By Steven Symes 
After falling and then stabilizing over the last two and a half years, used car prices are on the rise again, but it might not be for the reason you think. While it would be great to have the cost of used vehicles stay low, that might not be the reality before too long.
Some consumers are feeling anxiety about possible gas price increases.
Of course, nobody knows for sure what will happen with the market, but used car prices have recently been climbing. According to iSeeCars, vehicles that are one to five years-old sold for an average $31,624 in March, a full one percent higher than in March 2024.
That might not sound like much, and it isn’t, but the fear is tariffs will put pressure on the used vehicle market as fewer new cars are being imported and sold. That could take months to play out, so it’s not time to panic.
But you might want to start making plans if you think you’d like to grab a used ride. Doing so sooner could save you a fair chunk of cash, plus demand later on might drain supply some, giving you fewer options to consider.
As iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer points out, tariffs aren’t the only concern for the market. “Used car prices had been falling by as much as 7.3% in June 2024, but over the past 6 months used car prices stabilized. Now used car prices are going up, and this is before tariffs have impacted new car pricing, which will add further upward pressure to both new and used car prices.”
There’s no denying tariffs could pump up the prices of new and in turn used vehicles, although by how much, when, and for how long isn’t clear.
Demand for used cars is being driven in part by the astronomical prices for new cars. If you’ve gone shopping and looked at new rides, you know exactly what we’re talking about. Many shoppers have decided to go with a preowned option as a result.
But new car prices have been climbing for at least the last decade. That’s probably why the days of the sub-$1,000 beater are likely long gone, replaced by the sub-$5,000 beater.
Image via Carson Goetz/Facebook Marketplace