The price for a 3-year-old used vehicle hit a record high of $32,461 in the second quarter, a 4% increase year-over-year and up 15.5% since mid-2021.
According to an Edmunds study, vehicles in the $15,000 to $20,000 price range now average 6 years old with roughly 71,000 miles. In comparison, vehicles under $10,000 average 10.7 years old with over 120,000 miles.
Market Shift
Over the past seven years, the overall market share for used vehicles under $20,000 has shrunk from 55.2% down to 31.8%. Meanwhile, vehicles priced over $50,000 now make up 8% of the market.
Some examples: Kia: Youngest at 3.3 years old (48,157 miles), Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, & Buick: Between 3.7 and 4.7 years old (50,000 to 52,000 miles) Toyota: Averaging 7 years old with 80,000 miles
Extremely affordable units (under $10,000) are moving off lots the fastest, taking an average of just 25 days to sell.
Consumers are clearly shifting toward older, higher-mileage vehicles to find affordability amid high used-car prices. However, industry analysts warn that buyers will face the hidden costs of necessary maintenance once a vehicle clears 75,000 to 100,000 miles-costs that weren't as prevalent when buyers could purchase newer cars for the same price point.
These trends are specifically why we are building our Car Inspection Score: the decision engine we all need.
Thanks for reading everybody!
-Paul