Used Car Prices Increased 28 Percent Year-Over-Year In March
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The price of a used car increased 28 percent year-over-year in March as inventories remained somewhat low and demand remained high.
According to Cox Automotive, the average list price for a used vehicle last month stood at $27,246. While this was 28 percent higher than in March of 2021, it was down from February’s average of $27,609. Used car prices are also down from December’s record high of $28,193.
Used car prices will remain elevated in the coming months, although the year-over-year price increases may no longer look as dramatic due to the coming anniversary of the chip shortage, explained Charlie Chesbrough, a senior economist at Cox Automotive.
“The anniversary of the chip shortage – when prices started to skyrocket – is approaching,” he said. “Year-over-year growth rates will come back to earth. However, prices will not go negative. Rather they should return to more normal growth trends but from a higher base.”
This means that year-over-year sales data will return to more regular percentages, but that doesn’t mean vehicles will be cheaper than they once were. With little that can be done to mitigate the chip shortage in the near-term, elevated vehicle prices will remain in place for the foreseeable future. This applies to both new and used vehicles, as slower sales of new vehicles can result in a lack of used vehicle inventory due to the fewer trade-ins that dealers receive.
While used vehicle demand remains high, April’s sales were slower than some experts predicted, falling 15 percent from the same time last year. Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke is predicting stronger used vehicle sales in April, however, as more Americans begin to receive their tax refunds.
“Used-vehicle sales will likely see a stronger April performance as the refunds continue to flow in combined with the fact that the average refund is at a new record and up 12 percent from a year ago,” Smoke said.
GM will soon launch its own used car platform called CarBravo, which will allow users to search for second-hand GM vehicles, as well as those from other OEMs. The dealer portion of CarBravo launched earlier this year, with the consumer-facing site set to go live sometime in the coming months.
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Funny that this story pops up and they use a Malibu! My normal trade time is about every 24 to 30 months, but in the last 24 months I’ve purchased and sold a 2020 Cadillac CT4 and a 2021 Volvo S60 T8. The reason was because I knew the micro-chip issue was coming and I read the tea leaves so to speak. I already had the Cadillac, so I leased the Volvo just in case and drove both cars for a while. However, I needed two luxury cars like another hole in my head, so I went to sell one of the two. In the meantime, Volvo (like nearly all brands) changed the “rules” and I found out that I could no longer sell my lease out to CarMax or any other buyers without buying the lease out first. Although I liked the Cadillac better, I ended up selling it for a nice little profit and decided to just keep the Volvo for the time being. Then I saw the prices jump even more and I had a lot of equity in that car, so I finally purchased the lease out and sold it for a profit.
That leads me to the Malibu. I was actually just looking to pick up a cheaper little car and tried to find a Spark. The few out there were sky high and getting one like I wanted would have run me about $22,000. No thanks. What I ended up finding was a fantastic deal on a new 2021 Malibu LT with the exact features I wanted and nothing I didn’t want. I paid $23,300 for the car before tax. The biggest surprise? I’m actually loving the car. Better keep this one for a while!
Until that 1.5 Turbo engine blows up.
Ok. I understand that you are a GM hater.
Proof or STFU.
BTW, I just did your research for you. There is no wide spread 1.5L engine failures. There were a few early (2016) engines that did have issues, just like all brands, including Toyota, that can and will give issues. Any articles I just read over from 2018 or newer say this engine is not bad and I could find no reports of wide-spread engine failures.
You are such a troll.
There are hundreds of articles detailing the melting pistons, misfires, turbo failures etc on that 1.5 Turbo pile of junk engine.
The only troll here is you excusing bad design and poor craftsmanship. But that is to be expected from a weak gullible American.
Ok Evan. Whatever you say. Hundreds of articles?? I Googled it and found 3 main articles and two of the three referred back to the same source.
Curious. What do you drive? Please tell.
Mine runs great and gets excellent mileage!
I love my 2020 Malibu Premier! I have had several others along the way. My lease is up in September and has a buyout figure of $18, 900! Private sale according to KBB Is anywhere between $30,267-$32,762. Of course I plan on buying the car. It has every option that was available including rear heated seats. I only have 15,400 miles on it now. It’s the first time in decades that I have come ahead and finally making out better than GM.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Gotta love this joe biden economy.
JWL
Trump ran up $7.8 Trillion in debt, and all we got was a rotting boarder wall.
My local dealership keeps wanting to buy back my 2019 Equinox Premier. No dice!