Updated: Wednesday, 21 Oct 2009, 2:31 AM EDTPublished : Wednesday, 21 Oct 2009, 2:23 AM EDT Marvin Beach
CONCORD, NC - Used car dealers say they’re left picking up the pieces from Cash for Clunkers . Fewer cars on the lot mean higher prices for you.
The used car lot is looking a little emptier these days and it's not because they've been making a lot of sales.
“Good vehicles that would have been good vehicles for the used car market were taken off of the road,” says Karen Barbee. At Troutman Motors in Concord, Barbee says they’re feeling a post Cash for Clunkers impact. “Prices are up and prices are going to continue to stay up, just because of the shortage of cars,” she says.
Seven hundred thousand cars are headed to the junkyard and none to used car lots. It means it’s becoming more expensive for dealers to find used cars. And you guessed it, they’re passing the increase along to you.
“The prices have been pressed up in some cases by fifteen to eighteen percent and the consumer is paying for it,” says Jim Edwards. Edwards works with the Carolinas Independent Automobile Dealers Association. He says combined with the economy, it’s putting used car dealers out of business.
“The impact has been huge, we've lost 1500 independent dealers and their employees, their taxes, and everything in North Carolina in the past 18 months and there are still more to go,” Edwards says.
Many used car dealers were upset the government closed the door to them on Cash for Clunkers , but Barbee says her sales increased during the program, taking in customers whose cars didn’t qualify. Others weren’t as fortunate, and now with a shortage of used cars, business could get worse. Understanding 'Cash for Clunkers'
“It is going to be tough, and it's been tough and there will probably be other used car dealers that will go out of business,” Barbee says. She’s confident the lot she works at can push through the tough times.
