SUMTER, S.C. — If you're looking to sell your car, it could be worth more now than a year ago.
Richard Cook of Sumter experienced this firsthand when a dealership called him asking to buy his pickup truck.
"We thought that if the dealership was calling and asking about it, that we’d probably do better in the private market ourselves," Cook said. "So, we put it on Facebook and sold it that afternoon for slightly more than they were offering."
He says the Facebook buyer worked with a car buying group.
"They were having a hard time in the market to find vehicles like the truck that I owned," Cook said.
Pandemic shortages have led to limited inventory at dealerships across the country leading car values to increase.
"We’re seeing used vehicle values go up on every car, even older vehicles, like 10-years-old," Matt Degen with Kelley Blue Book said, "but if you have a car that is in demand, a crossover SUV, a pickup truck… then of course you have a better chance of selling it for a better price.”
Once your car is sold, the next challenge is getting a new one.
It will likely be more expensive and harder to find, according to Degen.
Cook had to travel to Virginia to find a new car.
"We had to pay for it sight unseen because the guy at the dealership said there’s other people looking and if we wanted it, we had to put money on it," Cook said. "So, I purchased it over the phone, flew to Virginia. Luckily, it was everything I’d hoped for and I drove it back.”
Despite the challenges, he said he would "absolutely" sell again.
If you'd like to see how much your car is worth, visit Kelley Blue Book online.