Fuel-efficient used cars a hot commodity

Age and mileage become secondary concerns as drivers look to save money on gasoline

This summer's gotta-have-it item is turning out to be a 10-year-old car.

Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has droves of people searching for cars that get good gas mileage. They're haunting used car lots, posting "Wanted" ads online, and keeping a vigilant eye on the classifieds. The cars of choice: Hondas (Civic and Accord), Toyotas (Corolla and Camry) and Fords (Focus and Fusion).

Loved for their efficiency and reputation for reliability, these cars are now drawing offers far higher than their Blue Book value. Some sellers report bidding wars that would make a new car dealer envious.

Hunter Harrison of Chapel Hill listed his 1999 Honda Civic on Craigslist about 10 a.m. Monday.

With 175,000 miles because of his job as a medical device salesman, Harrison thought he'd be happy if the car brought in $1,500.

Within three hours of posting his online classified, he'd received 50 e-mail messages and calls, and sold the car to another Chapel Hill resident for $4,900.

"Apparently it was severely underpriced," he said. "I just never thought a 10-year-old vehicle with really high miles would fetch such a price."

Harrison said he no longer needs the car because his company furnished him with a new Honda Accord.

The move away from gas guzzlers to gas savers is rippling through the auto industry. This week, Toyota's Camry and Corolla unseated Ford's F-150 truck as the best-selling U.S. vehicle for the first time. And on Tuesday, General Motors said it would close four plants where it makes sport utility vehicles and trucks, and switch to making more fuel-efficient vehicles.

But it's the used-car market where things have really gone counter-intuitive.

Old Hondas and Toyotas are drawing $500 to $800 more at auctions than they did just a few months ago, said Ryan Gladwell, manager of Tristate Auto Brokers in Fuquay-Varina.

Since dealers have to pay more to get the cars, they're charging customers more, too.

At Mark Jacobson Toyota in Durham, used car values have jumped 20 percent to 30 percent over the past month and a half, said Doug Hanenberg, director of sales.

Hanenberg, who called the demand "dramatic," said some used car prices are now almost as high as prices for new Corollas and Camrys. As a result, many people are just opting to buy new cars, he said. That's good for sales but depletes the stock of new smaller cars as well. And if you want a Prius hybrid, be prepared to pay top dollar -- if you can find one.

"I paid well over the original sticker price for the 2007 with 20,000 miles on it," Hanenberg said. "I got 10 in last week, and four have already been sold."

The '07 Prius' sticker price ranges from $22,000 to $23,000.

'Just do the math'

Demand is so high for some cars that some shoppers are taking drastic measures.

Chris Boerner has been looking for a Honda Accord to buy for about a month. He finally got so desperate that he posted a wanted ad for a 1997 to 2000 Honda Accord "preferably with mileage under 125,000 and power windows and doors if possible."

Boerner, a manager for an elevator repair company, said he does a lot of driving between Raleigh and Charlotte for work and also has a family that needs a more fuel-efficient vehicle. He's still looking.

"We've found some interesting cars, but it's been a time issue trying to coordinate looking, and then a couple of things we were interested in had already sold," he said.

Chad Flowers had more luck. He happened to be looking online soon after Randy Pleasants put an ad up for his wife's 2005 Honda Accord. Friday afternoon he paid Pleasants' asking price of $17,500. Flowers, who lives in Durham, said he's replacing his Mitsubishi Eclipse sports car and expects to get 34 miles per gallon with the Accord instead of the 24 mpg the Eclipse gets.