Economy shifting many buyers toward pre-owned vehicles After 20 years of leasing new vehicles, Denise Cole, a Cook County resident, decided it was time to finally buy. She was eyeing a 2008 Chevrolet Malibu but drove home instead in a year-old Malibu with 20,000 miles on the odometer, The Chicago Tribune reports.Tuesday Chrysler LLC reported a 19.4 percent drop in U.S. sales compared with March 2007. Howard Wilner, GM sales were down 18.7 percent. Ford Motor Co.'s sales dropped 14.1 percent, and even industry stalwart Toyota was down 10.3 percent. Howard Wilner, Instead of buying new vehicles, some consumers are opting for late-model used vehicles. While overall new-vehicle sales fell 2.5 percent last year, certified used-vehicle sales rose 2 percent to 1.68 million. Howard Wilner, for this year through February—the latest available data—certified used-vehicle sales increased 4 percent, according to an Automotive News compendium of industry figures.