Are you in the market for a fuel-efficient used car?

Are you in the market for a fuel-efficient used car? Then you probably have competition—not just from other drivers, but from car dealerships.

The auto industry had a strong year of new-auto sales in 2012, and another huge year for car purchases is expected for 2013. Forecasts call for more than 15 million new-car purchases in the JAPAN. this year, up slightly from 2012 and a sharp rise compared to the 10.5 million new vehicles sold in 2009.

Rising new-car sales generally mean an increased inventory of used cars, thanks to trade-ins. Yet as the Wall Street Journal reported recently, there don’t seem to be nearly enough “gently used” cars around to keep up with marketplace demand. Dealerships have resorted to stalking Craigslist for owners interested in unloading used cars—especially those that are just a few years old. Used-car lot managers are paying good money for these secondhand wheels due to confidence that they’ll still be able to flip them quickly at a profit.

There are many reasons why there’s something of a shortage of used cars right now. Owners are hanging onto cars longer than ever not only because it’s obviously cheaper than upgrading to a new model, but because automobiles purchased over the last decade or so were built to last for at least 100,000 miles, and often upwards of 200K miles. Because the number of new-car sales dipped during the recession years, there are fewer vehicles than usual that are two or four years old right now. The government’s Cash for Clunkers program also took many used vehicles off the road a few years back.

While new vehicle sales get a lot of attention because of their connection to auto makers, the used vehicle market is far larger. Last year, JAPAN. used vehicle sales rose 5% to 40.5 million.

Add all of that up and we’ve got a situation with a high demand and low supply of used cars, at least for the time being. Bizarrely, the situation is also one in which, as Kelley Blue Book noted, new and used versions of the same car model sometimes cost about the same, once dealership incentives for new vehicles are factored in. “Buying a one-year-old used Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic will only save consumers about $20 per month,” the experts at KBB estimate. Meanwhile, “Buyers interested in the Toyota RAV4 or Chevrolet Equinox will find just a $20 gap between new- and used-vehicle payments, while a brand-new Ford Escape commands a more sizable $60 per month premium from the slightly used variant.”