WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) — If you’re looking to buy a car to beat the car tariff, it’s chaotic out there. Car manufacturers and dealers are often still making official announcements about coming price increases, which is causing anxiety among would-be buyers.
The Walnut Creek Toyota dealer sold 70 cars over the weekend as they push on their website, “the tariff clock is ticking.” Many would-be car buyers are accelerating their search.
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“Now is the time that these consumers are out here looking for vehicles before any price changes take effect. All the dealerships all over the Bay Area are seeing this increase in sales right now,” said Toyota Walnut Creek general manager Irina Ellis.
Consumers are worried about tariffs being added on later this week, like one man out shopping for a car for his daughter, who said, “That would put us out of the market for buying this car.”
“I think car shoppers need to navigate this time as if the tariffs are coming and they’re going to be set in place. So yes, I think it’s intense. I think there needs to be a sense of urgency,” said Jenni Newman, Cars.com Editor-in-Chief.
The 25 percent tariff on car imports is supposed to take effect on April 3, so it’s a narrow window.
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“We anticipate cars impacted by this, prices that are impacted by this will likely see a 15-20% increase in price. Vehicles that aren’t directly impacted by this may be 5% off the bat just from rising demand and used car prices we expect to go up as well,” said Erin Keating, Executive Analyst with Cox Automotive.
Cars that are currently on ships and trains could have their prices go up once they hit port.
“I ordered a car two weeks ago for delivery in late April. Last week, the San Francisco dealer called and said the price would go up $5,000- $10,000. I cancelled the deal and found a car on a lot in Fairfield to beat the tariff,” said ABC7 News reporter Leslie Brinkley.
Searches on websites like Kelly Blue Book and Autotrader are skyrocketing. There is a lot of uncertainty among dealers and buyers and any price increases could be permanent.
“Once you let that genie out of the bottle, it’s virtually impossible to pull it back,” said Keating.
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