Tips for older drivers looking to buy
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MELVILLE, N.Y. -- At 86, retired doctor Sidney Austein of Merrick, N.Y., is typical of his age group in at least one respect: When he needed a new car, he bought American because he thought it was the right thing to do for the country.
His ride is a Cadillac CTS, purchased recently from octogenarian car dealer Paul Conte in Freeport, N.Y. "I heard they're better now," said Austein, who had a bad experience in the 1970s with an American-made Pontiac and had been buying Toyotas ever since.
Americans who are middle-age and older, like Austein, dominate the new car market, accounting for 73 percent of buyers and lessees, according to the California-based market research firm J.D. Power and Associates.
As baby boomers age, their "green power" has grown with their numbers, according to Power's auto research director, Jon Osborn. "The economy has knocked the younger folks out of the market, leaving more of the more financially secure, older consumers to buy and lease new vehicles," he wrote in an email.
The stumbling economy has put everyone who has the wherewithal into the driver's seat in the supply-demand balance that determines the actual sales prices of cars, experts said. And even if the buyers' credit is less than pristine, experts and local car dealers said, financing is more available than it was at this time last year.
Austein said he has wanted a Cadillac since the first time he saw the pink Eldorado his father bought new in 1957. "I kept saying, 'I'm going to drive a Cadillac someday,' " Austein recalled. His CTS is silver. He also wanted to buy American. "The economy is lousy, jobs down the drain. I said, 'Let's do something for America for a change -- enough with the foreign cars.' "
Whether you're in the market for a new 2011 or 2012 or a "pre-owned" ride that will be new to you, experts suggest taking precautions and doing your homework for the best deal.
First Published February 15, 2012 12:00 am
