Used car prices increase due to inventory problems

Used car buyers beware, the recent market for vehicles has been increasing due to ongoing supply chain problems.

In the past year, used car market prices across the country have gone up an average of 40.5 percent. Customers are now owing an average monthly payment of about $500 for these vehicles.

One inventory problem affecting this price increase is the decrease in semiconductor chips available.

This decrease means fewer new cars being built which ultimately leads to fewer cars being sold in the used vehicle market. Turan Foley Motors General Manager Jared Hegwood says he doesn’t believe the problem is affecting the Coast as much.

Hegwood says Turan Foley is starting at list price, but is discounting a lot of their inventory. “Well it’s mainly just to maintain the relationships that we built. The last thing I want to do is take advantage of a situation where a customer comes in, they pay way too much than the vehicle is worth and they don’t want to come back, so right now I want to give them the best opportunity available so that two years down the road they can come back and we’re going to take care of them the same way.”

Across the country today, about eight of every ten car buyers pay more than sticker price.