More Choice and More Stability – today’s used car market
This could be good news for the used car buyer. Used car values remain impressively high so consumers could well be pleasantly surprised by their current car’s part-exchange value. However, an increase in the number of used cars which have come onto the market since the September plate change has helped create a more stabilised used car market which will be reflected in the prices on the forecourts as well as offering more choice.
But the monthly report from British Car Auctions shows that there were greater numbers of lower-value-part-exchange vehicles and lower numbers of high-value-part-exchange vehicles which would has helped bring the average used car value down.
The BCA report reveals that for the first time since November, September used car values fell slightly. Following a month-on-month increase which has seen average used car values rise by 30% over the past 10 months hitting an all time high in August of £6,223, September’s readjustment to £6,223 as an overall average of all cars sold, could be reflecting a more stable market.
Glasses Guide, producers of the dealers ‘Bible’ of car values, reports that the rise earlier this year was ‘exaggerated’.
Adrian Rushmore, Managing Editor at Glass’s, comments, “The improvement in prices this year was largely due to the much lower level of used-car supply. It is apparent that the correction is complete – in other words, the trade price of a car, plus a dealer margin, now equals the retail price that customers are willing to pay.”
In a typical year Glass’s would record a fall of seven to eight per cent during the final quarter. “Though a decline is likely in the closing months of 2009, we expect it to be between two and four per cent – some way below the ‘regular’ trend,” according to Rushmore.