Gone are the days when you can easily find the same car from different dealers at a reasonable price. “It is the hunger games out there,” said our special guest today, LeeAnn Shattuck a.k.a The Car Chick who is passionate about teaching people to make informed decisions on purchasing, selling, and servicing automobiles. We talk about buying new or used cars and negotiating with dealers in this crazily fast automotive industry.
You have to take control of your buying process and take that control away from them.
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LeeAnn Shattuck is an automotive expert, entrepreneur, award-winning author, speaker, radio and television host, and race car driver. Known around the world as “The Car Chick”, LeeAnn owns a unique car buying service that helps women and smart men get a great deal on a new or used car without the hassle and frustrations that come with traditional car shopping. LeeAnn is passionate about educating women about cars and about empowering them to make informed decisions when purchasing, selling and servicing automobiles.
What’s Going On in the Automotive Industry and Why Cars Are So Expensive
There are NO CARS! An average car today has more computer chips in it than the space shuttle did. New car production is a fraction of what it normally is because of all the supply chain issues and crisis we have going on right now, it leads to a supply chain problem of computer chips. Also, due to the pandemic and lockdowns, there was an increase in demand for all things with computer chips–the supply just couldn’t keep up.
When It Still Make Sense to Buy a Used Car
Ask yourself, “Do you really need to buy a car right now?” If not, can you afford to wait for several months for a new one? Buying a used car for a similar price as the new one means we’re overpaying for it. However, it is what it is, a lot of people don’t have the luxury to wait for a new one so they’re forced to buy a used car at a high price.
The Best Way to Shop for a New or Used Car From a Dealer
Unfortunately, this goes against everything LeeAnn believed in terms of making a good car buying decision as she preach it’s a process not an event. Although, given the situation of the market right now, the dealers won’t hold your cart, you have to move quickly. Go to the dealer’s website and see a car listed, make a call then find out if it’s still available.
How We Can Avoid Scams
Facebook Marketplace has become the No.1 go to site for most people to sell cars. You have to make sure to know the different kinds of scam out there. If you think the price of the car looks way too good to be true, it is most likely a scam. Also, scammers will give you a sob story or ask you to communicate outside Facebook. Remember to always communicate within the platform until you establish a relationship wherein you can schedule a call.
Our Best/Worst Car Buying Story
- LeeAnn: First car at 16yo was 1978 audi fox. There were no power steering and couldn’t make left hand turns without running out of gas.
- Jill: Friggin’ Subaru Forester
- Jen: Current car is purchased with cash, which proved to be so much more complicated
Get more from LeeAnn Shattuck
Bill of The Week
Thank you LeeAnnn for sharing your bill about figure skating and meeting Bill at the rink who started skating at the age of 72; Bill the rink grandpa 🙂
Thanks so Much for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening. Many of you know we have a private community where we do monthly money challenges and offer accountability groups. We want to congratulate one of our members for a big win.
On July 1st I started writing down every time I spent money.
By the 3rd day I realized why this never worked for me in the past….I found myself justifying reasons why I didn’t need to write down a charge. For example, we had to buy a new battery for our motorcycle and I didn’t write it down because “it’s not a normal charge and won’t happen for a long time.”
After catching myself and writing the charge down, I realized these are the times I’m swiping my card and not really paying attention to it and therefore throwing my budget and balances off.
Victoria
Congrats! If you want to check out our monthly challenge community head to frugalfriendspodcast.com/club to see what challenge we have coming up next.
And keep leaving us reviews on iTunes or Stitcher, and sending the screenshot to reviews@frugalfriendspodcast.com. And don’t forget to share your favorite quote from the episode by using the hashtag #FrugalFriendsNote.