Currently reading: Used car market set to stabilise for first time since Covid

Bumpy end to 2023 saw trade prices fall in both October and November

Used car prices are expected to stabilise in 2024 following a turbulent end to this year, as the market’s period of strong post-Covid values came to an end. 

Wholesale trade prices fell by 4.2% both in October and November, according to Cap HPI. In an announcement on 6 November, the firm cautioned that the market was moving “very quickly” and said values had fallen a further 1.5% in the 10 days since its 27 October update but described the overall move as a “realignment” after a prolonged period of inflated used car prices, which first started to soften in April. 

Dealers and others disagreed with Cap’s assessment, and there were heated exchanges on social media centred on the discrepancy between wholesale price drops and, at the time, the comparative strength of retail values. 

“The headline figure doesn’t tell the whole story,” said Philip Nothard, insight director at Cox Automotive.

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