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Nearly 50 percent of Americans have delayed new car purchases

01/08/2009, 9:10 AM

By Andrew Ganz

Despite unprecedented new car discounts and rebates – which are at their highest levels in years, if not decades – a new study released today indicates that nearly half, or about 48 percent, of all Americans have delayed purchasing a new car as a result of tumultuous economic times. Surprisingly, only 18 percent of Americans surveyed said that they were delaying because of too-high interest rates for financing.

The most common reason for a delay in purchasing, according to the Consumer Reports study, was that 38 percent of those studies said they had re-evaluated their own cars’ condition and that their cars were in good enough shape to keep for a while longer.

Other top factors included: Vehicles have become too expensive (30 percent), a concern about the weak economy (30 percent) and waiting for fuel-saving technology to become more affordable (18 percent).

The study also asked buyers to rank their perception of automakers in seven categories, ranging from design and style to performance and even value. At the top was Toyota and trailing by a good margin was Honda. Ford, Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz rounded out the top five.

The study was conducted over the telephone from December 4-8, 2008.

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01/08, 9:15 AM

posted by:

bradleygt

Why don’t they just change their name to “Toyota Consumer Reports”, since they are basically a Toyota marketing tool. If I am not mistaken, I believe anyone who buys a new Toy gets a subscription to the magazine. So I am sure there is NO bias with their ‘reports’.

01/08, 9:31 AM

posted by:

Need more oil for GM

THose people will be buying GM products once the economy picks back up. rbadley, Toyota is on life support whether you want to believe it or not. They had worse sales declines than GM and their recalls are out of control. GM hasn’t had a recall in years an buyers are realizing that it is their duty as Amercians to get GM back on top. They will be buying a new GM vehicle when it comes time.

Nobody wants to be seen as a terrorist when they bring home a foriegn car

01/08, 9:38 AM

posted by:

mayer_ray_nagin

I’m delaying a new car purchase until 2020. My Ford will have about 300k problem-free miles on it by then but I figure one of the bulbs will got out in May, 2020, at which point in time a new vehicle will become necessary.

01/08, 9:51 AM

posted by:

non_biased_enthusiast

The only one acting like a terrorist is the one who has said before the you should buy GM or die.

01/08, 10:48 AM

posted by:

HoosierHero

NMOFGM you are an idiot. Terrorists for buying a foriegn car? What about all of the other foreign products?? I bet you don’t say that when you buy your clothes that are made in China, or most of your electronics that are made overseas. It was so nice when you slinked away for a while. Now that GM is off life-support, you think you can beat your chest. Sorry to disappoint you, but the American public still isn’t buying it- your rhetoric or GM’s products! If I’m buying domestic I’m buying Ford.

01/08, 10:59 AM

posted by:

yarddog82abn

The day thing get better, I can only hope I’m still in the car business, people will start buying like crazy again…

01/08, 10:59 AM

posted by:

rds130

NMOFGM is a genuine moron. Yes, I’m just finding this out…

01/08, 11:05 AM

posted by:

Dante_JoseCuervo

NMOFGM

Why is buying foreign considered being a “terrorist”? Is this like that episode of robot chicken where everything is considered terrorism? It’s called capitalism, people will buy what they wanna buy, if they wanna buy domestic, let them. If they wanna buy foreign, then so be it. By telling them they HAVE to buy domestic and that doing otherwise is considered to be treasonous you’ve become a terrorist yourself, either that or a very silly dictator.

01/08, 11:07 AM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

This is going to end up like the teenage boy who sticks with the same girl even though she’s not putting out. You can only hold back so long before you blow your load on something else.

01/08, 11:33 AM

posted by:

tripleonefive

Ford will have about 300k problem-free miles – That is the funniest thing you have ever said the only thing funnier is “GM hasn’t had a recall in years “

01/08, 12:22 PM

posted by:

Need more oil for GM

Go back to Hamas 1115, their looking for another suicide bomber. Maybe you can use your Hamas, I mean Honda.

01/08, 12:37 PM

posted by:

Spingood Tanoya

NMOFGM: you misspelled “GM hasn’t had a recall *this* year.”

01/08, 12:39 PM

posted by:

moparsalesman

as a sales person this just validates the fact that i work the service lane in our dealership. it does not take a whole lot to convince a service customer to purchase another vehicle if they have a high mileage auto with a large service bill.

01/08, 12:44 PM

posted by:

mayer_ray_nagin

1115, whether you want to believe it or not, every Ford I have owned has gone the distance trouble-free, and quite a distance at that. My current Ford is following suit – it is an excellent quality vehicle.

I once diverted and bought an Accord (made in Japan, BTW) and over 150k miles I had AC issues, fuel injection issues, electrical issues, major body flex issues, and oddly enough the thermostat needed to be replaced twice (seems the facotry spec coolant caused it to fail). The Honda wasn’t bad, but it was no dream car like you make it out to be. The seats sucked for distance driving too.

Have also had a BMW, an Audi, and a Toyota truck. The BMW was a reliability headache, the Audi also, and the Toyota truck was okay, but I go back to buying a Ford for a reason, and that reason is because every Ford I have had (and also my father has had) has run damn well for a long long time, not caused issues, starts and runs consistently, does what I demand of it (which is a lot), and does all this at a lower cost than the other makes. Honestly, I can afford a hell of a lot of “nicer” cars, but I don’t have an image complex like many people so I buy what fits my need and what my experience tells me works. That happens to be a Ford. If my Honda experience wasn’t a letdown, I’d be driving your favorite cars today.

Also, I never said “GM hasn’t had a recall in years.”

01/08, 12:50 PM

posted by:

Need more oil for GM

mayer has learned his lesson (sort of). Don’t buy foriegn.

Wouldn’t want a Ford either, but it sounds like it is at least American

01/08, 1:24 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

… according to the Consumer Reports study.”

tells me all I need to know.

mayer: your accord beat my Civic by more than 50K miles.

01/08, 1:28 PM

posted by:

injunraiv

NMOFGM – dude, I’m a dealer. And while I appreciate your commitment to the GM brand, you’re not helping the “cause” with your outlandish claims. In fact, you fall into the same sort of category as 1115 – someone who’s posts have no meaning because they are so biased.

And a little advice for the rest – there’s no sense arguing with 1115. As someone once said to me, arguing on the internet is like participating in the special olympics. Even if you win, you’re still retarded… ;^)

*disclaimer* I mean no harm to retarded people, or anyone else who may take offense to my previous statement, this statement, or any statement I may or may not make in the future.

01/08, 4:43 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

What about those who would take offense at your disclaimer?

01/08, 7:17 PM

posted by:

moparsalesman

im with you injunraiv i wont even correspond with 1115 anymore there is no point. he and many others are extremely biased. good cars are good cars not all makes and models are perfect even if they are made foreign

01/08, 11:37 PM

posted by:

Obviously DaMinority

First off, you all need to look up the definition of “Troll”, study it, learn it, love it… Then know you must not feed it (I know this is a mixed metaphor, but it’s commonly used, so don’t bother telling me).

Second, I’ve delayed my purchasing decision because I’m waiting for my car to be released, not because of the market, but it has the same effect.

Lastly, if a human is involved, bias is involved, always. Yes, even you Mr./Ms. Reader.

01/09, 12:22 AM

posted by:

Eradicate76

Ingunraiv

holy s**t that was funny, nearly pissed myself and sums up how I feel about both of the above offenders!

Nice to see Ford and Caddy making some in-roads though, recognizing some good achievements without a tremendous bias, still have a lot of PR catch up work to do though

01/09, 12:25 AM

posted by:

Eradicate76

The CTS has been HUGEfor Caddy!!! New fusion triplets and small euro offerings should keep Ford in the game and relevant for some time, good direction from that company, Mullary deserves every penny he has earned.

01/09, 11:39 AM

posted by:

tripleonefive

1115, whether you want to believe it or not- I dont
Moparsalesman and Injunraiv wont correspond with me because they have been defeated in every single argument that we have had. I added them to the list of people who believe in American cars so bad they ignore that they are not proven like Honda and Toyota
By the way How is the soup line Injuriav ?

01/09, 12:56 PM

posted by:

injunraiv

You know 1115, I’m tired of slapping you around. It’s boring. You bore me.

10 points to anyone who can name the source for this paraphrased quote!

01/10, 8:19 PM

posted by:

tripleonefive

The only thing you are slapping around is your unemployment check

 
 
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