Sport utility and recreational vehicle owners are getting hit twice by higher crude oil prices; once by the higher operating costs as gasoline and diesel prices at the pump go ever higher, and then a second time by the quickly depreciating value of their vehicles.

Across the country, new car and truck dealers are feeling the new reality as beautiful, fully-loaded sport utility vehicles collect dust on their lots. The old proverb of, "can't even give them away," seems especially fitting as Americans turn up their noses on the low mileage SUV's in favor of the hybrids and higher fuel efficiency models.

Because car dealers have been stung by the SUV/RV inventory glut, they don't want any more vehicles that they can't sell, so they are low balling trade-ins. This in-turn hurts sales for the new fuel efficient vehicles because many would be buyers can't afford to make the purchase without a decent trade-in value. Manufacturers have stepped up to the plate in some cases with rebates and special offers, but not every model or every deal qualifies.

So if there's no help at the local car dealer, what's an SUV/RV owner to do when they want to get rid of their otherwise good vehicle. Many have turned to their local newspaper's classified ads for relief. But, a quick scan of just about any newspaper's classifieds quickly illustrates the abundance of SUV's and RV's currently on the market. The result of course is to further drive down the price. At this point, low miles and excellent condition seem to have little to do with what you can for an SUV. The resounding answer seems to be, "not much."

Another option does exist and an increasing number of SUV/RV owners are experimenting with selling their vehicle on the Internet. EBay and other online buy-sell forums offer a new type of classified ad. Because many of these are interactive and follow an auction bidding process, there is the probability of getting a better price for your vehicle at your local car dealer or the local newspaper classifieds. At the same time there is no guarantee that your will sell either. But at least there is an alternative worth exploring.

Like all dark clouds, the days of "can't give them away," for SUV's and RV's will eventually pass and America will return to it's can't get enough of the bigger, bolder, beautiful go-anywhere, do everything vehicle. We been through these cycles before and will likely continue to go through them in the future. This suggests that if an SUV owner has the where-with-all to ride out the storm, this may indeed be their best strategy for beating the accelerated depreciation we currently experiencing.