The price of many used cars has almost halved in the last seven months, according to new research released today.
The research, commissioned by used car buying service SellYourCarInAFlash.com, shows that many car values have depreciated at a staggering rate – with some losing almost half their value since May 2023.
EVs on average have lost a quarter (24 per cent) of their buy-now value since May 2023, while petrol vehicles have on average lost nearly a third of theirs (30 per cent). The average buy-now price from the researched cars has seen petrol vehicles drop £6,484, and electric ones slightly less at £4,573.
The research compared car values in May 2023 to January 2024’s prices. The latest buy-now value is based on the average price of popular car-buying websites such as SellYourCarInAFlash.com.
The research also compared car prices based on the average price of cars listed by private sellers’ or car dealers’ websites.
Biggest declines in Petrol vehicle values included:
- Range Rover 44%
- Renault Clio 34%
- VW Golf GTI 31%
- Jaguar F Type 30%
- Nissan Micra 28%
- Kia Ceed 26%
Biggest declines in EV vehicle values included:
- Kia Nero 41%
- Mini 37%
- Polestar 2 28%
- Tesla 3 27%
- Tesla S 22%
- Honda E 22%
Demand for EVs has seen a dramatic decline recently and with fleet operators putting thousands of EVs into the selling market, prices are rapidly declining.
In seven months the research shows Polestar 2 buy-now price has dropped from £29,950 to £21,500, a decline of £8,450 (28 per cent). Tesla models have also seen significant price reductions. Tesla 3 value dropped 27 per cent and the Tesla Model S saw a 22 per cent decline.
The research for petrol cars showed that Range Rovers are suffering the biggest price drop, a huge 44 per cent off the value in just seven months. Renault Clios lost 34 per cent, VW Golfs 31 per cent, and the Kia Ceed models lost 26 per cent.
Founder of SellYourCarInAFlash.com, Christopher Lounds, said: “Our latest research shows yet another blow for car owners, on top of many other cost of living issues that are hitting finances.
“Simply put, the market has rapidly realigned after the impact of Covid price increases across the automotive sector. During Covid there were supply challenges that saw prices increase for a period, which just isn’t normal in the automotive market. There was always going to be a price drop for used and new cars, and that is clear to see with price falls over the past few months.
“It’s a challenging market currently, for both car dealers and people who are unable to sell their cars.”
