Should You Buy During the Pandemic?

[Tanstin]

Originally Posted by daniloneil8

Great time to buy a nice used BRZ.
What did OP do?

Haha, it definitely looks like there's some good deals going on right now. I will have to wait until june because of some other obligations, but I'm sure there'll be some good deals if not better for a used FRS/BRZ at the time.


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[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Tanstin

Haha, it definitely looks like there's some good deals going on right now. I will have to wait until june because of some other obligations, but I'm sure there'll be some good deals if not better for a used FRS/BRZ at the time.


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There should be a few lease returns mid summer that may have a decent discount if nobody is buying.

[flyboy2160]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

...
Some FACTS:
....
Low volume cars are most certainly DONE for this year and probably for at least two more. IF they come back at all.
...
I know that there will be a bunch of armchair experts working at McDonalds that will dispute this information but at this point in time there is about an 85% probability you can kiss the Twins (in any form) goodbye forever.
...

LOLOL From worse than an armchair expert working at McDs, from an unemployed expert (=engineer who had a brief college internship at GM) who reads too many detective novels and who tries to figure out the plot:

If the ramp up is slow and cash flow is tight, why will they spend money to replace the Twins line? Wouldn't they save short-term money by just letting that line sit idle or by just not building the Twins on it if the line a flexible one?

Where did your data originally come from?

Couldn't you make a case that hard-core car enthusiasts are more likely to buy than struggling people just using their cars as appliances?

Thanks.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by flyboy2160

LOLOL From worse than an armchair expert working at McDs, from an unemployed expert (=engineer who had a brief college internship at GM) who reads too many detective novels and who tries to figure out the plot:

If the ramp up is slow and cash flow is tight, why will they spend money to replace the Twins line? Wouldn't they save short-term money by just letting that line sit idle or by just not building the Twins on it if the line a flexible one?

Where did your data originally come from?

Couldn't you make a case that hard-core car enthusiasts are more likely to buy than struggling people just using their cars as appliances?

Thanks.

That is what I said.

I explained where my data came from.

Yes the hard core may be willing to spend but what they will spend on are the low volume, low profit cars. It is a poor way to try to get cash flowing again. These cars can sit on the lot for prolonged periods at the best of times.

[Ernest72]

Originally Posted by flyboy2160

LOLOL From worse than an armchair expert working at McDs, from an unemployed expert (=engineer who had a brief college internship at GM) who reads too many detective novels and who tries to figure out the plot:

If the ramp up is slow and cash flow is tight, why will they spend money to replace the Twins line? Wouldn't they save short-term money by just letting that line sit idle or by just not building the Twins on it if the line a flexible one?

Where did your data originally come from?

Couldn't you make a case that hard-core car enthusiasts are more likely to buy than struggling people just using their cars as appliances?

Thanks.

I think hard core enthusiasts that have the cash is a smaller demographic than we think. I think of it this way. I have a 16 BRZ and an 04 WRX wagon. If I lost my job, or got a pay cut and tough times forced me to get rid of a car it would have to be the BRZ because the WRX is so much more versatile. When you have no money or significantly less you buy the car that is practical and can do more. Not the toy.
In reality, I would probably just take the BRZ off the road until better times come, but luckily I don’t have to make these decisions.

I think car sales could be done for a bit.

[Tanstin]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

That is what I said.



I explained where my data came from.



Yes the hard core may be willing to spend but what they will spend on are the low volume, low profit cars. It is a poor way to try to get cash flowing again. These cars can sit on the lot for prolonged periods at the best of times.

Hmm, if they already signed contracts with part suppliers, its possible they might get released anyway.

Ideally the twins were supposed to be announced in the summer and they would be in production right now.

If they were cancelled they'd just have a lot of next gen parts sitting around, which is an even worse waste of money

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[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Tanstin

Hmm, if they already signed contracts with part suppliers, its possible they might get released anyway.

Ideally the twins were supposed to be announced in the summer and they would be in production right now.

If they were cancelled they'd just have a lot of next gen parts sitting around, which is an even worse waste of money

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There may be a handful of parts around but not many. The majority of the larger and more expensive parts are all built "just in time" which is exactly what the term sounds like. It would still be far cheaper to pay off those few parts than to continue and pay more. The important thing now is to get the cash flow jump started they will worry about profit/loss down the road.

[TylerLieberman]

Skimmed through but whether or not one should buy depends on their personal situation. There's lots of uncertainty right now, so there is a gamble for many to even consider getting into a new vehicle and taking money out of savings or wherever to spend on such an item.

For myself.. my wife is a Nurse and I'm an OT, both working at skilled facilities. The facility I work at is the top respiratory rehab unit in all of AZ. We have a wait list of ~100 people who want to get into our facility at any given time, but we're limite on space/beds. So much so, that the facility is going to be adding another wing with like 80 more beds in the next coming year or two. We're both plenty busy within our jobs, and there's no sign of slowing down whatsoever.

Additionally, both of us are young and healthy and have a decent amount of money saved up, plus nearly two months of saved sick/vacation time between the two of us. That being said, with everything calculated, one of us would have to be out of work for ~6mo., or both of us out of work for ~3mo. without any income before we got to the point where we couldn't pay our bills. But I have additional income from other sources as well, so it'd probably add an additional 2 months onto that timeframe.

With all that factored in, I chose to pick up a new Hakone 86 because the risk for myself is relatively low, and the deal was too good to pass up. My wife and I are lucky. Others, not so much. You just have to weigh the risks for yourself to determine what is best.

Last thing I wanna do is see somebody get into a new vehicle and then put themselves in a bad spot. Personally though, with all of the research and testing I'm looking over and studying, I have very little doubt that we're pretty much at the peak of this thing, and the curve will be flattening over the course of the next week or so.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Ernest72

I think hard core enthusiasts that have the cash is a smaller demographic than we think. I think of it this way. I have a 16 BRZ and an 04 WRX wagon. If I lost my job, or got a pay cut and tough times forced me to get rid of a car it would have to be the BRZ because the WRX is so much more versatile. When you have no money or significantly less you buy the car that is practical and can do more. Not the toy.
In reality, I would probably just take the BRZ off the road until better times come, but luckily I don’t have to make these decisions.

I think car sales could be done for a bit.

i ended up in a '14 brz for exactly the opposite reasoning. i don't plan to be in a position for another fun car for at least 3-4 decades. so i got it when it was the least logical choice.

so i'll sell, barter, and trade for everything else with wheels as needed, but keep this one around for as long as i can, because if it goes gone, there won't be a replacement in the works.

[saltywetman]

looks like car deliveries are very limited right now too...got called last week saying car is in BC, (already delayed a week) and was supposed to arrive this week but after i emailed my sales guy yesterday he tells me eta has been pushed back another week to next week

Question: i know the # of people with the 17+ models is limited due to super low sales in north america. Anyone know if with this final iteration of the generation all kinks and issues have been ironed out and the car does not have many glaring mechanical issues? (kinda wanna jump the gun and slap a header + tune on it right off the bat after break-in but maybe i should drive for a month before doing that to make sure nothing pops up?)

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by saltywetman

looks like car deliveries are very limited right now too...got called last week saying car is in BC, (already delayed a week) and was supposed to arrive this week but after i emailed my sales guy yesterday he tells me eta has been pushed back another week to next week

Question: i know the # of people with the 17+ models is limited due to super low sales in north america. Anyone know if with this final iteration of the generation all kinks and issues have been ironed out and the car does not have many glaring mechanical issues? (kinda wanna jump the gun and slap a header + tune on it right off the bat after break-in but maybe i should drive for a month before doing that to make sure nothing pops up?)

The cars have been pretty solid for a while now. Low quality parts/tuning and driver error is a bigger problem for these cars than anything else.

So long as you use some common sense regarding mods and maintenance and have realistic expectations, the car will last a long time with no issue.

[saltywetman]

apexi header + a catback w/ oft tune, jdm short shifter is all i plan on doing this summer. next summer i may look into some rice or suspension + brakes. I do plan to sign up for some HPDE when this covid thing tapers off.

anyone know for jdm trd parts how long they continue to produce stuff after the car itself is no longer manufactured? since i plan to pick up a few jdm trd aero pieces production availability would likely decide whether I add rice before tweaking brakes and suspension

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i ended up in a '14 brz for exactly the opposite reasoning. i don't plan to be in a position for another fun car for at least 3-4 decades. so i got it when it was the least logical choice.

so i'll sell, barter, and trade for everything else with wheels as needed, but keep this one around for as long as i can, because if it goes gone, there won't be a replacement in the works.

Welp, be sure to order it with the hyper-charger -

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by saltywetman

looks like car deliveries are very limited right now too...got called last week saying car is in BC, (already delayed a week) and was supposed to arrive this week but after i emailed my sales guy yesterday he tells me eta has been pushed back another week to next week

Question: i know the # of people with the 17+ models is limited due to super low sales in north america. Anyone know if with this final iteration of the generation all kinks and issues have been ironed out and the car does not have many glaring mechanical issues? (kinda wanna jump the gun and slap a header + tune on it right off the bat after break-in but maybe i should drive for a month before doing that to make sure nothing pops up?)

No glaring issues and no more problems than any other model of car beyond the first run 13s. In fact very high reliability ratings.

Originally Posted by saltywetman

apexi header + a catback w/ oft tune, jdm short shifter is all i plan on doing this summer. next summer i may look into some rice or suspension + brakes. I do plan to sign up for some HPDE when this covid thing tapers off.

anyone know for jdm trd parts how long they continue to produce stuff after the car itself is no longer manufactured? since i plan to pick up a few jdm trd aero pieces production availability would likely decide whether I add rice before tweaking brakes and suspension

Many of the true JDM TRD parts can only be ordered with an approved VIN number from a car that had them originally. The add on parts of course are not covered by that. I would think that they will be available for a while at least. If you wantta pay the price that is.