New car availability. Many models (especially low range 4x4's) sold out or waitlist.

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › New car availability. Many models (especially low range 4x4's) sold out or waitlist.

Scott3

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#284128 1-Apr-2021 14:44

Just a heads up. New car supply (especially Toyota utes & 4x4's with low range) appears to be getting really tight.

Toyota:

- All Hilux: 6 month waitlist
- Landcruiser Prado: Sold out
- Landcruiser 200: Sold out
- Wagon / Troopy Landcruiser 70 sold out.

Only Toyota utes Low range 4x4's not marked as sold out on their website are the Fortuner (Hilux SUV), and the ute vairants of the Landcruiser 70.

- Yaris GR - Sold out

Suzuki:

- Jinmy still has a waitlist (I think it pretty much has had one from launch).

Honda:

- All but the highest spec Jazz are sold out.

Izuzu:

- Between models for the de-max, currently not even listing prices, but taking $500 deposits.

If anybody is eyeing up a Fortuner or LC70 ute, I would get in quick. With the Hilux having a waitlist, and the Prado & LC200 being sold out, I imagine that these will see a surge in popularity.

Same deal for anybody eyeing up a ute or Low range 4x4 from another brand. Toyota is the biggest volume mover or close to it, so this situation is likely to see the sales of ranger's, Everest's and their equivalents from other brands spike.

If you have a modern low range 4x4, and like it, look after it, and you your best to avoid a write off incident as it is going to be hard to replace.

If you have any kind of desirable low range 4x4, and are thinking of moving to new car from another vehicle class (Rav4 hybrid? Tesla? some kind of performance car?), the next few months are likely to yield very good prices in the used market for your old 4x4, meaning it might be a great time to change.

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961 posts

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#2685366 1-Apr-2021 14:47

I experienced the same issue with Suzuki Swift Sport (auto, yellow) 2020 model. None in stock and was a 4+ week wait for any to arrive at the DCs. They ended up purchasing one from another dealer who had it in stock. This was the largest Suzuki dealer in the South Island experiencing this. This was pre-Covid too.

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Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Hatch (affiliate link).

jonb

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#2685372 1-Apr-2021 15:08

As of a couple weeks ago there were a few Fortuners left in the July delivery, otherwise looking at about six months too. Highlander also about to sell out then would wait for the new hybrid version. LC 200 sold out quite a while ago..

wellygary

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#2685375 1-Apr-2021 15:17

Vehicle production Worldwide is being hugely crimped by a fire in a microchip factory in Japan ...

it will likely get worse until it gets better..

Scott3

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#2685378 1-Apr-2021 15:33

jonb: As of a couple weeks ago there were a few Fortuners left in the July delivery, otherwise looking at October ish. Highlander also about to sell out then would wait for the new hybrid version. LC 200 sold out quite a while ago..

You are correct that the LC 200 sold out some time ago. Notable because I understand there is no more stock coming untill the LC300 is launched (and the v8 diesel isn't going to be offered in that one). Despite some time passing there doesn't yet seem to be a LC300 launch date.

Highlander is quite an interesting case. It is a model that was extremely popular in rental car company fleets, but less popular with private buyers.

Had one as a rental car in the south island. When used as a 4 seater, it was an awesome long distance open road touring car. Masses of interior & cargo space. Comfortable suspension, and reasonable handling, even when loaded. Low interior noise, and 220+kW engine made for a relaxed drive. Being petrol means that rental car companies don't need to build RUC's into their day rates, or deal with the hassle of recovering a per KM fee. Off road & very bad roads where a prado would do better are generally banned in rental car contracts anyway.

Private buyers are often put off by the fuel usage, but for rental use, the cost of fuel typically pales compared to the daily rate.

So when the pandemic hit, Toyota NZ would have had a lot of stock or orders planned for rental car fleets. Also many rental fleets would have downsized, dumping 2 - 5 year old Highlanders into the used market. That said, recent low fuel prices may have made the petrol v6 more appealing to private buyers.

In the USA (where the highlander is built), the new generation went on sale on the 18th of December 2019. I suspect the older 3rd gen has been out of production for some time, and the stock being sold now was built pre-pandemic. I think there used to be three spec level's, where the website now only lists two.

I suspect Toyota NZ may have already taken shipments (or had the opportunity to order) 4th gen car's, but have made the decision to hold them back until the remaining highlanders sell at full price. Hence avoiding the lost revenue associated with a clearance sale.

For most private buyers the 181kW hybrid 4 cylinder 4th gen Highlander will be much more attractive than the 220ish kW non hybrid 6 cylinder of the outgoing model, especially with a fuel price spike due to the restart of aviation in the wake of the pandemic on the horizon.

Scott3

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#2685381 1-Apr-2021 15:39

wellygary:

Vehicle production Worldwide is being hugely crimped by a fire in a microchip factory in Japan ...

it will likely get worse until it gets better..

Thanks. Knew there have been chip supply issues for months, but hadn't realized there was a 19 March 2021 fire at a key factory further adding to the woes.

https://www.kbb.com/car-news/oh-come-on-fire-at-microchip-factory-exacerbates-shortage/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/auto-chip-maker-needs-up-to-four-months-to-recover-from-fire-11617100247

turtleattacks

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#2685382 1-Apr-2021 15:45

Anyone know how long the wait lists for Jimnys are? Seems to be a bunch of sale new on Trademe?

turtleattacks

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#2685383 1-Apr-2021 15:47

Scott3:

jonb: As of a couple weeks ago there were a few Fortuners left in the July delivery, otherwise looking at October ish. Highlander also about to sell out then would wait for the new hybrid version. LC 200 sold out quite a while ago..

You are correct that the LC 200 sold out some time ago. Notable because I understand there is no more stock coming untill the LC300 is launched (and the v8 diesel isn't going to be offered in that one). Despite some time passing there doesn't yet seem to be a LC300 launch date.

Highlander is quite an interesting case. It is a model that was extremely popular in rental car company fleets, but less popular with private buyers.

Had one as a rental car in the south island. When used as a 4 seater, it was an awesome long distance open road touring car. Masses of interior & cargo space. Comfortable suspension, and reasonable handling, even when loaded. Low interior noise, and 220+kW engine made for a relaxed drive. Being petrol means that rental car companies don't need to build RUC's into their day rates, or deal with the hassle of recovering a per KM fee. Off road & very bad roads where a prado would do better are generally banned in rental car contracts anyway.

Private buyers are often put off by the fuel usage, but for rental use, the cost of fuel typically pales compared to the daily rate.

So when the pandemic hit, Toyota NZ would have had a lot of stock or orders planned for rental car fleets. Also many rental fleets would have downsized, dumping 2 - 5 year old Highlanders into the used market. That said, recent low fuel prices may have made the petrol v6 more appealing to private buyers.

In the USA (where the highlander is built), the new generation went on sale on the 18th of December 2019. I suspect the older 3rd gen has been out of production for some time, and the stock being sold now was built pre-pandemic. I think there used to be three spec level's, where the website now only lists two.

I suspect Toyota NZ may have already taken shipments (or had the opportunity to order) 4th gen car's, but have made the decision to hold them back until the remaining highlanders sell at full price. Hence avoiding the lost revenue associated with a clearance sale.

For most private buyers the 181kW hybrid 4 cylinder 4th gen Highlander will be much more attractive than the 220ish kW non hybrid 6 cylinder of the outgoing model, especially with a fuel price spike due to the restart of aviation in the wake of the pandemic on the horizon.

June 2021 is when the new Highlander will be launched.

When we took the delivery of our CX9 couple a month or so ago, we had to wait about two weeks and apparently our vehicle was one of the last available in NZ and a new shipment is a few weeks away.

wratterus

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#2685426 1-Apr-2021 16:16

IMO a combination of the worldwide chip shortage, that Renesas fire definitely not helping although that's not caused the current issues, & people not going on overseas holidays so buying boats/utes etc etc.

Scott3

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#2685440 1-Apr-2021 17:23

turtleattacks:

Anyone know how long the wait lists for Jimnys are? Seems to be a bunch of sale new on Trademe?

Used to be 6 months, but thought be be down to 8-12 weeks now. Not a credible source - just another message board where somebody was in the market for one, but decided to spend half the money on a previous generation one instead. Take with a grain of salt.

Note that many of the new (less than 1000km) ones on trademe are adverts from dealers who only have a demo unit on hand, no stock. "Test drive our demo and place your order now...". But yes current shape Jimmies are starting to pop up, however a two year old car seems to command about the same money as a brand spanking new one.

cshwone

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#2685446 1-Apr-2021 17:59

wratterus:

people not going on overseas holidays so buying boats/utes etc etc.

Is this really a thing? Or a covid urban myth in the making. Can't seem to find any evidence for such a statement.

billgates

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#2685457 1-Apr-2021 18:25

I am currently in the market to buy a new car. I went and test drove for 24 hours multiple different model cars from Kia, Toyota, Mazda, Volkswagen and Ford. All dealers mentioned on average 3 months wait with Toyota RAV4 Hybrid having the longest between 6 to 7 months. In the end I have settled for Ford Escape. Fastest car of the lot with most features covered, colour I wanted came in stock 2 days prior and they only recieved 1 unit and discount was great. Volkswagen would not even budge for a $1 discount even though they have no company policy unlike Toyota or Honda that are fixed prices set by the company so and dealer only acts an agent.

Do whatever you want to do man.

turtleattacks

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#2685461 1-Apr-2021 18:55

billgates: I am currently in the market to buy a new car. I went and test drove for 24 hours multiple different model cars from Kia, Toyota, Mazda, Volkswagen and Ford. All dealers mentioned on average 3 months wait with Toyota RAV4 Hybrid having the longest between 6 to 7 months. In the end I have settled for Ford Escape. Fastest car of the lot with most features covered, colour I wanted came in stock 2 days prior and they only recieved 1 unit and discount was great. Volkswagen would not even budge for a $1 discount even though they have no company policy jmlole Toyota or Honda about fixed car prices.

Did you try out the CX5 or CX9? What did you think ? What kind of discount did you get with your Escape?

Scott3

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#2685509 1-Apr-2021 19:13

cshwone:

wratterus:

people not going on overseas holidays so buying boats/utes etc etc.

Is this really a thing? Or a covid urban myth in the making. Can't seem to find any evidence for such a statement.

I'm fairly confident it is real. Know of one example where a brand new car & nice PV solar system was purchased in wake of level 4 last year, mainly to do there part of splashing a little money into the economy, but also because they would no longer be traveling overseas.

I tracked the trailer boat market through the start of summer. The common alloy fishing boat makers all had long wait lists (to be fair some had long wait lists prior to covid-19 too). Used boat market saw a big uptick in values, and coming into summer, there was very little stuff with modern 4 stroke outboards available in the used market. Sales yards for trailer boats were comically low on stock. Haven't checked more recently.

I think the deal was the same for caravan's. Was at least one article on TV of a caravan sales yard that is typically jammed full, but was only had one left.

Both in NZ & Aussie used values of "lifestyle" 4x4's has notably increased, which must put presser on new stock. Numerous antidotes of high priced cars (Supercars, and high end land-cruiser / range rover) selling well throughout the pandemic.

Kinda makes sense. There is a reasonable number of people who the pandemic won't have impacted their income, and will have an extra $25 - $50k in their pocket thanks to not being able to go overseas. Given how Air NZ messed domestic travelers around at the start of the pandemic, holidays by road seem relatively more attractive than they did pre-pandemic.

Of course you would need to dig into stats to confirm it. And there are other factors in the mix too, like rental fleets (incl camper-vans) selling down their fleets & covid 19 related production and shipping delays.

sbiddle

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#2685514 1-Apr-2021 19:47

A new Landcruiser launches for the 2022 design so current models are in short supply and in Australia are selling for crazy prices - waaaaay above RRP for many.

billgates

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#2685516 1-Apr-2021 19:52

turtleattacks:

Did you try out the CX5 or CX9? What did you think ? What kind of discount did you get with your Escape?

I tried the CX5 Limited with 2.5l petrol engine. My budget was for up to the CX5 GSX model though. The dealer did not have a demo model available so he gave me the limited which is a model above GSX and very clearly told me the differences between GSX and Limited as to I do not expect them with GSX if I decide to go with it but the engine was same. CX9 was too big and out of budget anyway.

I bought the 2021 Ford Escape ST FWD model with genuine Ford rubber mats for front and back seats, rubber boot liner and both front windows tinted. The price of car was discounted after negotiation from $49,560 driveaway incl accessories to $43k driveaway incl accessories. Accessories are prices at $580 total.

Do whatever you want to do man.

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