A Ford Mustang is seen at a used car dealer in Montebello, California, on May 5, 2025.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty images
DETROIT – A barometer closely watched for the prices of used vehicles jumped last month at its highest level since October 2023 while consumers have precipitated purchases in the midst of fears of price increases due to automotive prices.
The COX Automotive used vehicle value index – which follows the prices of used vehicles sold in its wholesale American auctions – increased by 4.9% last month compared to a year earlier to a level of 208.2.
He also marked an increase of 2.7% compared to March. This is a significant increase in relation to a clue decision from one month to the other historically typical of 0.2%, according to the data and automotive logistics company.
“The” Spring Bounce “ends normally the second week of April, but this year, the wholesale assets continued throughout the month and were much stronger than what we are generally observed,” said Jeremy Robb, principal director of economic information and the COX Automotive industry. “We expected to see a strong appreciation of prices in response to prices, and that’s exactly what came.”
While prices of 25% on new imported vehicles and many parts have no direct impact on second -hand car sales, changes in new vehicles prices, production and demand affect the second -hand car market, this is how the majority of Americans buy a vehicle.
Consumers’ retail prices traditionally follow changes in wholesale prices, but they have not dropped as quickly as wholesale prices in recent years.
COX reports that retail vehicle sales in April fell 1.7% compared to March, but a year greater than the year of 13%. In the past four weeks, the average price of the detail list of a used vehicle has increased by 2% to more than $ 25,000, Cox said. This is compared to a new vehicle at almost $ 48,000.
The Manheim index remains outside the record heights that he reached during the cocovio pandemic, but is still relatively high compared to the historic levels before the start of the global health crisis in 2020.
Cox previously said that he saw that second -hand vehicles prices continue to stabilize after swinging wildly for several years before starting to calm down in 2024.