Used car prices on the decline

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) -We visited Budget Motors in July of 2021 where prices were up by 30% from the previous year. Owner Simon Amadin predicted the prices were going to go higher before they stabilized.

Today, Amadin says he has less inventory, and the prices?

“As low as a thousand to five or six thousand dollars,” he says.

Amadin says he started to see the decrease in used car prices beginning in October of last year.

There are several reasons, he says. The microchip shortage which impacted new car sales and cascaded to used car demand and prices is not as big of an issue these days.

During the holidays he says people’s money goes elsewhere.

“This is the calm before the storm,” says Amadin. “Generally, when people start filing for tax returns, they will start getting them here in late January, February. And once people have an extra thousand or two thousand dollars in their pocket, they start looking for a car.”

Amadin says the internet has made customers better informed and better consumers when it comes to searching for the right vehicle at the right price. With more used cars on the market that combination is easier to come by.

He says the 43% jump in prices from February 2021 to September 2021 was, in his opinion, an aberration.

“I don’t think we will ever see that type of market adjustment in my lifetime,” says Amadin.

Even with falling prices, it should be of note the average used car price of today is still higher than when the used car shortage began—about 26% higher.

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