CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — As the wait for microchips continues, car dealerships are facing a growing number of empty spaces.
"A normal Chevrolet store my size would keep between 250 to 350 cars and now we have 120," Charlie Keller, owner of Keller Chevrolet, said.
According to Keller, the national microchip shortage is hitting the car business hard as almost every new vehicle needs one. As a result, he's seeing vehicles being sold essentially right off the trucks.
"Inventory could be an issue for the next four or five months," Keller said.
This lack of inventory is not a massive issue by any means as there are still new cars available, just not as many as usual. For Keller and other dealers around Western New York, this is providing a unique opportunity that can benefit anyone with a car. Over the last year, the Department of Labor and Statistics has seen the price of used cars increase by 21%.
"(Dealerships) are buying leased vehicles, they're buying used cars, they're taking trade-ins aggressively so the consumer has a lot of equity and options to buy something they might not have bought," Paul Stasiak, President of Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association.
This is actually a positive for both the dealers and car owners. Used car owners can get more for their vehicle and use that money to buy a better newer car. The dealer can then sell the used car at a higher rate due to the need. So, the value of your used car may be at an all time high.
"You would be foolish to not take a look at the market right now," Stasiak said.
