Used Market Hums Along

Used-vehicle demand is high despite today’s elevated prices and interest rates, a report by Edmunds indicates.

The average days to turn in the segment fell to 34 in the second quarter. That compares to 39 days four years earlier, a year before the Covid pandemic arrived.

That was with an average used-vehicle transaction price of $29,472, a 4.6% year-over-year decrease from its $30,905 peak, Edmunds says. The average was still up 46% from five years earlier, but pent-up demand is keeping sales brisk.

“A large number of consumers are likely being forced back into the market out of sheer necessity despite their efforts to sit things out over the last few years,” said Edmunds Director of Insights Ivan Drury in a press release.

Used cars are getting older, Edmunds says, the percentage of used sales that are models 3 years old or newer falling from 58% in the second quarter of 2019 to 49% in this year’s second quarter. It attributes the change to shifts in rental vehicle replacement purchases and leasing cycles.

The decrease in leased vehicles from one in three new vehicles several years ago to one in five today has shrunk the pool of used vehicles, Edmunds says.

LEARN MORE: Used Cars Continue to Age and Need Service