Used car prices heading down

There’s been lots of talk – and plenty of anecdotal evidence – of Australian used car prices declining since their height in mid-2022, but now for the first time carsales listings data provides tangible proof of that.

For the first time since February 2020 – the start of the COVID scare in Australia – carsales has seen a year-on-year decline in median used car prices, with the average price for used car dealer listings falling by 3.4 per cent to May 31 this year.

That might not sound like much, but it’s a significant turnaround from steadily increasing used car prices over the past three years, driven by consumer demand and increasing new-vehicle prices following global supply constraints caused by COVID and the semi-conductor crisis.

Further price reductions are likely, but massive used-car price cuts are not expected and the good news is timely for Aussie car buyers – particularly with the end of the financial year and the wind-back of the Instant Asset Write-Off business vehicle tax break less than a month away – whether they’re buying a used car privately or via a dealer, as in the case of this data from a sample size of more than 80,000 listings.

As we’ve reported, Toyota has led the way in terms of used-vehicle appreciation, thanks to strong demand and record prices for second-hand 200 Series LandCruisers and RAV4s.

And it’s no surprise that in May 2023, the top three most searched dealer used vehicles at carsales remained the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Toyota Prado.

But the 2017 Ford Ranger Wildtrak, 2018 Toyota HiLux SR5 and 2015 Toyota Prado GXL are just some of the models that have gone from an average price of above $50,000 in May 2022, to an average price of $46,500, $49,900 and $44,300 respectively in May 2023.

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