A used Honda Pilot is displayed at the Honda Marin sales office in San Rafael, California on February 6, 2024.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Used car prices are expected to continue to stabilize in 2025 and begin to calm down in 2024 after several years of wild fluctuations.
Automotive data and logistics company Cox Automotive Estimated wholesale price Its Mannheim Used Car Value Index, which tracks the price of used cars sold at U.S. wholesale auctions, shows it will end the year 1.4% higher than in December 2024. , but not really.
Compared with this year’s increase Growth in 2024: 0.4% This follows declines of 7% in 2023 and nearly 15% in 2022 due to price increases during the Covid-19 pandemic. During this period, the used car price index grew at an all-time high, reaching 46.6% in 2021 and 14.2% in 2020.
During this period, the supply of new cars Dropped to a new all-time low Vehicle production was disrupted due to supply chain and parts issues. The Biden administration noted Used car prices rise It was a key factor in inflation at the time.
The overall stability of pricing is a win for potential car buyers. However, used car prices are still higher than before the epidemic. Traditionally, consumer retail prices have followed wholesale prices, but in recent years retail prices have not fallen as fast as wholesale prices.
“We’re wrapping up some of the moves we made as a result of the pandemic,” Jeremy Robb, senior director of economics and industry insights at Cox Automotive, said on a conference call Wednesday. “There’s definitely going to be some in our forecast. fluctuation.”
According to Cox data going back to 1997, the average index change at the end of each year is 2.3%.
The index’s monthly change during the year was just 0.2%, Cox said.
Cox reported that the average used car listing price started December at $25,565, up slightly from $25,493 last month but now down 3 percent from a year ago.
Cox Automotive predicts that by 2025, used car sales will increase 1% annually to 37.8 million units. The forecast includes used car retail sales of 20.1 million units, a 1.2% increase.
