We bought a 2020 Ford Raptor to replace my wife's aging (2000? 1999??) Jeep Wrangler. It was purchased on the mainland and shipped here. We had to pay Hawaii's G.E.T (general excise tax, it's really a VAT), plus vehicle inspection fees ($25 USD-no big deal), the registration, plus shipping. Cost savings over purchasing here? $5600. That was worth the time and effort (pre-pandemic again -- early February. I'm not certain I'd like the idea of visiting Northern California atm).
As for the used car market, the one thing I did not mention was the normal shape of the economy here. We are a very tourist-dependent economy. Most of those jobs are at or near the minimum wage level, $10.10 in Hawaii. That keeps a damper on some levels of used car prices a bit. I've never bought a used car ever, so I'm not exactly the best authority on this.
All it boils down to is what is it worth to you realistically? $15,000 or $10,000 extra? No way, never. How about $1,000? Ok, now we are under the cost at MSRP plus shipping from the mainland. That might be ok if our hypothetical buyer wants the first-year model. Otherwise, wait. Interisland? it's $350 to $400 dollars to/from Honolulu to/from the neighbor islands on Young Brothers. So then you need a price that accounts for that.
I'm hoping that in the other 49 states the deals are at or very near MSRP, or less. That's good for the buyers and the model I think.
Honestly though, these are all first-world problems. It's not like we're discussing thermonuclear war or something.
