There are fewer and fewer cars in the pool, but the number of people grabbing cars is increasing, and the former "cars and others" have become "people waiting for cars", and even "people grabbing cars", popular models are difficult to find, and the price of second-hand cars is skyrocketing.
Wen | Gao Yue
Edit | Zhou Wei
Operation | The Tree
Used cars are more expensive than new cars
Zhou Yan, 28, desperately needs a car.
Last year, he successfully proposed marriage, bought a marriage house and a car, and became the top priority of his girlfriend. In Tianjin, he can only be regarded as an ordinary family situation, with the pressure to buy a house, buy a car to take a back seat, so his parents suggested to him, the budget should be controlled at 150,000, it is best to buy a new car of the mid-range brand, but young people have different ideas, more than the cost performance, more want to "have a beautiful face" .
Zhou Yan felt that the new car that had only been driven for two or three years and was properly maintained, if he did not take the initiative to confess, others could not see that it was second-hand. What's more, after two years of shaking the number, he got the "number plate of the car", so naturally he should be cautious. When browsing the car website, the more he looked at it, the more excited he became, the brand of his choice was constantly upgraded, and finally, he fell into the imagination of driving a Mercedes-Benz to work.
Zhou Yan eventually took a fancy to a Mercedes-Benz CLA200 used car. The new car guide price of this car is 282,800, he inquired, a friend bought a 3-year-old used car in 2019, only spent 180,000. But recently the second-hand car has risen fiercely, and he has raised the estimated price by 10,000 yuan in his heart. Unexpectedly, when negotiating the price, the car dealer told him, "This number is not even enough to enter the car price."
In the end, Zhou Yan spent 18,000 more than the budget and spent 208,000 yuan to successfully pick up the car.
▲ Photo / Screenshot of the TV series "I'm Fine Elsewhere"
Zou Yunfei, 35, has always believed that buying a car is unnecessary, and in Beijing, where public transportation is developed, traffic jams and parking are problems. He has been commuting to work on the subway with his wife, which is easier than driving, and he can still have a lump sum of money to buy a car, gas and parking fees.
For this family, saving money is a must, paying off the mortgage, but also saving for the daughter's education. But in the blink of an eye, my daughter is going to primary school, morning and evening pick-up, interest classes tossing and turning... He felt that he could not let the child toss every day, especially in the winter of Beijing, when the north wind whistled, the happiness brought by a car was immediate.
Just last year, Zou Yunfei actually became the lucky one who shook the fuel car. Beijing's 2021 fuel vehicle winning rate is almost 2897 people grabbing an indicator, and the winning rate of the lottery in the unit of car-free families is higher than that of individuals. Zou Yunfei is a carless family to draw the number, but this is also extremely lucky, the number in the lottery also has a validity period, buying a car, has become a decision that the family has to make.
The 2022 flagship version of the Honda Accord is the ideal model for Zou Yunfei. The official guidance of the new car is 215,800, but the sales of the 4S store tell him that the price increase is 10,000 yuan and the car is picked up within 15 days; otherwise, it will take at least two months.
Zou Yunfei calculated an account, car fares, mark-up fees, insurance and taxes, added together "240,000 can not be stopped", beyond the budget. "I trusted the relationship and looked for channels, but after looking for many people, I found that there was no way, and even the new car had to wait for the transfer from other places." In desperation, he turned his head to consider a second-hand car when he was in urgent need of a car.
A friend found a new car for him to sell, the 2018 model of the same Accord he wanted, with a mileage of 20,000 kilometers and very well maintained. Zou Yunfei did his homework in advance, the new car guidance price of this car that year was 229,800, and the price of second-hand cars before the epidemic fluctuated between 160,000 and 180,000 yuan, which roughly conformed to the industry law of 30% depreciation in 2 years.
However, what he did not expect was that the owner actually asked for 200,000 yuan. Although Zou Yunfei is grinding his mouth, the other party is only willing to be cheaper than 10,000 yuan, and said that he is thick enough, and someone on the second-hand car platform even offers 220,000 yuan for a new second-hand car in 1 year.
After a few rounds, Zou Yunfei exhausted various methods to finally finalize the price to 185,800. When paying the deposit, the owner has always stressed that he has lost money and should wait. And Zou Yunfei, who picked up the car, did not have the pleasure of taking advantage of the situation at all, and felt a heavy heart.
The encounter between Zhou Yan and Zou Yunfei is not an isolated case, and the phenomenon of rising domestic used car prices has continued for some time. Luo Lei, vice president of the Used Car Circulation Association, said that since June last year, the average transaction price of used cars in China has climbed by about 20%. Among them, the tight models are particularly prominent, and the sub-new cars of the middle and high-end models even appear "upside down" phenomenon.
Some used car dealers said that like the more sought-after tank 300,1000 kilometers of the Conqueror version of the quasi-new car, the new car price of 213,800, recovered almost 230,000, and then add a little more than 240,000 sold. That is to say, a second-hand car of more than 1,000 kilometers is equivalent to the price of a new car landing. Like some classic models that have been discontinued in China, such as Toyota Prado's 2018 and 2019 models, second-hand cars have been 15,000 to 30,000 yuan higher than new cars, and some are even 80,000 or 90,000 yuan higher.
Take the flying ladder
Shen Wenjun has also been a little depressed recently. He is a new energy vehicle dealer, and what has plagued him recently is that in addition to the increase in the price of fuel used cars, the price of new energy second-hand cars that have been worrying about the retention rate has also hitched a ride on the flying ladder.
His company has branches in Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang and Sichuan, mainly for consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities, which have a small travel radius, do not have the mileage anxiety of large cities, and "a range of 100 to 300 kilometers is completely enough." In addition, the use of new energy vehicles is low in cost and the overall reputation is getting better and better, so many people will choose new energy vehicles, "often one is called one, someone changes the car first, and recommends relatives and friends to come."
The year before, Shen Wenjun's company directly entered 2,000 Great Wall Black Cat used cars from the manufacturer, with a purchase price of 35,000 yuan, and then resold at a price increase of 10,000 yuan. However, when the car was collected again last year, the manufacturer directly raised the price to 45,000 yuan, and in just one year, the purchase price of the same second-hand car directly rose by nearly 30%. This has made many consumers who are ready to sell, began to become hesitant.
Not only the prospective owners are complaining, but the car dealers are not happy, in order to compete for the source of the car, many dealers play the "open fare" signboard.
Some Mercedes-Benz 4S stores have announced the acquisition of popular models such as the E-Class and GLC at open prices. The BMW used car platform also posted posters, the 3 Series, 4 Series, 5 Series and X3 all models, as long as "in January to July 2020 on the brand, the number of kilometers less than 15,000 kilometers" are purchased at the original price, "equivalent to the owner of the car for 1 year".
▲ A Mercedes-Benz store in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, held an official certified used car event. Photo / Visual China
In the impression of car dealers, only 3 years ago, the second-hand car market was not such a noisy scene. At that time, there were many channels to enter the car, and it was far less difficult, they could choose to directly dock with individual car owners, they could also establish cooperative relations with brand 4S stores, and they could also participate in auction activities and "string goods" with their peers.
But now the changes are huge, there are fewer and fewer cars in the pool, but more and more people are grabbing cars. Once "cars and others" became "people waiting for cars", and even "people grabbed cars", popular models are difficult to find, and the price of second-hand cars skyrocketed.
Of course, not all models are raising prices. A guazi second-hand car employee said that from our own data, (mark-up) is not as serious as the outside world speculation, it may be a relatively scarce model, are particularly quasi-new cars will be more expensive. Some cars for a month or two may be more expensive on the platform of a used car than a new car.
Buying used cars at high prices is not only happening in China. Bruce, who runs a used car business in Canada, said that due to the rise in North American oil prices, many families have begun to choose to use lower-cost electric vehicles - most of them live in houses, and charging is very convenient. But there is basically no inventory of best-selling electric vehicles on the market, and the price of some new cars is even far beyond the price of new cars.
"Because the waiting time for buying a new car in North America is more than half a year, and there is no 4S shop system, if you want it now, you can only buy it on the second-hand market." If you want to buy a relatively new car, like the new Model Y of the year, the price may exceed the official retail price of about 50,000 yuan. Bruce said.
Out of Canada, the situation is roughly similar. In the United States, the average price of used cars has increased by as much as 50%; in Spain, according to the Used Car Sales Association, the price of used cars that are less than 5 years old has risen by 15%; in the United Kingdom, auto trader data shows that used cars with less than 1 year of age are 17% more expensive than new cars.
Price increase pusher
The price of second-hand cars has soared, and the epidemic is probably the biggest "pusher". Factories in many parts of the world have been forced to stop production, including automotive chip manufacturers.
Last year, one thing that many new Audi owners will experience is that they only give a remote control key when they buy a car. The car dealer promised to issue a second one after the production capacity was restored. The reason behind this is the shortage of chips, and giving less of a remote control key saves a chip.
But that's not enough. At present, a model of about 100,000 yuan needs about 800 to 900 chips, including automatic headlights, induction wipers, HUDs, artificial intelligence and other functions, which require corresponding chips. Because the mid-to-high-end car is equipped with more chips, it is not a quantity level with ordinary models, and the supply has become more scarce.
According to public data, in 2021, the price of chips rose by 10% to 15%, and individual chips rose by 50%.
The tide of "lack of core" has caused passive production reductions in countless new cars. Volkswagen once had to press the pause button on a tight production line because of a shortage of chips. More than 30 factories of more than 15 car companies have experienced "missing cores" shutdowns, and as of October 2021, global automobile production has been reduced by 9.345 million vehicles due to lack of cores.
▲ In the case of chip production reduction, car companies have shifted their focus to new energy vehicles. Photo / Screenshot of CCTV Financial Weibo
The epidemic has also brought about a rupture in the industrial supply chain. A whole vehicle has about 30,000 parts, and each part is in place before the car can drive out of the workshop. Hubei is an important automobile town, with more than 10 OEMs such as Dongfeng Honda and Dongfeng Dongfeng Dongfeng, DPCA, and more than 1,400 automobile manufacturing related enterprises, including many parts giants such as Bosch and ZF. From here, countless parts are shipped around the world every day to various production lines. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, the production rhythm of Hubei Province was once stopped.
Butterfly tremor will bring about a major earthquake in the global automotive industry. The first wave was South Korea, followed by Japan, and there was a shutdown storm. The same is true of the automotive industry in Europe and the United States, where Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has announced the temporary suspension of production at its Serbian plant due to the inability to supply sound systems procured from China in a timely manner. Jaguar Land Rover has also tried to load parts in suitcases and airlift them from China to the UK, but the parts can only meet the 2-week production volume.
To this day, this effect has not really subsided. Walking into the 4S store, the parking lot can be half filled, not only the promotion activities have been greatly reduced, but also there have been price increases, and the price increase of high-end models is particularly serious.
Like the currently popular BMW 3 Series, Lexus ES and other models, they need to be purchased at a higher price, with a price increase of 10,000 to 30,000 yuan. In the Beijing Audi 4S store, if you want to order RS models, most of them need to increase the price by 50,000 to 100,000 yuan, and the three models of RS6, RS7 and RS Q8 even need to increase the price by 300,000 yuan. Mercedes-Benz 4S stores are also not to be spared, a big G with a guide price of 1.5 million, but the actual sales price is 1.8 million, and it still needs to be queued.
Not only have the prices of new cars risen, but the pick-up cycle has also become long. Models that used to have sufficient stock may now wait for a month or two for a short period of time, and more than half a year for a long time. For many car owners who just need it, there is no time to wait, so they turn their eyes to the second-hand car market.
The sudden influx of used car demand has pushed the price of used cars to a peak step by step. According to data from the China Automobile Dealers Association, in 2021, a total of 17.5851 million used cars were traded in China, an increase of 22.62% year-on-year, and the transaction amount was 1131.692 billion yuan, an increase of 27.32% year-on-year.
When will the days of worrying about chips and prices pass? Luo Lei believes that it will take about half a year to recover. But when the price of the automobile market will return to normal will remain for some time.
▲ The second-hand car trade is hot, and the vehicles at a second-hand car storage point in Shenyang are densely packed. Photo / Visual China
Car buying anxiety
The price of new cars and used cars has risen simultaneously, and the new car pick-up cycle has become longer, making many people who need to buy a car become a headache.
But whether it is buying a second-hand car or a new car, it has become more and more difficult for today's young people.
In addition to rising prices, today, the various costs of using cars are also rising. In the north, Shanghai and Guangzhou, spending a lot of time looking for parking spaces has become a headache for many car owners. The high cost of parking is also staggering. According to the statistics of AutoNavi Map, Guangzhou ranked first in the country with a parking price of 26 yuan per hour, followed by Shanghai 20 yuan, Shenzhen 20 yuan, Nanjing 20 yuan, Hangzhou 12 yuan, Beijing 10 yuan, Suzhou 10 yuan, Chengdu 10 yuan, Chongqing 8 yuan, Tianjin 8 yuan.
The increasing number of new energy vehicles, the cost of use is also rising. Recently, several gusts of wind blown by the new energy industry have also discounted the advantage that the use cost of new energy vehicles is low.
The first gust of wind is the "New Energy Vehicle Commercial Insurance Exclusive Clause" issued in December 2021, after the exclusive insurance product, the premium of many new energy vehicles has risen. One Weilai ES8 owner complained that his annual premium rose by 1200 yuan; another Tesla owner said that his Model Y premium had a huge difference before and after, from 8278 yuan to 14,900 yuan in just 4 days, an increase of up to 80%.
The old sorrows are not solved, and the new sorrows are coming. On the last day of 2021, the state announced that the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles in 2022 will be reduced by 30%, and this is also the last year to provide new energy subsidies.
This means that the subsidies available to car companies are reduced, and soon, the price adjustment action will be one after another. Tesla reacted the fastest, with an average price increase of 30,000 yuan for each model; Xiaopeng then adjusted the price of three models below 300,000 yuan, with an increase of 4300-5900 yuan.
All this makes prospective car owners more anxious.
Wu Qingqing graduated for 5 years, but soon after getting his driver's license. Friends and colleagues around her bought cars one after another, which made her a little fidgety. Even if she doesn't have a lot of money, she plans to buy a used car to "practice her hands" first. But how to choose, but it was difficult for her.
New energy vehicles save money undoubtedly, she calculated an account, 1 km only needs 1.5 mao, if you travel 1000 km per month, only 150 yuan, far lower than the 700 yuan of fuel vehicles. But charging, battery life, but is a hard injury, she can almost imagine herself after entering the new energy second-hand car, three days of two ends rushed to charge, deeply into the mileage anxiety of the tired life. At the same time, the rising premiums of new energy vehicles have also become a new annoyance.
The score of new energy vehicles has gradually decreased, but fuel used cars have also made Wu Qingqing worry a lot. The maintenance problem is like a time bomb, the previous day to pick up the car, the next day the engine failure; before and after half a year, there are 13 small problems... Countless blood and tears examples of "repairing cars to collapse" on social platforms have impacted Wu Qingqing's cognition and confidence.
At the same time, the bullish news of the new car also constantly urges her to decide as soon as possible. The forum is full of arguments that "this year is not a good time to buy a car", but friends around him warned Wu Qingqing that the sooner you start, the better, and then it will only be more expensive.
Wu Qingqing was gradually shrouded in car buying anxiety, and a doubt began to emerge: With a car, will life really be better?
On social platforms, a new owner tells his story. He originally had no intention of buying a car, but he could not help the continuous stimulation of colleagues and neighbors, took out a loan to buy a car of 150,000 yuan, and has lived a "trapped" life ever since.
Insurance premiums, maintenance costs, fuel costs, parking fees plus messy expenses, at least 30,000 yuan per year. The quality of life has not improved much, but it is painstaking day by day. He once had an accident because he was forcibly cut in line by a car, and he no longer dared to go to the bustling road section during the peak; every day he traveled first to block the traffic, and then frantically looked for parking spaces, wasting a lot of time in vain; single and double number restrictions, checking violations everywhere... Later, every time he held the steering wheel, he was always uneasy.
Nowadays, buying a car seems to have become a siege, and people without cars are desperately trying to grab a number plate and become a car owner. But for many ordinary people who have a car, a car key does not seem to alleviate their anxiety, but may bring more trouble.
▲ Photo / Stills from the movie "Head Text D"
(At the request of the interviewees, Zhou Yan, Zou Yunfei and Wu Qingqing are pseudonyms)
Interaction per person
Would you consider buying a used car?
The article is original for The Daily People
Infringement must be investigated