Used car dealers say local market strong

Auto sales decline not seen as a cause for panic
October 26, 2016
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Auto sales decline not seen as a cause for panic
October 26, 2016
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October 26, 2016

It’s no secret that people are leery of buying big-ticket items when economic times are hard, and an automobile has one of the biggest price tags of anything most people own.


But people still need to get around, and local, independent used car dealers say they have options consumers should consider before deciding they want to hold off, or that their potential for being able to buy a car that will suit them is slim.

A buyer’s market definitely exists locally, the dealers note, and they have spotted some interesting trends that seem to back that claim up.

“We find that we are selling a good bit of cars but it’s all to out-ot-town customers,” said Ryan Arceneux of N&N Auto Sales at West Main Street and Hollywood Road. “They’re coming from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, even out of state. They are saying the prices are cheaper here and so they are coming. They have bought vehicles here and said in New Orleans it would be $1,500 or a thousand more.”


Arceneaux acknowledges that financing can be more difficult for local used car buyers to find in the present economic environment. But deals have been rescued, he said, because of alternative financial packages that some banks approve,

“When the economy goes south the banks tighten up, they want to protect themselves,” Arceneaux said. “They are not as lenient as they once were, and we know that if you’ve got mediocre credit or bad credit it has gotten much harder. But we can still get people financed if they’ve got something to work with, and the options are much quicker than a bank.”

More recently, other issues have been driving buyers to local used car lots – both small independents and those affiliated with larger new car dealers. Flooding in Baton Rouge wiped out some used car stock, enough for local buyers in that area to have to look elsewhere. Because of this, stocks are presumed a little lower – and therefore prices a little higher – in New Orleans as well.


Used car dealers have also said that consumers shouldn’t overlook them just because they are smaller and don’t necessarily have the panache of the offerings at new car dealerships that also sell used cars.

Arceneaux is currently selling a 2016 Mustang that he got for a good price with only 700 miles on it

“I’m selling it for $22,900,” he said. “That’s probably $2,000 less than the same car would cost somewhere else. But I don’t necessarily get that kind of traffic.”


When it comes to financing options some used car operations have creative options that can come in handy during hard times.

At Regal Motors on West Park Avenue near St. Charles, Dallas Freeman keeps up a family tradition by selling cars on a rent-to-own basis. Down payments tend to be a little larger – rent-to-own dealers acknowledge that doing so is the only way for them to protect their investment – but because the deals are shorter term, they find that they fill an important niche for some buyers.

With a rent-to-own vehicle the buyer gives the required down payment and then makes smaller payments every two weeks.


“Our business has been staying the same, we haven’t dropped off and we haven’t picked up, and that’s a good thing from what I hear,” Freeman said.

He recognizes that the rent-to-own option is not viable for everybody, and in some cases he has actively tried to sell people away from the idea.

“I talk more people out of it than I do into it,” Freeman said. “I don’t want people to get one and then find they can’t afford it, because sometimes people don’t make enough to keep a car. Insurance can be costly and sometimes the cost is higher than the car.”


But when the option will work, Freeman said, his experience is that it can be a very good fit for some consumers.

“There is always the fact that if someone does get in a bind they can just bring the car back,” he said. “You are not sued and your credit is not ruined because of a return.”

Freeman’s stick is diverse, as is the range of prices.


He currently has two Porsche Boxsters, which on a rent to own basis would require around $4,000 down with payments of up to $220 every two weeks. But he also has a Kia that would cost someone a $1,000 down payment, at around $150 every two weeks.

He also has a turbo-charged Neon SRT.

Freeman acknowledges that he still runs into problems with customers who won’t pay for their cars and won’t bring them back, requiting an actual repossession. But he actually has less of those cases now than he did when he first started in the business.


“When I first started it was terrible, I had to learn to weed them out,” Freeman said. “We still get some people who don’t pay. But the rest of them they all pay on time and well.”

Used car market