Recent trends in the car market are alarming. With new cars often exceeding $50,000, many consumers are turning to the used car market. This shift in demand is a key factor driving the surge in used car prices. It’s not just the rare, high-end models that are seeing a rapid increase in price. Even more commonly used cars are becoming increasingly expensive. A recent study by iSeeCars revealed a significant shift in consumer behavior. The average price of a ten-year-old car has risen to $12,194, a substantial increase from $7,583 in 2014. This 60% change is in line with the growing market share of older used cars, which now stands at 22.7%. In essence, more people are opting for older cars, and they are willing to spend more on them. As you might expect, the COVID-19 outbreak marked the beginning of the changes. At the start of 2020, it sold for an average of $9,135 and had a 15.1% market share. The price went up to $12,549 by 2022, and the share went up to 19.2%. Karl Brauer, an executive analyst at iSeeCars, said that the rise in car prices is like a tsunami that can’t be stopped. A four-year price rise on new and lightly used cars has permanent effects on older cars, even ones that were built more than ten years ago. This is the start of the exciting part. The study, which looked at 169 million used cars sold in the last ten years, showed that sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons were also very popular. SUVs are clearly very popular. With a huge 484.3 percent rise in market share among cars ten years or older, the Hyundai Sonata was the clear winner. The Subaru Legacy, Impreza, and Impreza trucks are all in the top five, along with the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Even though some automakers say otherwise, a lot of people are still choosing SUVs that aren’t too big. Brauer says that older sedans, wagons, and hatchbacks are becoming more popular in the used car market, even though they are less popular with people who are buying new cars. Because they are cheaper, lighter, and use less gas, they are a great alternative to bigger trucks and SUVs, which are more expensive to buy and protect.
