That’s the premise behind an article from the Fort Wayne News Sentinel. According to a piece written by Bob Caylor that ran on May 18, industry analysts say that the current slow-down in new car sales may eventually put a crunch on the number of good, used vehicles available to the public. Why? Caylor says in a few years, when today’s new cars should be making their way into the used market, supply will be tighter than it is today. If you remember those boring lessons from your economics class, less supply usually means higher prices.

Critics of the Cash for Clunkers legislation have raised concerns that any type of government-sponsored voucher system requiring citizens to turn in old, inefficient cars will put a pinch on the supply of good used parts down the line. The News Sentinel piece contends that without some sort of action to spur new car sales now, five years from now the price of a used vehicle will be inaccessible – negating the benefits of buying used all together.

So who’s in the right here? That’s a hard one to say. The News Sentinel piece has a valid argument – no new cars now means no used cars later, but how long would the current sales downturn have to last in order to impact supply? No one knows for sure. What we do know is that current used car sales haven’t suffered the same way new ones have, with certified pre-owned units actually climbing against the rest of the market. That means now is as good a time as ever to pick up a good used car to save on your overall debt load. [Source: NewsSentinel]