I'm in Used Car shopping hell.

So... it blows. CL around here is a cesspool of donks and rusted mud trucks and runs great, but "needs engine". Ebay was zero help, and cars.com isn't much help either.

I understand why people start drinking. It tax season the reason?

Yes. People either need money (so they ask insane prices) or they figure everybody else just got their refund (so they ask insane prices).

Low cars sales for 3 straight years and smushing all of those cars with the stupid cash for clunkers is the reason. There just isn't as much out there. Makes me sad man.

I'd blame inflation and scrap prices more than C4C. I'm not saying that C4C didn't make used cars more expensive, but it happened 2 and a half years ago and plenty of cars that were decent then should be the clapped out $500 cars now. We just don't see the cheap cars because you can scrap a car out for that much.

Tax season always makes things more expensive. It's when I sell off all of the stuff I want to sell off so I can get a better return on investment.

Yeah, and I'm in need. This won't be fun.

^See and I think people have been broke, so they are nursing along used cars vs buying something else.

It is not fun. Looking for a decent, reliable $3,000 appliance for a friend and everyone wants $2k-$3k for their 91 camry or accord with 200,000 miles on them. And apparently, they're getting it, as they don't seem to last long.

There's a little more to pick from in Atlanta, but I'd really rather not spend my one day off running around hoping I don't get rolled.

Anyway, I feel your pain.

I'm getting annoyed with all of the "price listed as $1, but asking 4 grand in the post while demanding no low ballers" E36 M3. I'm tempted to call them just to insult them some nights.

With all these tornados and floods we have been experiencing lately, I would think the "pool" of used cars and trucks is really drying up...and now there are more folks chasing deals.

I usually avoid the CL ads with the $1 price for the reason Grizz gives, but also because many of them in this area are posted by folks who "...aren't selling but testing the waters to see what my car/truck is worth". Which is kind of lame since if you are on a computer you can see what other folks are asking for similar vehicles

My latest CL peeve? Ads that say "you gotta see this"...and there's no photos, or that are headlined "RARE" but again, no picture.

Also, inflation period is affecting the cost. Once the dollar devalues, it hits the price of everything.

I was also recently used car shopping, and used cars in general are up across the board. I was looking in the $15 to $25k range, and even there you don't get as much as you used to.

Barret Jackson crap also didnt help, everyone thinks their old car is worth a million dollars, lol.

Hell indeed. I'm there too. You have my sympathy man.

$12k for a 2005 Odyssey with 150k miles? Go berkeley yourself!

Checking out a $3k, 160,000 mile, 99 Camry tomorrow. He made the mistake of doing the "guy coming by at 5" with me. Now it's $2500. I'll let yee know how it works.

I had guys calling me from Michigan to come to Illinois to buy my 16 year old original everything (read needs everything) $1800 Chevrolet Lumina.

Please don't drive 3 hours......guy from Indiana drove 90 minutes instead.

Same out here, prices are fairly high here anyway but in recent weeks I am wondering what sort of strong stuff a lot of people seem to have been smoking.

They smoking that E36 M3!

Just went through this looking for my daughter a car. Things seem to be about $2000 higher than they used to be. We ended up buying from the nearest auto dealership that has a rep for never dealing. They dealt and dealt well. I couldn't deal with the Craiglist crackheads.

Fewer new cars have been sold the last three-four years than the ordinary scrap rate of 12-14 million cars per year.

This is just supply-and-demand. There are just plain fewer cars out there. It's also tax-refund season where everybody thinks everybody else is feeling flush - and are usually able to find someone who is.

Cars are also lasting longer (at least the major parts). Back in the 70s and 80s cars were generally expected to get about 100,000 miles, but today a car with 150,000 could still be very reliable, and many run to 200,000 with oil changes and wear items taken care of.

New car sales are supposed to be on the rise, so we should see prices start to come down on used cars. ... except on cars with good gas milage. Gas prices will keep the price of those up, while trucks, SUVs and such will drop faster.

I was toying with the idea of replacing one of mine to free up some cash. I remember WAY back in 1998 when I was buying my first car, how, with a $500 budget, I could have my pick and ugly but running cars that I could drive that day and would mostly pass inspection in NY. That is no longer the case.