What a strange summer. Gasoline prices skyrocket above $4 a gallon and car buyers scramble to switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars -- or stop buying new vehicles altogether. Meanwhile, Detroit manufacturers pull back or stop offering leases because of huge losses on SUVs and pickups. Then, gasoline prices slowly start to fall back below $4 a gallon. So what does the future hold for consumers? Some clues started to surface this week. Chrysler -- the manufacturer that gave its dealers a week's notice before pulling all leases starting Aug. 1 -- has started doing what it can to make its vehicles more affordable by cutting sticker prices, by as much as 40 percent on its Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. If a customer is still interested in leasing, Chrysler is offering a $2,000 rebate toward a third-party lease, provided the dealer or customer can find a bank willing to make a lease. General Motors is taking a different track. It has extended a program in which any GM employee can give a friend or family member a certificate that allows him or her to buy a new vehicle at employee pricing. When the program was run for two weeks in late July, it resulted in as many as 5,000 additional sales. Ford is going the more traditional route, offering big rebates on its F-150 pickup and sport utility vehicles -- as well as putting off introduction of its redesigned F-150 until dealer lots aren't so packed with the 2008 model. So what's the best strategy if you're in the market? As the price of gasoline falls -- even just by 30 cents or 40 cents -- it may be worthwhile to consider a vehicle that may only get 20 miles per gallon on the highway but comes with a huge rebate or discount that would more than cover the extra fuel cost over a higher mileage vehicle. When you find the vehicle you want, bargain hard. This may be the one time when the standard dealer ad line of "no reasonable offer will be refused" is true. As sales drop, dealers will be faced with few alternatives other than deeply slashing prices. If you have a vehicle coming off lease, ignore the residual value stated in your contract -- the price originally negotiated as what you can pay to buy the car at the end of the lease. Today's environment means the leasing company may not want your vehicle, and you can buy it for as much as 30 percent below that residual. Negotiate as though the leasing company is a used car dealer who needs to move inventory. These may be tough times, but it may be the best of times to be a buyer.  | | Here are this week's reader questions: | | | | • | Dealer woes put buyers in driver's seat | | • | Would I still owe after voluntary repo? | | • | Should I pay off my car note? | | • | Am I stuck with ex's loan? |
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