If you’re thinking about car shopping, here’s what you need to know.
CINCINNATI — There’s so much confusion right now over tariffs on new cars, which ones would be affected and which ones wouldn’t. But there is one easy way to avoid paying a tariff.
At one Chevy dealership we visited, business has been way up.
“March was an excellent month, a record breaker for us, and we’ve had a lot of traffic, people coming in looking at new cars,” said dealership owner Tom Gill.
And no wonder. Customers like Melissa and Jason Braun want to close a deal on a new car before tariffs will possibly send prices higher.
“Did you want to buy before prices go up?” we asked.
“Yes, absolutely,” Melissa said. “I think that when it goes up that it’s going to hurt a lot of people.”
Gill said most of his Chevys are American made and should not face tariffs, but with some vehicles made in Mexico and others containing imported parts, some could soon see higher invoice prices.
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Right now, it’s so tough to figure out which cars will be hit by tariffs because so many of them have been imported from other countries. But dealers are saying your best bet right now is to look at vehicles that are currently on their lot.
“Right now, everything on the lot doesn’t have a tariff,” Gill said.
That includes his used Toyotas, Hondas, and other imported cars. If it’s on the lot, no price hike. But Gill says if prices do rise this year, there is one bit of good news.
“If we do see tariffs, you’re gonna see the value of your used car go up too,” he said.
That could mean more money for Melissa and Jason’s trade.
So if you were thinking of buying a car this summer, you might wanna start shopping now.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.