The average new-car payment is now $787, and more than one in five financed new deals carries a note of $1,000 or more — a share that's never been higher, with used buyers crossing that line at record rates too. Pair that with bankruptcy filings topping 460,000 through three quarters and still trending up, and the picture is a customer base stretching term length to make the math work. For an independent lot, this is the whole ballgame: the shopper isn't buying a car, they're buying a payment, and the pool of people who can clear $500 is shrinking. Stock to the payment, not to the ROI you wish you had.

The Manheim index slipped 1.1% from August to 205.9 in September, with fuel prices pushing demand around the lanes rather than lifting it. Meanwhile Carvana is bolting an inspection and recon center onto ADESA Orlando — roughly 100 jobs and more same-day delivery reach — which is the kind of capacity build that doesn't make auction competition any gentler. Softer acquisition cost is real relief on your next buy, but don't confuse it with a bull market: price your current aged units to the softer index, not to what you paid in August.

The FTC settled with Greenway Auto Group over price ads alleged to sit thousands below the real number — plus false prize mailers — and secured a commitment that advertised prices prominently show what the car actually costs. In the same week it dismissed its two-year-old payment-packing case against Asbury, and California dealers are still recalibrating to the CARS Act's pricing rules. Read as a set: the enforcement appetite is live but the agency is picking winnable, documentation-driven fights about the number on the windshield and the number in the ad. Worth a read with whoever writes your listings this week.

Used EV shoppers have stopped asking about miles and started asking about remaining range, with "100% battery health" becoming the resale flex that low mileage used to be. At the same time, a report found just 32 vehicles statewide currently qualify for California's used EV rebate — 31 of them Mach-Es — which tells you how thin the subsidized end of that market really is. If you're floor-planning EVs, a state-of-health printout belongs in the window right next to the Carfax, and you'd better know the number before you bid.