Evening star., 1922-04-09


to the motorist.
"If any reader doubts this he has
simply to endeavor to trade in his old
car as part payment for new one to
be thoroughly convinced. A few mil
lion car owners are just beginning to
realize that used car is about as
| much in demand as tornado at
| lawn party. A dealer in used cars.
| when consulted. advised that four
| makes of cars selling in 1920 for ap-
proximatel! $4,000 apiece were now
being bought in at prices ranging
! considerable rodecorating and gen
eral grooming. for from $500 to $500.
He declared that cars rated as being
in fair condition were in reality
very much abused. and that those
| considered first class would make
the conscientious car owners Of ten
years ago gasp for breath.
Situation Explained.
This, we believe. explains the
! this years rendition of motordom' S
| annual tune. Here are excellent val
| ues In new cars and about two mill
| lion car owners ready to take advan-
tage of them, but with two million
| used cars completely blocking the
these cars now in service have been
| sadly neglected-in many cases
abused-and this would mean a low
value In the secondhand market even
! II conditions were normal.
''In many cities the dealers asso-
| Citations have agreed to set definate
| trade-in allowances on all makes OF
| cars. so that 1t will not be possible
for car owner to shop around from
one salesroom to another in search
| Of a better deal Because this plan
protects the dealer in a number OF
| q n n n q d.
way in the trade. 1t is reasonable to
expect. therefore, that every car own
er will soon be confronted with the
fact that the maximum allowance for
his old car Is definitely determined
and not open to debate.
las might be expected. the MAXIMUM
allowances are extremely meager're-
vealing no particular trend toward
generosity or altruism. The reason is
apparent when one considers the
tanned last year by reason of mis-
taken notion that new stock could be
moved at profit by stocking UP with
cars taken in trade at liberal figures.
In one small city seven dealers lost
$4,000 by this one misjudgment: SO
It Is only natural that those who were
caught, those who came near being
caught and those who don't want to
be caught should grasp this trade-in
allowance agreement as drowning
man clutches at a straw They have
taken their losses and learned their
mistakes: now they are ready to try
| the opposite extreme.
How System Operates.
THAT this opposite extreme of play
! ing absolutely safe is considered by
| many to be equally ineffective is only
| Of interest to the motorist In SO far as
1t concerns his effort to dispose Of his
old car. If dealers believe that they can
| take In customers old cars at such low
| figures that a loss is impossible it is for
| them to discover that no business on
! earth Is conducted on an all-profit basis.
| But while the dealers are making the
| experiment and learning additional les
/ sons in craftsmanship the motorist is lit
| orally up against 1t for new car.
THE maximum trade-in allowance for
a, car listing at 5000 in 1920 is now
about $1,000. This figure is arrived at
by making numerous percentage deduc-
tions from the present list price Of the
| car. The man who happens to own a
about $4,000 for it. provided he did not
live far from the factory.
ITO trade In the car he must as
sumo loss of $2.700. in addition to
| which he must pay $3.50 for the new
1t stands on the salesroom floor. The
moment he wants to turn this new
car into cash or trade it in for some
! thing else he finds that at least 33 1-3
per cent of its value has vanished.
In two years he invests a total of
$3.50 in motor cars and yet can
s1.ss4.
"As matters stand. the motorist
| finds himself in a rather unfortunate
and helpless predicament.
| What Motorists Can Do.
| Here are the alternatives. as they
appear at this writing: % Trade in
| the loss now: or (2) make the old
| car do another year. then take the
| loss plus the additional depreciation
and cost of repairs. This is assum-
; ing that the trade continues to be
puzzled over the used car riddle. ana
| that the car owner continues to hnd
| the same diff1culty in disposins OF his
| present machine.
What plans the dealers are inau-
! gurating help solve the problem only
as far as they are concerned. Nothing
is done to create a demand for used
| market for them. The used car mart
! is completely demoralized by reason
| of falling prices Of new cars, bad
condition of cars turned in. inability
| OF workingmen either to maintain
| cars or to buy them. determination OF
! them, lack of confidence in honest
; used car dealers. danger OF innocently
| picking up stolen cars and lack of
| business integrity of many used car
! dealers.
when a car owner now tries to
dispose of his car the dealers -ridic-
F.! ulously low allowance discourages
him to the point of going out into
| the open market. This open market.
however, is q misnomer. He has only
the choice Of accepting q shrewd
used car dealers low bid or of labor