Over the past two years, every established rule of car shopping failed. Inventory shortages meant everything your parents taught you, from negotiating to valuing your trade-in, fell apart. Car shoppers were left overpaying and thankful for the opportunity to buy anything at all. At least, that’s how it’s been at some lots. At others, the old rules apply.
The headlines refer to the industry average (we know, we write them), but there are always a few outliers defying the norm. In 2023, the headlines are about new car shortages. But a handful of automakers are still oversupplied with some cars. In some cases, they’re cars you might not have heard of or considered. But the quality of the average new car has been improving for most of a decade. While studies like JD Power’s Initial Vehicle Quality Study took a dip during the microchip shortage of the last year, most people don’t car shop every year. The odds are still good that almost every car you could buy today is built to a higher standard than cars were the last time you went shopping. You find a great deal by looking a little beyond the usual suspects. To find one, you need to know one industry rule of thumb. Car dealers measure their supply of new cars in a measure they call “days of inventory” – how long it would take to s …