You knew used car prices were high. Here's how outrageous it has become
For used car shoppers, it’s grim out there.
It used to be that dreaded sticker shock came from the prices of new cars. Now used car prices are just as bad.
How bad? The average used car sold for $29,594 in January, up from $22,676 last year, a 30% increase, Edmunds.com reports.
On individual models, price inflation can be starker.
Even the price of a modest 3-year-old Nissan Versa subcompact car has risen 66% to an average of $16,366, Edmunds says. The starting price of a new Versa is $15,080.
Looking at the inflated price of the average used car, “it seems like a new car price,” says Jessica Caldwell, Edmund’s director of insights.
It’s not just the newer used cars. “What we see is the older used cars are increasing just as much,” she says.
The average transaction price of a 9-year-old car rose 43% in a year.
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The coronavirus pandemic may be waning, but outrageous prices on new and used cars alike are one of its lingering symptoms. The shortage of new cars, spawned in part by the lack of computer chips, rolled right into the used market.
At one end of the used car market, motorists pay top dollar for basic transportation. Among 3-year-old models, the Versa, the venerable Dodge Grand Caravan minivan (up 69% to $25,789), Toyota’s Prius hybrid (up 61% to $28,758) and even the Chevrolet Sonic, a discontinued subcompact (up 55% to $18,473), are basic vehicles used to get from Point A to B that have seen some of the biggest increases.
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Fastest sellers both basic and fancy
At the other end, well-heeled buyers cast money cares aside to put dream cars in their driveways with apparently little regard for price.
The fastest-selling used vehicle, gone in an average of 24 days on sale, was Tesla’s electric Model Y compact SUV. Average price: $67,121, reports iSeeCars, a car search engine that has access to new and used car sales data. The average used car usually takes about twice as long to sell.
Two new models, the Ford Bronco, an off-road-capable SUV, and the electric Ford Mustang Mach-E, are also in the hot-selling used-vehicle rankings. Rather than languishing on dealers’ waiting lists for new cars, buyers turned to the slightly used vehicle market.
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No bargains in topsy-turvy market
Sometimes, impatient buyers pay above the list price for a new vehicle.
The asking price of a 1- or 2-year-old Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV – the swanky G-Wagon of celebrity fame – ran 36% above the price of a new one, iSeeCars says. It's much the same for a slightly used Chevrolet Corvette, for which asking prices were 20% above, according to iSeeCars.
“It used to be the way to save money was to buy a used car. That’s obviously not the case anymore,” says Julie Blackley, iSeeCars’ communication manager.
Vehicle | Jan. '21 price. | Jan. '22 price. | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
Dodge Grand Caravan | $15,227 | $25,789 | 69% |
Nissan Versa | $9,842 | $16,366 | 66% |
Toyota Prius. | $17,869 | $28,758 | 61% |
Kia Forte | $12,008 | $18,928 | 58% |
Volvo S60 | $21,502 | $33,647 | 56% |
Chevrolet Sonic | $11,913 | $18,473 | 55% |
Mazda 3 | $15,011 | $23,140 | 54% |
Audi A6 | $31,272 | $48,066 | 54% |
BMW i3 | $21,034 | $32,115 | 53% |
Kia Rio | $11,182 | $16,937 | 51% |
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Are used car prices going down? Not soon enough on many makes, models
