The importance of vehicle sales and sky-high prices for both new and used cars is not going unnoticed. With so many people trying to get by on whatever they have, it's no surprise that many are turning to selling things that could net large amounts of money in one swipe.

"Sell My Car" searches on the internet, in the U.S. have skyrocketed by 177% since the end of August, and Michigan is leading the way.

Get our free mobile app

Researchers monitoring Google Searches found that people who look for "sell my car," or some similar form of the phrase, have jumped 222% since last year. Michigan owns a large chunk of that, topping the list of states whose residents are looking to offload their vehicles.

The list in order is:

1. Michigan
2. Arizona
3. California
4. Nevada
5. South Carolina
6. Oklahoma
7. Florida
8. Ohio
9. Texas
10. Colorado

Some of those states - like Texas, Florida, and California - often have pretty decent public transportation systems in their major cities. So it stands to reason, in their much larger cities, residents are ditching the car to taking the bus or train.

But states like Oklahoma, Arizona, and Nevada are curious, as those states are VERY spread out, and the need for a car can be nearly required. But as gas prices level off - still well above what they were just a year ago - it's becoming clear that a car is more of a luxury than it is a necessity for some people.

Back in Michigan, though, the search interest results show that the larger the city, the more interest there is in offloading your car. The one exception might be Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo.

Detroit showed a 100 search interest score, out of 100. Flint/Saginaw/Bay City, all saw a score of 69. But Lansing, and the state's second-largest city Grand Rapids only scored a 45 out of 100 on the list.

So what does all this mean? Financially and economically, I don't know. I'm not a numbers guy.

But I DO know, It means there's gonna be a LOT of cool cars on the market soon in Michigan. Just keep your eyes peeled on individual market pages on social media, or places like findthebestcarprice.com, who serves as a platform for people trying to offload their vehicles.

Could you survive without a car?

MCACN Car Show at The Gilmore Car Museum

More From WKFR