HONOLULU (KHON2) — Lane Auto Group in Aiea sells used vehicles and tells KHON2 there have been a lot of bidding wars at auctions for used cars, which means higher prices for the consumer.
Owner John Lane says large chain dealerships have been filling their lots with more used vehicles.
“Which is taking up a large portion of the supply of used vehicles on Oahu. So that doesn’t leave very much for us, so the bidding wars at the auction have been crazy lately,” said Lane.
He says popular models are going for about $4,000 to $5,000 more than normal.
“We buy a car, you know, we add our markup. And the customer gets a car at a certain price. These cars are now being sold at auction for one to two thousand dollars higher than what we even sell the car at,” said Lane.
KHON2 was told sales have not really fallen off at Aloha Kia near the airport, where there are fewer vehicles in the lot.
“What’s changed, you know, recently, is consumers now are shopping differently. Where they had to have the car there to touch, feel, and buy, a lot of consumers are comfortable now placing orders for cars, you know, negotiating doing a lot of stuff online,” said Chief Operating Officer Russell Wong.
Wong says the higher prices for used cars may work in favor of people who are looking for a new car.
“With used car values going up so much, we’re able to offer higher trade-in values, and it makes it easier for the consumer to actually get into a new car because their car that they’re trading in has gone up in value” said Wong.
It has not been an issue for them so far, but Wong says they are now concerned.
“We’re very hopeful that those supply issues can be corrected and we’ll continue to get inventory,” Wong said.
