I'll try to keep the politics out of this so here goes. This ties into to some discussions about shipping and low inventory everywhere threads...the changing economy.
I wanted a new pickup so in August I put a deposit down on a new Tundra that finally got to the dealer yesterday. Based on a conversation I had with a sales person I know I expected to pay 10% over MSRP with a KBB trade for a low mileage 4R I had. The price on the Tundra was 51K. KBB was 42-44K on my 4R. Sale person said KBB was something they could work with. This was in Aug. Today I think everything is a green light so I go in ready to trade for 7-9K difference. Sales person comes back with an offer of 37K for my 4R. Gasp. I was expecting at least 42K for my 4R. That was low KBB. I thought that was generous but evidently times are tough at the Toyota dealer if they have to make 5K on new vehicle and 5K on a trade. I heard all of the excuses from the sales manager why they couldn't do a KBB trade. Some of them were probably true but none of that concerns me. His main point was he was going to sell his new 4R's for about what I was asking for mine. What? Problem was there weren't any on the lot and nobody in the area has any for under 47K advertised. He suggested if I really wanted that Tundra I should sell my 4R myself. I could do that but I would pay the state 4K in tax on the 51K and deal with the unwashed masses for 2 weeks.
All I can come up with here is the car market is upside down just like the real estate market. Low inventory is going to put a lot of dealerships out of business if things don't change very soon. Yuge inflation is just around the corner so everyone buckle your seatbelts. It' going to be a wild ride.