CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — With oil prices reaching an all-time high, it seems that almost everything else has also gone up in price — including automobiles.

Tuesday night on “The Donlon Report,” Lauren Fix, otherwise known as “The Car Coach,” stopped by to give advice on what automobile owners and hopefuls looking to buy a vehicle should do in a market as volatile as such.

Her advice in a nutshell? Hold.

“It’s not the time to buy a vehicle,” said Fix, who is an automotive expert and analyst based in Buffalo, N.Y.

Fix is speaking to the current pinch in which the automobile industry has found itself. According to Kelley Blue Book, the average used car in America is going for $28,205 while a new car topped $47,000 for the first time in December.

The European conflict between Russia and Ukraine is compounding the problems we saw in 2021 — a supply chain crisis and labor shortage leading to lower inventory and higher prices.

Last year, there were a plethora of stories about the microchip shortage keeping everything from video game consoles to cars stuck on the assembly line. That problem is taking a different form this year — some of the batteries used in cars are made with parts from Ukraine.

Ivan Drury, senior manager of insights for Edmonds, said the industry faces several roadblocks. The cost of palladium, a key component for semiconductors used in vehicles, is hitting an all-time high over concerns companies won’t be able to export it from Russia.

Since Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the U.S. made Russia the most-sanctioned country in the world, dwarfing Iran and North Korea and driving the ruble down to less than the worth of an American penny.

Biden furthered those penalties Tuesday, announcing the U.S. is “targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy” by banning imports of Russian oil — a move that aims to cut Russia from much of the global economy.

While the financial blows are a method to ensure the Ukraine invasion is a strategic loss for President Vladimir Putin, the results, as Biden warned in his address Tuesday, come at a cost. Some experts warn oil could eclipse its previous record of $147 per barrel, which was set in 2008.

News of the U.S. oil ban sent gasoline prices surging, with a gallon of regular selling for an average of $4.17 — the highest price American motorists have faced since July 2008.

The same people who couldn’t find a car to buy in recent months might have trouble saving for one now because gas prices have soared so high. Biden has encouraged Americans to buy electric cars, but Fix pointed out it’s hardly cheaper than tracking down a car with a conventional engine.

“If you check with companies like Edmunds.com, they’ll tell you the average cost of an electric vehicle is $51,000. That’s a huge difference” from the price of an average compact car, Fix said. “So you’re telling people you can go and get an electric car and it’s not a big deal when it’s a $20,000 difference — things that aren’t thought about when it’s easy to be insulated in D.C.,” she continued.

Even the current $7,500 federal tax break for new buyers of electric cars has fine print. Fix said it only counts toward pure electric vehicles, not hybrids or plug-in hybrids. Biden’s Build Back Better plan proposed a $12,000 tax credit for elecrtic vehicles owners, but there’s no momentum toward passing that bill after some Democrats refused to vote for it in 2021.

“Honestly, if you can keep the vehicle you have and maintain it, that’s your best choice until things stabilize,” she says.