The Vegas Voice 6-20

Buying a Used Car Now?
By: BJ Killeen / Down the Road
For those who invest in the stock market,
you know the general rule is to buy low and
sell high. If you like looking for great bargains,
specifically in vehicle purchases, you might be eyeing the used (or
preowned) car market right now.
But before you start your search, let’s see if this really makes sense.
We know that the automotive industry has been hit hard by the
coronavirus, with factories going on hiatus and car dealerships closing
their showroom to customers. Car sales for 2020 were expected to be
close to 17 million units, if not a little more.
Because of the state of affairs right now, that number has been
downgraded to between 14.5 and 16.4 million - based on when we can
get life moving again.
It may appear from those numbers that the manufacturers will be
desperate to sell and will take any price. Unfortunately, the opposite
may be true.
There are a lot of vehicles coming off lease. This means there will be
a glut of fairly new, low-mileage offerings, however some dealers know
that they need to make money to compensate for the sales lost during
the shutdown period.
They may not be as willing to negotiate right now on those cars. They
would probably prefer if you took advantage of the offerings toward new
cars instead.
Many manufacturers are advertising longer loan periods, no down
payments, zero-percent financing, and no payments for up to four
months to kickstart new car sales again.
If you are looking to purchase an off-lease or used vehicle that has
already depreciated and you can wait until late fall or early winter, that
would be a better time to try for the best deal possible. It’s okay to do a
little shopping now; broaden your search and keep an eye on preferred
vehicles.
If they don’t sell by fall, you should be able to negotiate a great price.
If they do sell, keep looking. You have time on your side.
BJ Killeen has been an automotive journalist for over 30 years.
She welcomes all questions and inquiries, and can be reached at
bjkdtr@gmail.com
By: Jim Valkenburg / Insurance Insight
Last month I discussed a TV insurance
commercial that
might be both truthful
and misleading at the
same time. I will continue with that thought
and would like you to consider virtually all the
commercials you see and hear.
Advertising (i.e., commercials) is but a
subset of a larger field called marketing.
In a broad sense marketing is the process of
interesting potential customers and clients to
their products and/or services.
My purpose is simply to get you to think objectively about what
you see and hear from the very people that are paid to capture your
thoughts and convince you to buy into their product or service.
Consider this: “Only Pay for What You Need” Sound familiar?
If you watch TV, listen to the radio or read magazines and newspapers,
you have heard that statement. Is it truth? Well, of course it is! No one
wants to spend their money on stuff they don’t need.
The statement is a tag line for an insurance commercial that wants
you, the consumer, to believe that their company is “on your side” in
the continued effort of spending your money wisely. The simple phrase
20
Insurance Commercials Part 2
June 2020
also implies that other companies may get you to pay for things you
don’t need.
It is a marketing technique as old as marketing has been around…
and that’s a long time. And, by the way “on
your side” is yet another catch phrase used by
insurance advertisers.
I would bet you could name both companies
that use these. There are many more catch
phrases used in advertising that are truthful
on one hand and imply something else on the
other.
I am, in no way, trying to discredit any
insurance company. All of them use advertising
strategies to persuade potential consumers.
Now you tell me what a gecko with an English accent would know
about insurance? Or a duck? For Pete’s sake - these are simply adverting
gimmicks that work. Or they wouldn’t be used.
It’s up to you to be a discerning consumer. Here’s my insurance
“catch phrase”: Find an agent you trust and trust him/her.
Jim Valkenburg is a retired military officer and insurance executive.
He and his wife owned and operated their own insurance agency for
over 16 years. His primary purpose is to give out real information
that can be used to make intelligent insurance decisions.