false sense of security. This is especially true when it comes to a child’s safety. To make sure that your child is safe from injury due to air bag deployment, consult the following air bag safety checklist³:

• Never put a rear facing child seat in the front seat of a car with an air bag
• Always make sure that every child is buckled safely
• Always put your child in the rear seat: If this is not possible, move the seat back as far as possible
• Never let your children (or any passengers for that matter) ride unbuckled

Power Windows:

Did you know that 22 pounds of force can suffocate or choke a child? And did you know that according to KidsandCars.org, a car's power window can exert upwards of 30-80 pounds of force.⁴ In short, your car's power windows are an often overlooked danger. To ensure your child’s car safety consider the following precautions:

• Never leave your child alone in the car – EVER
• Pay close attention to the design of your car’s power window switches. Cars with switches that are recessed and need to be pulled, not pushed, are considered the safest.

Remember, your car is a great resource. But it is also full of potential danger. The best way to ensure car safety is to increase your vigilance.

Resources:

1 – http://www.safekids.org/our-work/research/fact-sheets/motor-vehicle-safety-fact-sheet.html
2 – http://www.kidsandcars.org/userfiles/dangers/backovers/backovers-50-children-backed-over-every-week.pdf
3 -http://www.ou.edu/oupd/kidseat.htm
4 - http://www.kidsandcars.org/power-windows.html