Editorial

Good time to buy

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

End-of-the-year sales by car dealers have always provided good deals for consumers. This year, with all the gloomy financial news, car sales nationwide have been down. But dealers in the Cape Girardeau area are bucking the trend. And for consumers, that's more good news.

Dealers here are making money-saving deals. Lenders are making loans to qualified buyers. Trade-ins are holding their value. Dealer discounts are better than ever. Selection is good -- most dealers can find exactly the model, year, color and accessories you're looking for.

If you're thinking of trading or adding a vehicle, the next few weeks offer some excellent opportunities. Check out our local dealers and see what's available and what they can do for you. They're working hard to get -- and keep -- your business.

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It's all a catch 22! The deals are good, but if you don't have the money, you can't buy anything anyway!

Welcome to the world of the "Great Depression of 2008!"

-- Posted by nolongerlivingthere on Tue, Dec 2, 2008, at 8:03 AM
One consideration would be to make any vehicle purchases after 01 January in order to put any personal property tax assessments off another year, into 2010.

Just winging some numbers based on rates from http://www.capeareamagnet.com/community_profile.htm Perhaps not entirely accurate, but hopefully close enough for ballparking:

33% assessed rate for personal property

$5.23 tax per $100 assessed value

So for each $10,000 of actual vehicle value - assessed rate would be $3,333, and annual property tax would be somewheres in the $3,333 / $100 x $5.23 = $175 range????

Anyways, by waiting a month or so - can save some relatively serious money on taxes. Whether a deal made in December would offset the tax savings over a deal made in January would be the challenge to determine.

-- Posted by fxpwt on Tue, Dec 2, 2008, at 9:34 AM
In response to the first comment about waiting until January 01 to buy in order to "save big" on personal property tax. If you are trading a vehicle in on a new or newer vehicle then waiting until Januray 01, 2009 really doesn't make much sense. The difference between say, a 2005 vehicle and a 2009 will likely be less than $100 or lets say even $200 just for fun.

So why wait until January 01, 2009 to save $100 when you can likely save way more than that through a vehicle discount during the best buying season ever. You are already paying property tax on the current vehicle you own and want to trade anyway.

The amount you will save by buying in December when auto dealers want to see aging inventory move will out weigh the Property Tax savings.

Unless, you are buying with no trade then waiting isn't the best idea if you want to save big money on a new vehicle purchase. Even with no trade it doesn't make sense to me since auto dealers are selling cars at great prices. Sometimes thousands less than average retail.

Call me for a great deal!

Jake Seyer

Cape Girardeau Honda

573-334-6919

-- Posted by Boomstick on Wed, Dec 3, 2008, at 6:02 PM

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