These Brands Had the Best New Car Deals in 2022

These Brands Had the Best New Car Deals in 2022

Some cars were consistently easier to get than others in this seller's market

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Image: David Zalubowski (AP)

If you tried to buy a new car in 2022 you were probably in for a world of frustration. Some of you got lucky, but most buyers faced high prices and/or long wait times especially when shopping for popular cars like RAV4s and Kia Tellurides. However, there were some brands that managed to weather the supply storm and therefore were a bit easier to find units with reasonable prices.

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Most of you know by now that my day job is as a professional car shopper. I work with hundreds of customers every year and talk with endless dealers across the country. I am constantly hunting down a variety of new and used cars, everything from affordable rides to high-end exotics.

This was a challenging year, to say the least, and while some brands like Honda and Toyota were darn near impossible to source cars at reasonable prices or within reasonable time frames, I noticed a pattern that other brands were much easier regardless of which region of the country I was shopping in.

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Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

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Photo: Jalopnik

You probably aren’t too surprised to see Alfa on the list since it’s rare for anyone not plugged into the automotive world to even be aware of this brand. But since they are an underdog in the luxury space I saw brand new Giulias, Stelvios, and even top-spec Quadrifoglios go for well under MSRP.

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BMW

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In almost every area, I could find many BMW dealers willing to sell cars without markups especially if it was a volume car like a 3 series or X5. Some stores were even willing to discount more common models to sweeten the deal. Even the more in-demand offerings like the awesome M3 and EVs (i4, iX) could be scored without markups provided that someone was willing to wait for an order.

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Mazda

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Photo: Elizabeth Blackstock

I had a ton of conversations with buyers looking for the new CR-V only to be frustrated with market adjustments upwards of $5,000 over sticker, and my response was “You should really check out the CX-5.” It wasn’t difficult to find any Mazda whether it be a Turbo 3 hatchback, the all-new CX-50, or a fully loaded CX-9 without the usual shenanigans. This is a nice change of pace from the Mazda dealers I was used to from years back.

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Subaru

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Photo: Mercedes Streeter

Early in the supply shortage, Subaru was hit pretty hard, but somehow they managed to get production moving again. For those folks who could wait a reasonable few months for an order, they were able to get the Subaru of their choice at a good market price. In fact, it seems that Subaru overestimated the demand for a hardcore offroad Forester and dealers are sitting on a ton of Wilderness models, some of which are selling under sticker price.

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Volvo

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Image: Tom McParland

While all European luxury brands got rocked with supply chain issues, the Swedish automaker weather the storm a bit better and while dealers weren’t overly stocked with cars markups were rare and in several cases, some models had some cash on the hood. In fact, I even lucked out and scored a super rare V60 Polestar-engineered wagon.

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Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

I’ve mentioned before that the key to managing this terrible market is being flexible. If you aren’t fixated on a specific car or brand, and/or have the luxury of time to wait for a dealer to get an allocation for what you want, your chances of getting a competitive deal improve.

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There are some signs that the market may be improving a bit in 2023. Automakers like Kia have really ramped up production on popular models like Tellurides. I’ve spoken with a few Ford dealers willing to take Bronco orders at MSRP. And I’ve also encountered a few “leftover” models of various brands being advertised under sticker price.

So if you think you may be in the market for an upgrade next year, it’s smart to plan ahead and keep your options open.


Tom McParland is a contributing writer for Jalopnik and runs AutomatchConsulting.com. He takes the hassle out of buying or leasing a car. Got a car buying question? Send it to Tom@AutomatchConsulting.com

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