Why are used cars prices so high?

Nov 21, 2023

A: Right now, there is a sort of perfect storm — lack of inventory, low interest rates and strong demand. With COVID-19, many one- and two-car households became three- and four-car households. Much of the used car market is made up of former rental cars and many rental agencies never replenished their fleets at the start of the pandemic.

Now there is a semi-conductor shortage that is limiting new car inventory. In general, used car prices are up about 32% over the last 18 months with very tight inventory.

Regarding the Kia Telluride, it is a great vehicle and recently won its category in the New England Motor Press vehicle award.

Call me cheap, but paying $10,000 over list price (on any car), I would have to carefully consider how much I needed a new car.

Q: When I run out of gas AAA comes and delivers a gallon of gasoline to get me to the gas station. I'm considering an electric car. What can AAA do for me if I run out of electricity?

A: Most electric vehicle users charge up at home and charge every night. Many electric cars have a range of 225 miles, or more, depending on the battery size.

So far EV drivers are very good about keeping their cars charged. Currently, if you have an electric car and run out of electricity/charge, AAA will tow you home or to a charging station.

In the next few months, AAA will be deploying a test fleet of portable electric vehicle charging stations. These high-capacity generators will have Level II charging capabilities and will be able to provide the car with enough of a charge to get you to the nearest charging station, where you can fully recharge the battery.

Q: I have a 2000 Ford E150 van with a 5.4-liter engine that has 250,000 miles on it. It runs well. It has one annoying error code P0442, "Evaporative Emission System Small Leak Detected," which comes on every few weeks or months, which I then reset by erasing it. A couple of auto mechanics have investigated and found no issues.

One driving condition that activates the code is when the vehicle is traveling 55 mph on a small uphill road with a left curve and slight bump.

Any ideals would be much appreciated.

A: Since the check engine light comes on hitting a bump and at a steady speed I would first check to see if the canister vent solenoid is seated correctly in the EVAP cannister. At the same time, I would look for loose connections at the purge valve and canister.

The best way to test this system is with a smoke machine. These systems add synthetic smoke and then the technician operates the solenoids with a bi-directional scan tool and looks for smoke escaping.

Q: I have a 2007 Toyota RAV 4. With the hot weather, the air conditioning is not working most days. When push on the AC button, the light goes on but generally there is no cold air. Every once in a while, it blows cold and stays that way. Any thoughts?

A: Since the system blows cold sometimes, that would give some indication that the refrigerant charge is ok. I suspect the problem may be that the air conditioner compressor is not engaging (faulty clutch). The other possibility is a poor electrical connection.

I recently read about a little trick that you could try or tell your repair shop. The compressor clutch draws a certain amount of current. An easy way to test this is to replace the compressor with a headlight bulb (a test light or voltmeter will tell you if there is voltage but won't give you an idea about current). If you turn on the AC, and light bulb lights, the circuit is good and the compressor clutch is faulty.

John Paul is the AAA Northeast Car Doctor. He has more than 40 years of experience in the automobile industry and is an ASE-Certified Master Technician. Write to John Paul, The Car Doctor, at 110 Royal Little Drive, Providence, RI 02904. Or email [email protected] and put "Car Doctor" in the subject field. Follow him on Twitter @johnfpaul or on Facebook.