They are competing instead for a shrunken supply of used autos, especially smaller, less expensive ones that consume less fuel.
She had been leasing a Toyota Tacoma pickup she acquired as new four years ago and had been using for her custom drapery business.
For just under $400 a month for six years, she said, she has a vehicle that’s easier to drive than her old pickup yet spacious enough to carry a 6-foot ladder for her business.
“I can’t imagine a situation in which we’ve had so many people willing to spend so much money,” Drury said.
At auctions where dealers buy many of their vehicles, the average price of a 2-to-8-year-old compact car rose 1.1% during the past three weeks to an average of $12,560.
Behind that trend lies an economic reality: Americans as a whole have less cash to spend.
In many cases, too, households have drawn down much of the cash they had stockpiled during the pandemic.
In particular, many have been snapping up electric vehicles, whose sales jumped 66% over the past year, Edmunds.com says.
In the meantime, prices for both new and used vehicles have begun to fall or level off.