Used car prices are soaring in Fresno. Here are the most sought-after models

Fresno buyers of used cars are getting hit with sticker shock when they walk onto a car lot or go online, due to the worldwide shortage of the microchips vital to automotive production, according to an industry report.

In the central San Joaquin Valley, that can result in a price tag being up to 43 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, according to industry analyst Karl Brauer of iSeeCars. Overall, the increase is 36 percent higher in the one-year span, which would amount to about $8,191.

Don’t expect a drop in those higher prices in the near future, said Brauer: A key component of automotive microchips is the chemical element neon. A major producer of neon is Ukraine, currently under attack by Russia. It’s anyone’s guess when more of the element will be available to chip makers.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that sought-after vehicles in the Fresno market include Toyotas and Hondas. Brauer noted that small cars and hybrid vehicles are in high demand due to the spike in fuel prices, also blamed on the war in Ukraine.

Nationally, the demand for fuel-efficient cars carries over, with the Hyundai Sonata hybrid, the Chevrolet Spark and the all-electric Nissan LEAF among the top three.

To gather the data, iSeeCars.com said it analyzed sales of more than 1.8 million vehicles between one and five years old sold in February of 2021 and 2022. Heavy-duty vehicles, low-volume vehicles and discontinued vehicles were excluded from the study.