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.
I noticed the dumb a** fails to mention the destruction of the used cars that the “cash for clunkers” program forced on America.
Get one of the really high end new ones, you’ll get an awesome car hardly anyone will have.
Just keep watching craigslist (sale by owner) around you, eventually you will find one in decent enough condition.
Try eBay Motors. Salesmen at 2 Ford dealerships in my area told me that the 2005 Excursion Ltd I wanted were few and far between. It took me less than 2 hours to find a 1-owner beauty that was perfect, and we only had to drive 5 hours to pick it up.
Our neighbors just $5,000 for their subaru that was 9 years old and had 190,000 miles on it. This was from a dealer and was NOT a trade in.
Uh, that mostly stopped back in the 90s when the Japanese economy collapsed.
Awesome tagline - Rodney at his best!!!
The Lumina is on its last legs, almost guaranteed. Those things were terrible.
However, at best, she’s trading same for same because the Caliber is equally awful.
If I remember what she said, this Mustang had just over 100,000 miles when she went to get it. Since it has been restored, she loves to drive it on the beach roads.
It gets a good cleaning before going back into the garage and covered. Some car buff offered her a nice price, but she turned it down.
Fascism.
She has probably replaced the transmission once and had the head gaskets repaired on the Lumina once or twice.
Plus a lot of other breakdowns that are common to GM products.
But to buy a used Caliber? Wow. That is just too stupid.
She will miss her Lumina. She will regret selling it for a Caliber.
Thank the media and the lawyers for that one.
If you want one, you’ll need to talk to the fleet managers in the commercial department.
Like I said, she’s trading one awful car for another. At least the interior on the Caliber is less likely to disintegrate as fast as the Lumina’s did.
That’s where all the flood cars from the South are going.
“Joan Kamisch is trading her 2000 Chevy Lumina for a shiny 2007 Dodge Caliber... So Joan signed on the dotted line this afternoon and got the car of her dreams.”
Dodge Caliber... car of her dreams... YIKES.
Funny, I just got a call yesterday from a dealership that I had only taken my car to for an oil change. They said they had in their records that I had a 2004 Liberty and someone wanted to buy one just like it but they couldn’t find one for them... Wierd!
Dam you!!
Looking to put a new (to me) motor in my 1994 Cherokee. The used ones that are 12yo they want 4 or 5 grand.
I think Salvage Titles are commonplace here in NM. Most of the time, the price of the car is a giveaway, and most of the time, the seller states up front - "No Title" or "Salvage Title."
I have an old, supposedly 1956 Willys Wagon sitting up in Idaho I want to sell, but I'm not even certain the title is proper for it. I bought it from my now incarcerated-in-a-Mexican-jail-former-brother-in-law (long story) to help him and my sister-in-law out about 10 years ago. He had a title, not salvage, but I never could locate the actual VIN on the vehicle anywhere. After doing some research, I think he wound up with the wrong title for the wrong vehicle (maybe bought it from a guy who had multiple Willys for sale). It's listed as a 1956 Willys Wagon on the title description, but the VIN on the title identifies it as a 1955 Willys Pickup. Upon doing further research, it has too many horizontal bars to be a 55 or 56.
I know back in the 50s Willys allowed dealers to title the vehicle as to the year sold vs. the year manufactured, but that still wouldn't change the vehicle type (wagon vs pickup).
Thanks, I will put that in my bookmarks.
We’ve gone from four cars to one just these last few months, because of Cash for Clunkers. Nothing’s out there, so said our mechanics who have always been able to find us a car almost on-the-spot. So now our sons ride bikes over six miles one way to work and back (our other son moved to the city by his job), and I ride a bike to do shopping, get to church, etc. I’m sure it gives our neighbors great comic relief, though, to see a 60-year-old woman peddling a bike that even the birds don’t get out of the way for. S - L - O - W ... :) But the interesting thing is that I’ve seen two others just like myself (maybe even slower!) and in the same age bracket doing just the same. Obama, 2012? No, I don’t think so.
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