Posted on 05/19/2011 9:34:41 AM PDT by Iron Munro
If you've tried to buy a used car recently -- a lot of people are finding it hard to get what they want.
There is something of a used car shortage going on. News 10NBC found out there are a number of factors why there are fewer used cars out there.
One is -- more people are holding onto their new cars longer but also, there are fewer rental cars coming on the market and fewer people are leasing vehicles so therefore -- fewer of those cars are out there.
Joan Kamisch is trading her 2000 Chevy Lumina for a shiny 2007 Dodge Caliber. “I held onto it as long as I could, but it started to have a lot of repairs on it. I figured I'd rather try to purchase another vehicle instead.”
She found her car but dealers say there are fewer cars at auction and therefore fewer used cars on the market.
John Iannone, owner of Auction Direct in Victor, says there is a shortage and there isn't a shortage. He has over 500 cars on the lot and sold over 300 last month alone. “Rental car companies are keeping their inventory longer. People aren't leasing like they used to. So the return of used cars is short. But when you go back a few years, those record-breaking years of 2005, 2006, 2007, all those new cars are now used cars. So is there a shortage? There is. Is it over played a bit? Yes.”
U.S. New Car Sales fell from 16 Million in 2007 to 10 million in 2009.
“The new car market is running at roughly 11-12 million units a year. The used car market is sometimes two or three times that.” Brad McAreavy is president of the Rochester Auto Dealers Association. “The new car market is what feeds the used car market. And of course that used car stay in that cycle a long time. But it all starts with new cars being fed into the market. So if that number starts to decline, ultimately it's going to lead to fewer used cars in the market.”
So Joan signed on the dotted line this afternoon and got the car of her dreams.
New car dealers are also affecting the used car market. As their new car inventory gets low, car makers aren't able to meet the demand -- dealers are going to auction to find cars to fill the lot.
If you're buying -- shop around. Used car prices are at an all time high -- up about 30-percent from just a few years ago.
Auction Direct says Honda has surpassed Toyota as the brand of choice for people shopping for a quality used car.
And that was EXACTLY the time I needed to buy a beater for my parents (they don't do maintenance, so can turn a good car into a beater very quickly), but there WERE no beaters, so I ended up with my first car payment in thirty years. Thanks, O.
Another part of it is that overall quality has improved so much that people are holding on to their cars longer. I’ve got a Jeep thats six years old, and a Mustang that’s twelve years old, and they both look and drive like they were new.
Funny, I got an email from a dealership I leased a car from maybe 6 years ago, they claimed there was a shortage of used cars and they said if I had a car to sell to bring it in, they would make a cash offer in 15 minutes good for 7 days.
I don’t have a car to sell them, and my car isn’t even from their dealership, but I thought the email was some kind of new fangled sales pitch.
No. There is a shortage, there are shortages. The shortage is the subject, not the used cars.
We have been looking for a 10+ passenger van for a couple of years now. It is getting serious now that the current one we own is dying quickly.
I can’t even get a dealer to talk to me when they find out what I need. It is the weirdest car shopping experience of my life.
Cash fr clunkers. We have 3 vehicles right now and just about every week someone is knocking on the door and asking if the VW diesle or the Jepp 4WD truck is for sale.Noehter are and don;t have any signs on them.Also the amount people have offered us for them both are more than we paid for either of them years ago.
Democrat policies ALWAYS harm the working poor the most, don’t they....
At what point do the sheeple start to believe this, in spite of the media propaganda?
Another reason is that a lot of people are repairing, rather than replacing with new. If they don’t trade in by not buying, there will be less used cars.
Litigation worries.
Found this on a search, though - http://www.usedpassengervansforsale.com/
No. “Shortage” is singular.
One would only use the plural “are” if the sentence were expressed “are there shortages of used cars”.
BTW, it is arguably incorrect and certainly unconventional to capitalize used cars.
I just see red “x”s
Yep Cash for clunkers is the reason.I honestly think he did it on purpose to force lower middle class into public transportation faster.If you do find a car for sale they are about 3X what they were 2 years ago used.We have 3 vehicles right now and just about every week someone is knocking on the door and asking if the VW diesel or the Jeep 4WD truck is for sale.Neither are and don’t have any signs on them.Also the amount people have offered us for them both are more than we paid for either of them years ago.
I turned a car thread into an English Grammer thread.
9000 miles a month? Wow man. Definitely you are making out buying ultra used... You are paying, what, a penny a mile for the car?
I know what you mean. I have a 19 year old Chevy pick up that looks and drives like it has 265,000 miles on it. :)
One of my favorite movies!
It warms my heart that anyone cares about grammar! The answer to your question is no: the subject of the title is "shortage," not "cars," so "is" is correct.
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