By Justin Burrows - email
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - There has always been a dilemma on whether one should buy a new or used car, but after the Cash For Clunkers program there are fewer used cars to chose from.
"As we went through that program the trade-ins came but they went away to be dismantled and destroyed, so the availability of those trade-ins on our lots, as well as, auto dealers across the country has diminished greatly," said Bill Daniel, vice president of the Vaden Automotive Group.
The Cash for Clunkers program boosted the economy, but eliminated more than 600,000 used cars from circulation.
"It's taken a lot of your cheaper cars out of the market. We've had people come in looking for $2,000 -$4,000 cars, and they're not just there," said Coastal Cars owner Bob Sitgreaves.
According to Sitgreaves, it's supply and demand fewer used cars means higher prices.
"We're almost paying retail at the auctions for these cars. So we're trying to be as fair as we can with the public," said Sitgreaves.
"Across the board, auctions are seeing used car values increase, that drives up the price of the whole sale level," said Daniel.
And while buyers may find higher prices when looking for a used car, sellers will find higher pay-outs.
"As the supply has dropped, the demand has increased a little bit and the value of those trade in is greater now than maybe it has been in a long time," said Daniel.
To replenish their fleet of used cars, The Vaden Automotive Group has sent out a recent letter to customers, asking them to trade-in or just sell them, their used vehicle.
"We're always interested in used car trade-ins and the opportunity to purchase used cars for our inventory, but this is a unique time," said Daniel.
And these unique times could mean more money, depending on if you're buying or selling.
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