- Used vehicle prices declined for the third consecutive month, Cox Automotive says.
- Adjusted prices in June 2024 were down 8.9 percent versus the same month in 2023.
- Analysts say the rate of decline is now slowing – prices were down 12 percent in May.
Remember those weird pandemic days when used cars were changing hands for more than new ones, and we don’t just mean $2 million exotics? Those days are long gone, as anyone who paid top dollar for a new car in Covid times and has tried to trade it in recently knows. The number crunchers at Cox Automotive say used car values dropped for the third month running in June.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index fell to 196.1 in June, which didn’t mean anything to us either, but people who know about these things tell us is bad. It means that used values at the end of 2024’s first half, when adjusted seasonally, were down 8.9 percent versus June 2023. Unadjusted prices were down 10 percent.
Related: Wholesale Used Car Prices Are Down Over 12% From Last Year
Compact cars performed worst, their values dropping by 12 percent in June, midsize cars were down 11 percent, luxury cars fell 9.9 percent and SUVs 9.3 percent. Only trucks outperformed the market, though they were still down 8.3 percent. All of these figures refer to wholesale prices, ie. the ones paid by dealers, not by retail customers.
Cox says the downward trend in used values goes back to 2021, but that despite the industry experiencing three straight months of declining sales, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. That’s because the rate of decline has slowed recently – prices were down 12.1 percent in May – indicating that buyer demand is stronger. And it’s worth remembering that the used car market was affected by the CDK dealer outages during June so the figures were on track to be even more positive until cyberattackers decided to throw a virtual spanner in the works.
“We think the decline may be nearing its floor, which should help stabilize the market through the summer months and rebound in the back half of the year,” said Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke. “Between increasing demand, slowing price declines, and slightly better interest rates, all of our indicators point to an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year. We may even see a few months of growth before the end of 2024.”
