Did You Rush To Buy A Car To Beat Tariff Hikes, Was It Worth It?

Dealerships and stores have been packed with customers buying big ticket items, because prices are expected to skyrocket in response to President Trump’s tariffs. This surge has been readily apparent as a number of automakers posted double digit sales gains last month.

Hyundai sales jumped 19% to 81,503 units, which was their best April on record. Mazda was up 21%, while Ford climbed 16.2%. Kia saw a 14% increase, while Subaru experienced a modest 0.3% gain.

More: Mazda’s Sales Surge As Buyers Flock To Beat Price Hikes

That brings us to our question of the day: Did you rush out to buy a new or used car to avoid price hikes due to tariffs?

The tariff situation remains fluid, but there’s a 25% tariff on imported vehicles and parts. This means MSRPs could climb by thousands of dollars, although a number of companies have been holding the line on pricing – at least for the time being.

That being said, things are expected to take a hard turn for the worse as prices will likely skyrocket and some items could be hard to find on store shelves. In one well-known example, smart home specialist Wyze recently revealed they “Imported $167k of floodlights and then paid $255k in tariffs. That’s more than any of our founders were paid last year.”

Floodlights aside, I bought a used Jeep Cherokee in March and tariffs were certainly on my mind. Since tariffs will eventually cause new vehicles to become more expensive and less plentiful, people will turn to the used market which will drive up prices there as well. In effect, the situation is expected to mimic what occurred during the pandemic and chip crisis, which limited new vehicle production.

While tariffs were certainly a consideration and one that sped up my decision making process, I needed to buy a vehicle so they weren’t the only motivating factor. So how about you? Have you bought a new or used vehicle recently?