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By: Donnamy Steele

Even with COVID-19 raging, there has never been a better time to buy a car according to local dealerships.

Due to the virus and a slow run for car sales, manufacturers were forced to add new incentives for consumers. Steven Jarrell of Walt Massey Nissan explained what this means for their customers.

Jarrell agrees that now is the perfect time for someone to purchase a new vehicle.

“I think the best reason to buy right now is that the factory incentives are so low,” Jarrell said. “This is one of the first times that they have all been down to 0% of some sort of standard interest rates.”

Due to the low incentives, Jarrell has noticed an increase in business.

“We’ve had a huge increase in volume in the last three months. We’ve had more online shopping as well,” Jarrell said. “It’s been about three times more than usual.”

Everyone can shop from the store through their website.

“The best way to shop right now is to go to the Massey Nissan website,” Jarrell said. “We can do all of your paperwork through this.”

Walt Massey Nissan also offers contactless delivery for its customers. “We’ve had about 40 to 50 percent of our customers shop in-store, while the other half is through no contact,” Jarrell said.

Andalusia Ford is also offering low incentives and contactless delivery for its customers. Hunter Owen explained how the incentives first began.

“Up until the first week of April, business was as normal. By the second week of April, it was really quiet and dead. I think all of the manufacturers noticed,” Owen said. “If they aren’t selling cars they are losing money, so they revamped their incentives and they are better than they have ever been in the past.”

Owen believes now is the best time to shop with Andalusia Ford.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Owen said. “We have low to no interest plus huge rebates.”

Similar to Walt Massey Nissan, Andalusia Ford is also offering delivery for its customers.

“There are so many we’ve sold recently through text messaging and online,” Owen said. “We sell a lot in Florida and have been for the past few years. We deliver about three or four a week without people coming inside.”

Owen explained that the transition to selling online has been simple for Andalusia Ford.

“The transition to remote has been a piece of cake for us. We’ve been keeping business as usual,” Owen said. “We started delivering for locals and we let them try the cars out for a day, then they are able to sign the papers without leaving the house. We are accustomed to doing this with other areas, but now we are doing this for locals as well.”

Walt Massey Nissan is located at 600 Western Bypass, Andalusia, AL 36420 and can be reached at (334) 292-2139. Customers can shop online at www.masseynissan.com. Andalusia Ford is located at 301 M L King Jr Expy, Andalusia, AL 36421 and can be reached at (334) 222-1103. Customers can shop online at www.andalusiaford.com.