colleen sullivan from our sister station in los aneles with that story. >> i'm actually looking for aorter: omar morales is in the market for a used car, and he couldn't have picked a better time. >> used car sales have gone up dramatically. >> reporter: ryan clement should know. he's been in the car business over 20 years. when the pandemic hit, his inventory plunged. manufacturing stopped. shoppers were scarce. opd comio the showrooms. but that went on for about two months. >> first when the pandemic started nobody really wanted to buy any cars. people were very nervous about their jobs, the economy, their lives. >> reporter: as the executive director, jessica's job is to track vehicle transactions all across the country. caldwell not eventually sees what they are buying. but she even knows the vehicle they traded in. she says trade-ins are usually overlooked but not right now. >> if you're doing an off line offer it's probably not negotiable. but if you're working with a local dealership it is probably more negotiable. >> if i can get a better value for my car to go for a new one,