Which used small cars are the best value?

The used car market has returned to a sense of normality after the pandemic sent used car prices rocketing in way not seen in most of our lifetimes.

While they may not have yet reached the prices we saw pre-2020, there is no doubt that most vehicles are no longer worth more than was originally paid for them, as was the case in some instances just a couple years ago.

Even though the new-car market is defying the odds with record sales, which in part is still related to pent-up demand stemming from a couple of years back, the higher cost of living in Australia appears to be forcing used-car buyers to rethink their transport needs.

The used market has reacted with cooling demand and a reduction in prices – perfect if you are now in the market for a used car.

None other than carsales can so accurately track the value decline, as the platform has close to 230,000 used cars advertised on carsales.com.au at any given time.

We have pulled the data together and worked the numbers on prices that sellers last advertised for before delisting their advert in January 2023, against those that have just done so for identical models in January 2024.

While the data does not drill down to actual sale price yield, they give as good an indication as you can get at what people are actually selling their cars for.

We also worked out what vehicles buyers are most interested in by gauging the search rate data down to year, make and model. Many of the results reflect the popularity of vehicles when new, but not always.

The only way to glean reliable data is to include those searched and sold in high enough numbers. Some vehicles in a segment may have only sold a couple used examples, making the figures unreliable, especially if there is a wide variation in delisted price. So these cars were not included, as the sample size is too small to give a meaningful result.

With those small cars that were advertised and sold in higher volume though, not only can we give an average percentage of value lost over the past 12 months, but also be specific on the vehicle’s year built, make, model and even down to variant.

So here is how the small used car market looks from early 2023 to early 2024, as it stands according to the data we have drawn together.

Out of 50 individual models of small cars, the one that buyers looked for the most on carsales was the 2020 Kia Cerato S. This particular year-model Cerato S held its value well over the 12 months, with an 8.4 per cent average decline in delisted prices in that time.

The Cerato makes another five appearances in the top 50 used small car searches; as a 2019 Cerato S in 17th position, with a 12.9 per cent reduction in value, and in 19th position as the 2021 Cerato S, with a 14.6 per cent drop. The Cerato in GT spec appeared as the 21st most-searched-for car in the segment as a 2019 model (losing 10.4% value), then 28th was the 2021 model year (with a 6.1% reduction) and as a 2022 model in 42nd place, this particular model losing 10.5 per cent in value.

Only eight cars in the top 50 lost value in single figures over the 12-month period.

The small passenger car that lost the least value was the 37th most-viewed in the list, the 2020 Hyundai i30 N Line, with just a 6.3 per cent easing in price.

One small car that lost significant value is also one of the most popular new cars in the category, and in this case the third most popular used small car buyers search for – that is, the 2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid.

However, this is not a reflection of how poorly the Corolla is doing in the used market, but suggests the opposite – the small Toyota was so much in demand as a new vehicle that the overinflated used prices have finally dropped in 2024 to something approaching more sustainable, realistic levels.

In fact, the Corolla was one of the most searched-for models of the 50 cars, with eight appearances as either Sport or Sport Hybrid variants in model years from 2019 through to 2022. The Corolla that’ll be hardest to drive a bargain with this year is the 2019 Corolla Sport Hybrid, which sits in 18th most-viewed position and with a depreciation average of 9.3 per cent.

Other small cars that might prove to be good buying among popular models this year compared to a year ago are from Europe. These include the 2019 Volkswagen Golf 110TSI Highline (in 43rd position, down 16.1%), 2020 Mercedes-Benz A 180 (in 46th position, down 18.1%) and 2019 Audi A3 A3 35 TFSI (32nd most viewed, with 18.8% loss of value).

Hot hatches would appear harder to justify as a used buy than a regular small car. For example, the 2020 Mercedes-AMG A 35 saw the highest loss in value over the year. While this hot hatch was hot property in terms of buyers looking for one – it was ranked eighth in the most-searched small cars – it was stung with a 20.5 per cent average drop in price.

Most of the rest of the hot hatches were stung with a figure in the teens for percentage of value lost.

For example, it would seem that Ford has not made a valuable collector’s item – for now, at least – out of its last petrol-powered small hot hatch, the Ford Focus ST, which was removed from the new-car price lists in 2022. The 2020 Ford Focus ST, is 45th in the queue of most-viewed and lost 19.3 per cent value in a year.

The exceptions to hot hatches losing in double-digits are the 2019 Hyundai i30 N Performance (in 29th place for most-viewed), with an average 8.5 per cent loss in value, and the 2021 Hyundai i30 N with 9.0 per cent (and 32nd most-viewed). Two remaining i30 N models, the 2022 i30 N Premium (in sixth most-viewed) lost a relatively sharp 16.3 per cent in a year, while in 25th spot the 2021 i30 N Premium declined 12.8 per cent in value.