Skip to main content

A Brighter View of Used Vehicle Buying Power

I appreciate moments when someone offers an insight or perspective that gives me pause and shapes my thinking.

One of these moments arrived this week in a conversation with John Ellis, who works as an inventory solutions strategist for Cox Automotive. Ellis shared a brighter view of the used vehicle buying power consumers have lost during the past 18 months, which I recently wrote about.

While Ellis acknowledges the lost buying power, he also believes used vehicle buyers can still win in the current market. Ellis pointed me to a recent blog post of his own, where he writes:

“The messaging of what feels like overpaying today is actually under paying tomorrow; that is, at least until the market starts turning again. If you bought in June, you didn’t lose. You win as compared to the car buyer who could’ve bought in June but waited until October hoping the price goes down. The deal on the desk now is most likely their best deal.”

It’s a good point that I thought should be shared more broadly, particularly as dealers work new/used vehicle deals with customers in the weeks and months ahead.

Ellis and I will be staying in touch. I’m confident you’ll see more from him here in the future.

The post A Brighter View of Used Vehicle Buying Power appeared first on Dale Pollak.

About the Author

Dale Pollak serves as executive vice president for Cox Automotive, a position he’s held since the company he founded, vAuto, became part of the Cox family in 2010. At Cox, Dale helps drive integrated innovation across the company’s auction, media and software divisions to help dealers increase efficiencies, sales volumes and profitability. The latest innovation, ProfitTime GPS, debuted in 2021 and helps dealers move beyond Velocity to a Variable Management strategy for optimizing the ROI for their used vehicle investments. The innovation, built on the breadth and depth of inventory data science at Cox Automotive, extends vAuto as the premier inventory management solution provider for franchise and independent dealers, serving more than 14,000 dealers. Dale has authored six books that showcase his perspective and thought leadership for the retail automotive industry. He published his latest book, “Whole Truth: A Fresh, Money-Making Method for Wholesale, the Most Misunderstood Side of Your Business,” in 2022.

Profile Photo of Dale Pollak