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: double the $1,253 increase for all vehicles, according to the Power Information Network data. Transaction prices for compact cars have increased an average of $2,370 over the same period and $3,055 for the segment’s top seller, the Honda Civic.

Perhaps the biggest success in the small car segment, in terms of persuading buyers to upgrade, is BMW’s MiniCooper, which starts as low as $18,050 but typically sells for at least 40% more than that. BMW offers myriad options on the Cooper that can take the price well above $40,000.

Lenny Schafer, a landscape contractor in Clinton Township, Michigan, is looking to buy a Mini Cooper S convertible that sells for nearly $30,000, and gets much better gas mileage than his family’s SUV and pickup truck.

“If you do the math, financially it’s not worth it,” Schafer said. “But we figured if we buy something that’s small and fun we can achieve some gas savings. It just kills me when I take a ride by myself and I’m getting 10 miles to the gallon and I have nothing in the back.”

While buyers are adding extra options, tight inventories of small cars have also allowed dealers to charge full price where they previously had to provide discounts. Only a few years ago, some Chevrolet dealers actually gave away a tiny Aveo or Cavalier free to people who bought a pickup truck.

Many dealers, having realised that small car shoppers are willing to buy higher trim levels and optional features, are stocking their lots with more upgraded vehicles. That is particularly true for hot sellers that have waiting lists, such as the Toyota Prius hybrid and the Honda Civic.

D J Smith, the sales manager at Panama City Toyota, in the Florida panhandle, said shoppers are so eager to get one of these hard-to-find cars that they will settle for whatever is available, usually at a higher price, so they do not have to keep driving an SUV — and paying $100 to fill its gas tank— all summer.

The $11,550 sticker price on a basic Yaris hatchback, Toyota’s smallest car, gives his dealership $340 in profit, he said. But that more than doubles, to $800, for a top-of-the-line Yaris priced around $17,000.