Business
Specter of Auto Tariffs Spurs Some Car Buyers to Rush Purchases
Ziggy Duchnowski spent Saturday morning car shopping along Northern Boulevard in Queens with two goals in mind.
He wanted to find a new small car for his wife, and he hoped to strike a deal before the new tariffs that President Trump is imposing on imported cars and trucks affect prices.
“The word on the street is prices are going to shoot up now,” said Mr. Duchnowski, 45, a union carpenter who voted for Mr. Trump, holding the hands of his two small children.
The tariffs — 25 percent on vehicles and parts produced outside the United States — will have a broad impact on the North American auto industry. They are supposed to go into effect on April 3 and are sure to raise the prices of new cars and trucks.
They will also force automakers to adjust their North American manufacturing operations and scramble to find ways to cut costs to offset the tariffs. And for now at least, they are spurring some consumers to buy vehicles before sticker prices jump.
Analysts estimate that the tariffs will significantly increase the prices of new vehicles, adding a few thousand dollars for entry-level models to $10,000 or more for high-end cars and trucks. Higher prices for new vehicles are also likely to nudge used-car prices higher.
Every automaker will feel some kind of impact. General Motors builds a large number of highly profitable pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in Canada and Mexico. Toyota and Honda make popular S.U.V.s in Canada. Volkswagen assembles the Jetta sedan, Tiguan S.U.V. and other popular models in Mexico.
“Once the tariffs go into effect and people start receiving quotes that represent these 25 percent increases, that’s when it’s going to start to sink in,” said Bill Pacilli, the sales manager at Lynnes Hyundai in Bloomfield, N.J.
Close to half the cars that Hyundai sells in the United States are imported from South Korea, he said. “They’re going to be hit with the tariffs in about a month or two,” Mr. Pacilli said. “Of course we’re concerned. Any effect in pricing is going to affect sales volume.”
While many dealers did not see a noticeable increase in buyers on Saturday, Jeremy Gleason, general manager at McGrath Subaru Evanston in Skokie, Ill., said his dealership had its biggest sales day since it opened in 2021.
“It’s been nuts,” Mr. Gleason said. “The tariffs have come up a lot and pushed people to move forward quicker.” He added that his dealership typically sells about 15 cars on Saturdays but sold 32 on this one.
Alvaro Duarte, an Ecuadorean immigrant who lives in West New York, N.J., went to Hudson Toyota in Jersey City, N.J., on Saturday to trade in his gas-powered car for an electric model, fearing prices would rise if he waited.
“Tariffs affect everyone,” said Mr. Duarte, 37. In his free time, he said, he often uses his car to earn money on the side as an Amazon Flex delivery driver. “If the prices go up, I need to pay more for my car, and that’s more expensive for me and my family,” he said. “I made the change because with electric cars there is no gasoline and less maintenance.”
Meanwhile, a salesman at Audi Manhattan in New York, Abdul Azeez, said traffic was no brisker than usual, and suggested it was because the people who live in the neighborhood usually have the means to buy new cars whenever they choose.
“Overall, I don’t think dealers in Manhattan are going to be as affected compared to dealers in other states or less busy cities, because even in the good economy, bad economy, there’s always going to be somebody who walks in the door to buy a car,” said Mr. Azeez, 24.
In Ann Arbor, Mich., on the strip of auto dealerships west of downtown on Jackson Avenue, customer traffic was pretty normal for a Saturday on the last weekend of the month — typically a busy time.
But a Tesla showroom drew a crowd: some 300 to 400 people gathered to protest the political activities of the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk.
Mr. Musk heads the cost-cutting initiative known as the Department of Government Efficiency, which has eliminated thousands of federal jobs and gutted several government agencies, including the Veterans Affairs Department and the Education Department.
Protesters carried signs calling for Mr. Musk’s firing and urged people to sell their Teslas.
“We’ve got to get some basic common sense back in this country,” said Harold Blake, 73, a retiree who drove 30 miles from Dearborn to participate in the protest.
“It’s so extreme, what’s going on in Washington,” he said. “I’m not taking it lying down.”
Over the course of an hour, no customers crossed the picket line to enter the Tesla showroom.
Protests were taking place at Tesla locations around the world, as part of the so-called Tesla Takedown movement. More than two dozen such demonstrations were scheduled across the United States on Saturday. Others were planned for Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
“I’m terrified for my kids and grandkids for what this world is coming to,” Kathy Sinnes, 67, said while protesting outside a Tesla showroom in Miami and holding a poster that read, “Tesla greed we will not heed.”
It remains unclear how soon prices on new vehicles will rise. Most automakers have enough tariff-free cars and trucks on dealer lots to last 60 to 90 days.
Juan Carlos Fagerlund decided not to wait. He was in a Toyota dealership in North Miami, Fla., to add window tinting to a Prius he had bought this month.
Although he had already been thinking about buying a new car, he said, the potential of higher prices prompted him to speed up his shopping, especially because he wanted a Prius. The car is made in Japan and will be subject to a heavy tariff.
The tariff increase “was not entirely the reason why we purchased in March,” Mr. Fagerlund said. “But it was definitely in our minds.”
Adria Pina, 60, a Dominican immigrant and a New Jersey Transit bus driver who lives in Bayonne, N.J., also decided to move quickly. Sitting in the Hudson Toyota dealership in Jersey City minutes after she bought a new car, she said she felt that she had just dodged a tariff pothole.
“My husband said we got lucky that we got a deal right before the tariffs,” Ms. Pina said. “If we didn’t get this done in time, it would have cost us about $10,000 more. That’s a lot of money.”
Sal Sellers, 57, the general sales manager at Hudson Nissan next door, didn’t seem overly concerned about the looming tariffs, noting that he had been through the pandemic and other serious economic downturns. But that didn’t mean his customers weren’t worried.
“Last week, we had a couple customers walking in saying: ‘You know what, I’m not waiting. I’m going to change my car now before the tariffs hit,’” Mr. Sellers said. “I’d say about 30 percent of my customers said that.”
Outside Chicago, Enzo Costa oversees eight dealerships as director of sales for the family-owned Patrick Dealer Group.
In March, he said, he increased his orders for new cars to top off his inventory before prices rise, and his acquisitions team purchased 30 used vehicles — about three times the usual number.
So far, though, he hadn’t seen a spike in customer traffic. “On a normal Saturday, we set 80 to 100 appointments,” he said. “Today, we have 75.”
He added that his sales team was urging customers considering new cars to come to the showroom. “Everything in inventory is pre-tariff,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about that now. That’s something that is way down the road.”
At Silver Line Auto Group in Queens, which sells used Jeeps, Cadillacs and Mercedeses, many customers are immigrants or other people who have driver’s licenses but not Social Security numbers. Back in December, Silver Line sold 35 cars, but business had crashed since then, said a salesman, Silver Bautista. The company sold just eight cars this month and recently laid off four employees.
Mr. Bautista said he believed that customers were staying away not because of rising prices but because they felt a need to save money.
“They don’t care about tariffs,” Mr. Bautista said. “People are worried about being deported.”
Robert Chiarito, Ryan Hooper, Verónica Zaragovia, Anusha Bayya and Nate Schweber contributed reporting.
new video loaded: Why Your Paycheck Feels Smaller
By Ben Casselman, Nour Idriss, Sutton Raphael and Stephanie Swart
April 18, 2026
Nearly two years after actor Alec Baldwin was cleared of criminal charges in the “Rust” movie shooting death, a long simmering civil negligence case is inching toward a trial this fall.
On Friday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a summary judgment motion requested by the film producers Rust Movie Productions LLC, as well as actor-producer Baldwin and his firm El Dorado Pictures to dismiss the case.
During a hearing, Superior Court Judge Maurice Leiter set an Oct. 12 trial date.
The negligence suit was brought more than four years ago by Serge Svetnoy, who served as the chief lighting technician on the problem-plagued western film. Svetnoy was close friends with cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and held her in his arms as she lay dying on the floor of the New Mexico movie set. Baldwin’s firearm had discharged, launching a .45 caliber bullet, which struck and killed her.
The Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M. in 2021.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Svetnoy was the first crew member of the ill-fated western to bring a lawsuit against the producers, alleging they were negligent in Hutchins’ October 2021 death. He maintains he has suffered trauma in the years since. In addition to negligence, his lawsuit also accuses the producers of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Prosecutors dropped criminal charges against Baldwin, who has long maintained he was not responsible for Hutchins’ death.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision denying the motions for summary judgment filed by Rust Movie Productions and Mr. Baldwin,” lawyers Gary Dordick and John Upton, who represent Svetnoy, said in a statement following the hearing. “He looks forward to finally having his day in court on this long-pending matter.”
The judge denied the defendants’ request to dismiss the negligence, emotional distress and punitive damages claims. One count directed at Baldwin, alleging assault, was dropped.
Svetnoy has said the bullet whizzed past his head and “narrowly missed him,” according to the gaffer’s suit.
Attorneys representing Baldwin and the producers were not immediately available for comment.
Svetnoy and Hutchins had been friends for more than five years and worked together on nine film productions. Both were immigrants from Ukraine, and they spent holidays together with their families.
On Oct. 21, 2021, he was helping prepare for an afternoon of filming in a wooden church on Bonanza Creek Ranch. Hutchins was conversing with Baldwin to set up a camera angle that Hutchins wanted to depict: a close-up image of the barrel of Baldwin’s revolver.
The day had been chaotic because Hutchins’ union camera crew had walked off the set to protest the lack of nearby housing and previous alleged safety violations with the firearms on the set.
Instead of postponing filming to resolve the labor dispute, producers pushed forward, crew members alleged.
New Mexico prosecutors prevailed in a criminal case against the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, in March 2024. She served more than a year in a state women’s prison for her involuntary manslaughter conviction before being released last year.
Baldwin faced a similar charge, but the case against him unraveled spectacularly.
On the second day of his July 2024 trial, his criminal defense attorneys — Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro — presented evidence that prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies withheld evidence that may have helped his defense . The judge was furious, setting Baldwin free.
Variety first reported on Friday’s court action.
The highest gas prices in the country are making it tougher for some gig drivers to make a living.
Gas prices have shot up amid the war in the Middle East. On average, California gas prices are the most expensive in the United States, according to data from the American Automobile Assn. The average price of regular gas in California is almost $6. The national average is a little above $4.
While Uber and Lyft drivers have concocted clever ways to cut gas consumption, they say that without some relief they will be forced to leave the ride-hailing business.
John Mejia was already struggling to make money as a part-time Lyft driver when soaring gas prices made his side hustle even harder.
“Unfortunately, it’s the economics of paying less to drivers and gas prices,” he said. “It actually is pulling people out of the business.”
Guests at The Westin St. Francis hotel get into an Uber.
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
Gig work offers drivers the freedom to work for themselves and more flexibility, but being independent contractors also means they must shoulder unexpected costs.
Ride-sharing companies say they’re trying to help, but drivers say the gas relief comes with caveats. For now, drivers say they’re being pickier about what rides they accept, cutting hours and are looking at other ways to make money.
Mejia, who started driving for Lyft more than a decade ago, said in his early days, he would sometimes make $400 in three hours. Now it takes 12 hours to rake in $200.
The San Francisco Bay Area consultant is an active member of the California Gig Workers Union, so he knows he isn’t alone. California has more than 800,000 gig rideshare drivers, according to the group, which is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.
On social media sites such as Reddit and Facebook, gig workers have posted about how the higher gas prices are eating into their earnings. Among the tricks they are suggesting: reducing the number of times the ignition is turned on or off, avoiding traffic, working in specific neighborhoods and at times with high demand and switching to electric vehicles.
Gig drivers usually have only seconds to decide whether to accept a ride on the app, but they have become more strategic about which rides and deliveries they accept.
That means they are more likely to sit back in their cars and wait for higher fares for quick pick-up and drop-off.
“I highly recommend the ‘decline and recline’ strategy, rejecting unprofitable rides until a better one appears,” wrote Sergio Avedian, a driver, in the popular blog the Rideshare Guy.
Pedestrians cross the street in front of a Lyft and Uber driver on Wednesday. High gas prices have made it hard for gig drivers to make a living, cutting into their profits.
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
Uber, Lyft and other companies have unveiled several ways to help drivers save on gas.
Uber said drivers can get up to 15% cash back through May 26 with the Uber Pro card, a business debit Mastercard for drivers and couriers. Based on a worker’s tier, they can get up to $1 off per gallon of gas through Upside — an app that offers cash rewards — and up to 21 cents off per gallon of gas with Shell Fuel Rewards. The company also offers incentives for drivers who want to switch to electric vehicles.
“We know the price of gas is top of mind for many rideshare and delivery drivers across the country right now,” Uber said in a blog post about its gas savings efforts.
Lyft also said it’s expanding gas relief through May 26 because the company knows that the extra cost “hits hardest for drivers who depend on driving for their income.”
The company is offering more cash back, depending on the driver’s tier, for drivers who use a Lyft Direct business debit card to pay for gas at eligible gas stations. They can get an additional 14 cents per gallon off through Upside.
Drivers say the fine print on the offers dictates which card they use and where they fill up gas, making it difficult for them to save money.
“If I do the math, it’s ridiculous,” Mejia said. “They’re offering us nothing.”
Uber declined to comment, but pointed to its blog post about the gas relief efforts. Lyft also referenced the blog post and said “the gas savings were structured through rewards to maximize stackable opportunities.”
Guests at The Westin St. Francis hotel get into an Uber.
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
Gig workers have struggled with rising gas prices in the past.
In 2022, Lyft and Uber temporarily added a surcharge to their fares amid record-high gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This year, Uber is adding a fuel charge to its fares in Australia for roughly two months to offset the high cost of gas for drivers. Lyft said it hasn’t added a fuel charge in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Margarita Penalosa, who drives full time for Uber and Lyft in Los Angeles, started as a rideshare driver in 2017. Back then, gas was cheaper. She would easily hit her goal of making $300 in eight hours. Now she’s making just $250 after working as much as 14 hours.
Gas prices, she said, used to be less than $3 per gallon. Now some gas stations are charging more than $8 per gallon.
“Take out the gas. Take out the mileage from my car and maintenance. How much [do] I really make? Probably I get $11 for an hour,” she said.
Jonathan Tipton Meyers wants to spend fewer hours as a rideshare driver.
He already juggles multiple gigs even while driving for Uber and Lyft in Los Angeles. He’s a mobile notary and loan signing agent, a writer and performer.
Driving is “a very challenging, full-time job,” he said. “It’s very taxing and, of course, wages were just continually decreasing.”
John Mejia, a longtime Lyft and Uber driver, poses for a portrait before attending a meeting about unionizing gig drivers.
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
Even if oil continues to flow through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran reopened Friday, it could take a while for gas prices to come down to earth, said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“There’s an old adage that prices rise like a rocket and fall like a feather,” he said. “I think that’ll apply.”
In the meantime, it will be survival of the fittest drivers. If enough of them decide to leave the apps, the ride-hailing companies could be forced to raise fares further to attract some back.
“Those who approach rideshare driving strategically, tracking expenses, choosing trips carefully, and optimizing efficiency are far more likely to weather periods of high gas prices,” wrote Avedian in the Rideshare Guy blog. “For everyone else, a spike at the pump can quickly turn rideshare driving from a side hustle into a money-losing venture.”
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