McKenzie O’Brien doesn’t like the idea of a car payment.

Until recently, the Boardman resident never financed a vehicle. She said she paid cash for cars bought on Facebook Marketplace or “someone who knew a guy.”

“So I wasn’t really in the market for a car because I felt that I would like to have a new vehicle,” she said. “I was just in a situation where mine had broken down, and I was in desperate need of a car.”

Knowing she had an $11,000 budget and a low credit score, O’Brien spent five days before purchasing a 2012 Honda CR-V from a Warren car lot.

“So what can I afford with my credit?” she said. “What are my options? And this was one of my options.

“I had already known going in I wasn’t driving away with a 2022 or 2021.”

She said she was pleased with the dealership, Car Culture, and her salesman.

“They were honestly amazing, and they were honest with me,” O’Brien said.

Scouring the market for a used car may keep your wheels spinning. Difficult but not impossible.

A study released this summer by iSeeCars.com targeted the Youngstown market and the price of popular, 3-year-old used cars for under $20,000.

If you’re eyeing a Nissan Sentra, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Trax or Chevrolet Equinox, you’ll see a significant increase.

A 2016 Nissan Sentra purchased in 2019 sold for an average price of $12,781, the study finds. A 2022 Nissan Sentra sold this year averaged $18,065 in the Youngstown market. That represented a jump of approximately 41%.

Overall, the study notes the average price of the above five vehicles was $20,532 in 2019 and $28,282 in 2025, a 37.8% increase.

“Finding a car sub-$20,000 that is available and reliable has become difficult,” said Lou Vitantonio, president of the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association. “It can be done, but it’s just they don’t last very long in the market.”

The problem began with the pandemic, Vitantonio said.

“Our supplies were just limited. If you don’t have availability of new cars, that translates into a limited availability of either trade-ins or used cars.”

From 2020 through 2023, “some considerable price increases in new vehicles” took place, he said.

“If you have limited availability and there’s new vehicle price increases, it makes used car prices more valuable. So it all has gone hand in hand. In addition your interest rates are higher. So there’s a lot of factors that have played into why vehicles have gotten more expensive.”

Russ Banks, general manager of R.D. Banks Chevrolet in Champion, said $20,000 has been the favored price point for used and new vehicles.

“Really close to that 20-grand that has been popular for us,” Banks said. “That’s been very, very hard to get. GMs not producing too many of those. So whenever they do come in, they sell immediately.”

Banks said that at the $20,000 mark, leases and new vehicle purchases also enter the equation.

“That just seems to be … for everyone’s in this area … their comfortable spot.”

The Chevrolet Trax, late model or new, can hover in the $20,000 range. Add in rebates and discounts, think GM family discounts, and a new purchase can beat a late model purchase of the same model.

“The rebates help us out a lot,” Banks said. “The majority of the folks around here get the GM family discount, or, if they don’t get that, then we will happily provide them with a supplier discount.”

Dealerships should not be faulted for the higher prices, Vitantonio said.

“These are the cards that were dealt,” he said. “The dealerships can only sell what they have. And you know, we’re not in the business of holding on to vehicles.

“We don’t like to keep inventory; that’s not our model. But again, you’re looking for trades.”

As for relief in the used car logjam, it may be a while, Vitantonio said.

“It will take a number of years to return to that because we need to get more vehicles out … being used, being traded back in and ultimately getting back into the cycle.

“And we may never get where we were before, but it will take some years for people to start turning over their cars, three and four years like they used to.”