The local dealer sent this out today. True or just boosting sales?

People aren't in the mood to make a major purchase not knowing what is coming around the corner.
Two weeks from now who knows what will happen. On again/ Off again.... who knows.

I lost about 100k in the stock market at the beginning, finally getting back to where it was.
But it could all be gone in a snap with the decisions ( or lack thereof ) being made.

I should cash out now, take the tax hit, and just sit on it.
Losing 25% to taxes now is better than losing 80% later.
Heck at simple interest rates in the bank I'd at least make that 25% back.

If I didn't have kids I'd sell everything and move into the woods - build a small cabin - setup solar - and just do nothing.

 

The best time to buy a new vehicle is when you don't need one.
Then you can wait, and wait, and wait, and snag...

 

Trucks are in a price bubble and have been for a decade. Last year was the point when most trucks outpriced my willingness to buy. I imagine this year will see more people losing interest. Unlike what the panic mongers say, I'm holding out. This year is not the year to buy a vehicle.

 

Billy Preston says they will.

 

sounds like a horrible group of people.

there's talking about the effects of tariffs on prices(hard data, not necessarily political), and there's discussing the presiding presidents implementation of tariffs as a manufacturing control mechanism(largely political and personal interpretation).

doesn't sound like i would last more than a week there.

but 'banned for life' is really difficult to enforce when most of the world is on dynamic IP's... just saying... i'd already have another account after rebooting my modem...

 

He died a few years ago ... sad circumstances too (I am not an "Access Hollywood" guy but I did hear about that). If they had paid more royalties the "end" would have been nicer.

 

Here’s a twist for ya. A good friend and also a salesman at Toyota spoke with me at church and asked if I knew of folks that were looking for a used car. He told me they have a growing inventory of repos, he said currently they have 26 repos on the list to be taken back. He said he has never seen it this bad before at his dealership. Folks can’t make the payments. Also I have heard via the business channel that repos nation wide have skyrocketed.

Praise God I’m debt free !!!

 

• Surging to High Levels: Car repossessions have reached levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.
• Significant Increase: In 2024, approximately 1.73 million vehicles were repossessed, representing a 16% increase from 2023 and a staggering 43% increase over two years.

 

Ford keeps at it with the employee pricing but they laid off a bunch of corporate people over the past two years. I don't think it's a good time to buy either, that's before I look at the financing that would keep me from signing anything.

 

Wow, interesting data, I knew it was that bad but not that bad. I also read that credit card debt in the US is nearing one trillion dollars. I’m 68 and plan on driving this 2022 till it decomposes or they take my license away, lol.

 

Debt payments are one of the worst boat anchors in life, though sometimes necessary and acceptable if managed well. Money that can be used to invest or at least pay off your nachos at the grocery store today as opposed to over-the-next-10-years ... I like cash.

 

Franchise dealerships don’t repo cars unless financing fell through. BHPH repos though.

 

One thing I've noticed - i sometimes wear work clothes when traveling or even just grabbing lunch. Now, it's normal to be occasionally stopped and asked about the logo on my shirt and whether they are hiring. What's not normal is that suddenly the frequency of that occurring has increased. Three months ago, I would say that the number of strangers who would ask me if I was hiring would be 1-2 every quarter. Now it's 1-2 times a week, and that translates to 30-50% of my outings away from work (while wearing work clothes).

There seem to be a lot more people in need of work that are bumping into me within the prior 3 months. I dont see that trend improving.

 

Time value of money. A dollar today is worth more than the same dollar tomorrow. Investing 101.

 

"Available" at least, rather than "already marked to be sent out for the next <x> years".

 

Police Fire and Military are always looking for recruits. Not something you want to get into at 50 years old but there have to be people out there that the time is right for them.

 

There are repo companies that also have BHPH lots.

 

My point was as soon as the contract is funded (usually same day for e-contracting or within 2-3 days) the Toyota dealer gives 0 fucks on if the customer misses their first payment. They’ve already been paid.

 

The bank will pick up the Toyota, it probably don't happen as quick. I was behind a nice AWD Camry XSE today where it's all rental properties and subsidized housing. Which doesn't mean they aren't paying their car note that's what I saw. I'm just saying BHPH are likely to be repo outfits who also sell car loans.

 

there's a lot of stuff flying around to use AI for application pre-sorting, but also the wrong people are being charged with the hiring.

ie: accounting/investment fund people are being tasked with hiring new mechanics based on a boilerplate requirements sheet, which disqualifies any candidate that doesn't blatantly lie. but then if they do lie to get past the AI pre-sorting, then they get caught in their lie, and denied.

so there's a lot of pointed articles lately on some of the sites like inc.com or futurism about it that paint a really bleak picture on the employment market. lots of people are starting to turn back to the old ways of just asking around/knocking on doors, because the official hiring channels have gotten extremely bloated and unattainable over the last number of years.
https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/weve-reached-the-end-of-the-job-market/91200456


there's even stuff like this from 2020:
https://x.com/tiangolo/status/1281946592459853830?lang=en

and i don't know if you saw the most recent fat electrician video on 'how to become an electrician'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYJDBDZURro

the comments on that video get wild. people blatantly telling him, a documented electrician, that does the hiring for an electrical company, that he's wrong, it can't work that way...