Three years ago if a consumer strolled onto Dan Reel’s used vehicle lot looking for a late-model off-lease Ford Escape, his response was short: tough luck.
The supply of lightly-used vehicles and trucks was tight due to the fact that car manufacturers had drastically cut down on bargain leases during and after the Great Recession.
Just recently, though, a computer search for available used automobiles within 150 miles of Reel revealed figure: 668 Escapes. That suffices to put over 40 percent of the inhabitants of this little northeastern Ohio town, population 1,600, into the popular crossover.
A search for the Chevrolet Equinox, a similar crossover, revealed 461 available.
“The car manufacturers have flooded the marketplace,” stated Reel, owner of Reel’s Auto in Orwell, Ohio.
That deluge is good news for pre-owned car dealers, automobile auction houses and car buyers, who stand to take advantage of a plentiful supply of high quality, off-lease automobiles rolling into the United States market.
By the end of 2019, about 12 million low-mileage vehicles are coming off leases inked throughout a 2014-2016 spurt in new vehicle sales, according to estimates by Manheim and Reuters.
Chief Executive Mike Jackson stated rising off-lease car numbers means “a higher supply of pre-owned vehicles at a more attractive rate.”
