Car buyers in Southern California scramble to beat 25% auto tariffs

After getting into a car accident last month, Debbie Boyd held out hope that her Chevy Volt could be repaired.But the car was declared a total loss on Monday, three days before President Trump’s 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks is set to go into effect.“It’s like the worst timing imaginable to be buying a car, and the uncertainty is killing me about what’s going to happen and how it’s going to affect prices,” said Boyd, 74, a retired attorney from Mar Vista.

“I anticipated driving my car for quite some time, sailing through the tariffs, but now I’m faced smack up against them.”She rushed to Culver City Toyota on Tuesday.“I’m going to buy what’s on the lot, the current inventory, just to avoid it,” Boyd said.

“Today, tomorrow, whatever they have available is what I will pick from.Obviously I need a car.

I just wish it weren’t now.”Boyd’s anxiety was widely shared among many car buyers in Southern California who were scrambling to make their vehicle purchases before the tariff kicked in.The global trade war escalated further Wednesday afternoon, when Trump said during a Rose Garden event that he would impose 10% additional tariffs on all of the nation’s trading partners; some countries will be hit with even higher rates.Calling it “Liberation Day,” Trump said the day would “forever be remembered as the day that American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.” Business Economic experts and analysts expect the tariffs will increase the price of cars.Tariff-related price hike estimates vary depending on the vehicle, but most industry experts predict new cars will cost several thousand more.Erin Keating, an executive analyst at Cox Automotive, expects new vehicle prices to go up by 15% to 20%.

On Wednesday, Anderson Economic Group forecast car prices to increase $2,500 to $20,000.Vehicles expected to be hit hardest, the group said,...