LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — The 2019 Honda Civic that kicked off a used-car auction earlier this month would have been nothing special before the pandemic. But as automotive dealer Brad Wimmer watched, the online bidding quickly became, to quote him, “bananas.”

As a new car, the Civic would have had a sticker price of about $21,000. But within seconds at the wholesale auction, the 2-year-old model, with 4,000 miles, sold for $27,200.

Soon after, a Nissan Rogue fetched what it would have cost new in 2018. A 3-year old Toyota Camry with dents and scratches sold for $14,200, nearly twice what it would have brought a few years ago. And a 2015 Kia Sorento sold for $12,600, a staggering amount for a 6-year-old car with 83,000 miles.

For Wimmer, owner of AutoLenders, such sky-high prices have become the norm at the auction, where dealerships nationwide buy and sell used cars…. Read Full Article | https://www.thegazette.com/business/used-car-market-goes-bananas-as-prices-soar/