European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 20, 1948, Darmstadt, Hesse A at a typical used car auction a new Studebaker list Price �1881. Its License plates just removed is about to sell for s2760 the Public gets taken for a ride a weekend report in the nation wide new used car Racket american dealers take advantage of postwar car shortages in a Market shadowed with drastic markups and Low Trade in values the absence of new cars during the War and the Aih Mobile Industry s inability during the three postwar years to produce fast enough to fill customers demand shave brought about a new used car Racket 7iatio? Ide in scope throughout the states. Weekend asked six stateside correspondents to report on this particular situation in their parts of the country. Fol lowing Are their answers a coast to coast Roundup of How the Racket Wolf is if it does from Massachi setts to California Detroit none who thinks the old fashioned horse trader has passed fro the scene should visit Detroit s Livernois Avenue longest automobile Row in the Livernois is the Headquarters of the horse traders Lineal descendants. The trader who visualized a series of Deal which would turn a spa ined Mare into a blooded stallion passed his dreaming ability i these descendants the used car dealers who Are just As certain that they can turn a beat up 1937 two door into a 1948 station Wagon. The method in Bot cases is similar taking something one Man does not want and disposing of it a a profit to one who wants horse trader spoke a mysterious professional jargon. So does the Auto dealer. Two six bits is �275. Fire an music Means Heater and radio usually abbreviated to a & a in the classified ads. The office no matter How elaborate is the the badge of office Stillis the Diamond ring and the Roll of Bills that would choke. Dobbin if no Duesenberg. Dealers associations Are worried about the bad taste in the Public s Mouth resulting from recent revelation sin dealings in new cars. Sometimes the dealers say it s the Public s blame the Public for the new car frenzy which caused the unsavoury mess under investigation by a judge sitting As a one Man grand jury her since october. They Are angered be cause the Public bawls us out forsaking a Hundred on a car but offers us new ones at five Hundred dollars More than a new car is one delivered by the manufacturer to the ultimate consumer generally through a dealer. A used car May be anything As Long As there is More than one middleman. I Dollar Pappy advertised a 1948 Chevrolet driven Only seventy eight Miles and a 1947 Ford used Only a couple of i know and so does everyone Elsein every Large american City several people who have owned three or fou new cars since the War. Many have sold even the last one in response to Pappy s plea become a wealthy pedestrian very few car of veers Are caught inthe Middle so to speak. They optimistically put in orders for cars months or years ago. Then the cars came through. Maybe the customer put in two orders with different dealers andean use Only one. Maybe the customer is an Auto worker who suddenly find himself permitted to buy from his employer under the employees Quot system but he has t the Cash. Some people order cars and then can t pay for them. These people find ready buyers on the used car lots. The dealers Are really used car buyers. Since the War their problem has not been Selling. They dread a Bare lot and most have rigid rules about not Selling until the lot is filled. To get their cars they make frequent trips to other " cities and Trade constantly among them selves usually at a surprisingly Small margin of profit. They Load the wanted sections of the newspapers with heart rending pleas ap4 glowing promises like be Rich and a million cars wanted bring Bushel Bas Ket to carry Cash Home if it runs Good will pay your some offer free License plates wit each Sale. One says open evenings bring the one offers a 47 convertible with the admonition Don t wait for Spring then cry on our desk because convertibles went a sub Urban dealer modestly says we Don t Lay no claim that we Are a bargain spot but you can buy a Good used car. At a fair and Pappy cries cheaper than walking at today s shoe h of much Money does the average dealer make an average Well managed lot will net about five thousand dollars a month but that i split several ways. On the other hand it can drop to As great a loss with a bad Streak of buying judgment. Dealers fear no sudden death for their current Prosperity though they remind you that cars Are still wearing out As fast As they Are made and Point to prices that Are paid for cars. A 1947chevrolet, for instance which Cost fifteen Hundred dollars new is Worth eighteen Hundred on Livernois despite some Wear and tear. There is no ceiling on car prices new or used. The new car dealers who were indicted recently were charge with defrauding the state of sales taxes by placing fictitious values on traded unused cars. The judge charged one dealer with allowing no Trade in on a 1940packard. The customer the indictment said gave the Packard to the dealer forthe privilege of buying a 47 Chrysler. The dealer later sold the Packard for six Hundred dollars. Another dealer is charged with allowing Only ten Dollar for a 1936 Dodge but requiring the new car buyer to buy Back the Dodge for-$460 before he could buy his 47 Chrysler. All this presumably will Stop the Day you can walk into a showroom and say "111 take today you can Geta Kaiser or Frazer immediately which Means a couple of week about the same As in prewar Days. But they re in the two thousand Dollar class. Hudson in the same Price class is unobtainable. Veterans wait eighteen months for Fords but they must have a car to Trade in. Some new cars can in. As months if you have one to Trade. No Trade and it May be three years. The automobile club of Michigan largest of the aaa clubs surveyed the Field and reported in january that it will be from late 1949 to 1953 be fore you can have immediate delivery on your heart s desire. The composite answer to the club s questionnaire was 1950. Furthermore the club said caprices undoubtedly never will return to prewar Levels and a Price increase of up to 10 per cent is probable this year. Many manufacturers already have raised prices at least on Page 15 5
