Easterns Blog

Yes – at least at Easterns Automotive Group. You can sell us your car for cash without buying a different one from our lot. Whether a dealership will buy your vehicle outright – and what they’re willing to pay – is highly dependent on the dealership.

Some dealerships may be less likely to take some vehicles. A dealership that just sells sports cars or luxury brands may not be at all interested in purchasing a 2005 Toyota Camry or a 2003 Jeep, even if your vehicle still has a lot of miles left in it.

At Easterns Automotive, we’re not brand, year or model elitists. Even if your car has problems, we may still be able to work something out so you can at least get some cash or at the very least credit towards a new vehicle.

Car owners in Baltimore, Washington D.C. or anywhere in Maryland that want to sell their car, truck or SUV should fill out the vehicle sales form on our website – we’ll send you an offer within three business hours.

Why Are Used Cars in Such High Demand in 2021?

Every auto sales expert seems to be in agreement – there’s a serious car shortage in 2021. The shortage has increased the valuation of preowned vehicles by quite a bit, which is good news for people who want to sell their used vehicle for cash or as a trade-in.

In March, Edmunds found that the average trade-in was being valued at $17,080, a 21 percent increase from March 2020. The average preowned vehicle sales price was at $25,463 in April, roughly $2,800 more than the average price in April 2020. According to J.D. Power, the April 2021 average used car price went over $25,000 for the first time in history. 

What’s Causing Used Car Prices to Go Up?

It’s a bit counterintuitive, but one of the main reasons for the increased price of preowned vehicles is a shortage of chips for new cars. The difficulty manufacturers are having getting enough chips has resulted in fewer new cars being made, meaning a lot of dealerships have fewer new cars in their inventories.

The pandemic also caused the temporary shutdown of many car manufacturing factories, which meant many companies lost at least two months of production in 2020.

Analysts and dealership experts also suspect leasers are deciding to hang on to their leased cars, trucks and SUVs longer than normal, which has meant fewer previously leased vehicles are entering the used car market.

Another interesting pandemic-related reason for the new and preowned car shortage has to do with rental car services. One of the biggest sources of preowned vehicles for sale are rental car companies that sell off their “old” rental cars.

Rental car companies usually keep their vehicles for between four and 22 months, which means they represent a frequent infusion of used cars into the preowned vehicle market. During the pandemic, when very few people were actually traveling and renting vehicles, those rental car companies had no reason to purchase new vehicles. That means the 2020 rental vehicles that should be entering the 2021 used car market aren’t materializing.

The scarcity of new vehicles has also changed the way rental agencies are purchasing vehicles, with many opting to hold onto vehicles longer rather than overpaying for scarce new vehicles. Companies like Hertz and Enterprise have actually begun purchasing preowned vehicles when it becomes necessary to replace vehicles in their fleet, which is a pretty rare move for the rental car industry.

While those complications have, in most cases, been a negative for new car manufacturers and dealerships, they have resulted in a significant increase in preowned vehicle sales. TrueCar estimates that 3.4 million used vehicles were sold in the U.S. in April 2021, which is a 58 percent increase over April 2020. The increase in used vehicle popularity has further stressed the supply of available preowned vehicles. Dealerships had about 18 percent fewer used vehicles available for sale at the start of April 2021 than they had in April 2020.

Why Does This Matter if I Want to Sell My Vehicle?

The current scarcity of both new and preowned vehicles has resulted in an increase in the valuation of used cars, trucks and SUVs.

To put it simply, 2021 will be a historically good year for anyone selling their vehicle, since valuations on preowned cars are likely to stay high until the chip shortage is over and the supply of new vehicles begins to normalize.

If you want to take advantage of this opportunity and sell your vehicle, call Easterns Automotive at (877) 867-4212. We’re always happy to accept preowned vehicles for trade-in or cash – whichever you prefer.