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JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- Are you in the market for a used car?

If so, you might be hard pressed in finding the one you're looking for.

Used car dealerships are having a tough time finding inventory.

KRCG'S Meghan Lane spoke with one dealer who has an explanation as to why there aren't many options in the used car world.

At Town and Country Auto Sales in Jefferson City, salesman Jim Carmichael said business is stop and go.

"It's kind of been up and down month to month, you'll have a decent month then it will get a little slower," Carmichael said.

Lately you may have seen commercials from used car dealerships saying they want your used car, you might think that's just a gimmick to get you to come on the lot and shop around, but Jim Carmichael said they really are in need of used cars.

"If you go around town, you'll find a lot of lots are short of cars and no, when you see these ads that we want them, yeah, we want them and we'll pay a good price for them," Carmichael said.

One of the reasons dealerships like Town and Country Auto Sales has seen fewer used cars is because of Cash for Clunkers.

Carmichael said the government program drove many used cars straight into landfills.

"Everything was destroyed so it was cars that we would normally go buy and they would be in our price range that we normally had on our used car lot and it just kept us from getting any inventory," Carmichael said.

Along with the shortage in used cars, the price of them has risen.

"Prices have gone up basically because of the shortage and since recently because of the gas increases so people are looking at gas mileage type vehicles and those prices have gone up considerably," Carmichael said.

Carmichael said it's hard for them to keep smaller cars in park on their lot because of high gas prices.

He said they're coming across a lot of trucks and SUV's.