According to Kelly Blue Book, new and used cars have been in high demand, forcing the prices to rise significantly higher than previous years, leaving customers on the sidelines waiting for cars.

Due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, which help improve the engine’s efficiency and lower emissions, and supply chain problems, car prices increased by 13% in under a year.

Sean Tucker, an author at www.Kbb.com (Links to an external site.) explains the increase in car prices.

“The average new car in America sold for $46,329 in November. That’s $5,392 more than just one year before — a 13% gain. It’s just $393 higher than the average at the end of October – an increase of 0.7% and a slower rate of climb than Americans have grown accustomed to in 2021,” Tucker said.

High school students who plan to save money for their first car have to start putting in extra work to raise an additional 13% towards the expense of their car.

Kassidy Vonhussen (‘24) put in extra work this year to afford her first car.

“At the beginning of the year in 2021, I had been looking for affordable and safe cars to save up for, and with a long time of research I finally had my mind set on a used BMW ranging around $15,000. After a year of working my minimum wage job, and some help from my mom and grandmother, I was able to reach the $15,000 goal. When I checked the site to attempt to contact the seller, I noticed that the price of the car had been raised by an additional two grand, making the new cost of the car $17,000 plus tax. After realizing the price change of the vehicle, I plan to work an additional two months towards achieving the additional $2,000, if the price does not increase anymore,” Vonhussen said.

In order for students to reach their money goal, an additional amount of work needs to occur. Students looking for a car can check www.kbb.com (Links to an external site.) and https://www.cars.com/shopping/cheap/ (Links to an external site.) to help keep their car cost low.