Auto tariffs have customers rushing to New Jersey car dealership with costs expected to spike

President Trump's first round of auto tariffs start Wednesday, and a New Jersey car dealership says people are rushing to buy now before prices rise.

At first, the tariffs will target vehicles built outside the United States.

Experts say it's not just new car prices that are affected; the tariffs will likely drive up the cost of used cars, as well.

"Now, we have tariff panic"

Sales consultant Olivia DeMattio at Maplecrest Ford of Mendham, New Jersey, says everything has been selling fast over the last few weeks.

"I survived the pandemic, the car shortage, people panicking over that. And now we have tariff panic," she said.

She says with tariffs looming, buyers are looking for a new set of wheels before prices spike.

"Especially mixed with the high interest rates that we have right now, a $10,000-20,000 jump is going to raise your payment $400-500 a month," DeMattio said.

Where is your next car coming from?

Robert Sinclair Jr., with AAA Northeast, says suddenly it's important to know where your next car comes from.

"And a lot of quote unquote 'foreign' cars are actually made in the U.S. And a couple that are American brands are actually made overseas," he said.

Starting in May, another tariff on auto parts shipped from foreign countries is set to kick in.

"If that goes through, that's going to have a much greater impact on us just because every vehicle, regardless of where they're manufactured, has parts from all over the place," said Tom Giordano, president of Maplecrest Ford.

He says the costs will be passed on to the customer.

"So I think the prices are going to go up. And that's unfortunate because the prices are already elevated since COVID," he said.