DETROIT (AP) -- It's the best time in years to sell your car.
People are holding on to cars and trucks for about a year longer than they did before the recession, which has created a tight supply of used vehicles. So few are on the market that prices have risen to their highest in at least 16 years.
Dealers are paying an average of $11,660 for a used car or truck, up almost 30 percent since December 2008.
"You're not going to find a situation like this very often," says Jonathan Banks, executive auto analyst for the National Automobile Dealers Association used car pricing guide.
The run-up in prices for used cars has been so dramatic that it almost doesn't make sense to buy them anymore, says David Whiston, an auto analyst for Morningstar. That's probably a good indication that prices are at or near a peak.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/High-usedcar-prices-make-it-apf-1448054913.html?x=0Say what you will about cash for clunkers but why they did not mention all the used cars taken out of commission from the program as a possible explanation for this increase in used car prices. I have been in the market for an early model used car and I noticed this even before the Japanese tsunami.