Used Car Prices Exceed $28K For the First Time Ever
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Nicholas Morine
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If you’re looking to save money by shopping for a used car instead of a new one, be prepared for a little sticker shock due to an unpredictable economy.
In December, the average listing price for used vehicles rose above $28,000 for the first time ever, according to a Cox Automotive analysis of vAuto Available Inventory data. The price exceeded $28,000 each of the last two weeks of December before closing the month at $28,205. That’s up from a revised price of $27,726 in November, when the average listing price surpassed $27,000 for the first time.
The average listing price for December represented a 28% gain from the previous year and a 42% increase from December 2019.
The prices found in Cox Automotive’s analysis align with reports from other sources as well. As GOBankingRates previously reported, recent data from Edmunds.com showed that the average price of a used car is over $29,000 — a 39% increase in just 12 months. Edmunds expects prices to exceed $30,000 this year for the first time ever.
More than half of American households have less income than is considered necessary to buy an average-priced used car, and just about everyone has been affected by the highest rates of inflation in 40 years.
Meanwhile, if the high prices for used cars have convinced you to shop for a new one instead, you might not get much joy there, either.
For the first time ever, the average price of a new car has gone above $46,000, according to a December article from Consumer Reports that cited data from Kelley Blue Book and TrueCar. Much of the blame rests upon the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting global semiconductor shortage, which has left many automakers unable to crank out new cars at a fast enough pace to meet demand.
“We are seeing new transaction prices hit all-time highs,” said Nick Woolard, an analyst with TrueCar. “You see dealers parking their vehicles sideways to make it look like they have more vehicles on the lot.”
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