Used Car Dealer Has More $2,000 Cars Than In Years And Still Can’t Sell Them, So He Slashes Prices On Half The Lot After One Sat 66 Days

A used car dealer says he has more $2,000 cars on his lot than he has had in years, and he cannot sell them. For the first time he can remember, even ugly, beat up cars at rock bottom prices are just sitting there.

An aerial view of a large lot filled with rows of cars.

The dealer behind the @RealCarDealer channel walked through his inventory sheet to show the problem. One car had been on his lot for 66 days, and others had racked up 39, 39 and 34 days.

Once a car hits about two weeks, he says, he is ready for it to be gone. So he decided to cut the price on every highlighted car, which is literally half of what he has for sale.

“I’m Dropping 10 Cars Today, Each By $500,” That’s $5,000 Out Of His Own Pocket

He had skipped his usual weekly price cuts last week because inventory was thin. Then none of the cars he was waiting to discount sold, even though the lot moved about 12 or 13 cars.

The cars that did sell were mostly new stock. Meanwhile, a batch of recently purchased cars is about to hit the front row, and they will compete directly with the old ones.

His reasoning is blunt. People have already shown that they will not pay the current price, so he has to give them a reason to choose the old stock he wants gone more than the nicer cars coming in.

So every car on the sheet drops $500. Ten cars at $500 each adds up to $5,000 he says he is taking out of sellable inventory.

An Impala He Has $3,400 In Is Down To $2,000, And Dump Trucks Keep Coating The Lot In Dust

First up was an Impala that has been around so long it has appeared in several videos. He has $3,400 in it and could not sell it at $2,500, so it dropped another $500 to $2,000.

“We’re no longer selling Impalas,” he says. Viewers often tell him to just wash the cars, but he says that does not work because the lot sits right next to a highway with dump trucks and industrial vehicles kicking up dust.

He says you can spray a car down and two hours later it looks as dirty as ever, especially a black one. Still, that spot is a perfect billboard, because traffic backs up at a stoplight past his shop in the afternoon.

Next was a Honda Civic that surprised him. Normally he cannot keep a Civic under $3,000, and he says the rougher cosmetic shape usually does not matter at $2,500. Not this time, so it fell to $2,000.

“I’ve Never Been Able To Have Cars Sitting Here For $2,000 And They Just Don’t Sell”

This is what bothers him most. In the past, he says, no matter how a car ran or how ugly it looked, a $2,000 car would go.

His theory is that the people who shop for the very cheapest car may not be able to afford anything right now. He suspects that buyers who used to spend $10,000 to $15,000 on a middle tier used car may be strapped too, coming down to the $3,500 and $4,000 cars and crowding out those lower buyers.

The cuts kept coming. A Jeep that was $3,000 dropped to $2,500, and a Lexus ES he thinks is a 330 went from $4,000 to $3,500. He says the Lexus has drawn leads, so he expects it to go.

A 4Runner was another shocker. He says his earlier 1999 4Runner sold within two hours of posting, but this one has been there more than two weeks and is now $4,000.

Two Ford Fusions, A Friend’s Baked Paint And A $2,000 Last Resort

Two Ford Fusions, both on the lot more than two weeks, were next. One went to $3,500 and a silver one in the front row went from $3,500 to $3,000.

The last car was not his own. A friend asked him to sell it, and the paint is so rough it is baked right off. He says they normally would not buy a car like that, but a dealer with open hours and test drives has an easier time than a private seller.

He says he makes no money on that car, and priced it at $2,000. “Our lot looks sad. I look sad. Our prices look sad. Profits look sad.”

He also took a shot at the people who say his lot is for show. His dealership is A&J Used Cars, and he runs sites such as carsunder2500.com and carsunder3500.com where you can see his price drops yourself.

What Car Shoppers And Sellers Can Take From A Slow Lot

If you are shopping for a cheap car, ask how long it has been on the lot. A car near the two month mark may have more room to move on price.
Look for the dealers who discount old stock on a schedule, because they want old cars gone.
If you are selling a car, price it to where buyers actually are. This dealer says $2,500 cars are not moving the way they used to.
Keep the car clean and the photos fresh.
Do not wait on a stale listing. His rule of thumb is that two weeks is when he starts getting ready to cut.

His own advice, in short, is to cut early and keep stock moving, because he says he does not want stale inventory even when the lot is thin.

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