Car owners urged to sell as record used car prices start to drop

• Average used car values dropped by 2.1 per cent in March, says Cap HPI
• Average price of a 2019 car has falled by an average of 2.8 per cent, says heycar
• A further 2.1 per cent drop or more is expected in April

Industry experts are advising motorists that now is the time to cash in on sky high used car prices as the market has started to drop. 

The high prices have been linked to supply issues in the new car market caused by the global semiconductor shortage and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Although those issues still remain, the cost of living crisis, with spiralling energy costs, fuel prices and rising inflation, has meant consumer demand has dropped, causing a dip in used car prices. 

Cap HPI has seen a 2.1 per cent fall in used car values in March and predicts they will drop by at least that amount again in April. 

Derren Martin, director of valuations at Cap HPI, said:"Now is the best time to sell a used car as we do not feel that the current prices are sustainable.

"Values dropped by 2.1 per cent in March and are likely to drop by at least that figure in April. With cost of living increases, consumers are having to cut their cloth accordingly and perhaps make a choice between booking a family holiday and buying a new car at the current time.

"Consumer demand has dropped off, which is leading to this drop off in prices.

"We are not predicting a freefall in prices, but they are certainly under pressure."

Online car marketplace heycar has also reported a drop in average used car prices for 2019 models with an average reduction of 2.88 per cent (from £24,300 to £23,600) in March. 

However, this must be seen in the context of prices being significantly up year-on-year. In March 2021 the average price was £20,987 and was 13 per cent higher in March 2022. 

Which cars have seen the biggest price drops? 

The Mercedes-Benz GLC (2015-2019 model year) has seen the biggest drop across the board, according to Cap HPI, with falls of £1,350 for a one-year-old diesel, 10,000-miles car, £1,100 at three years/60,000 miles and £1,247 at five years/80,000 miles. 

But even lower priced models such as the Honda Jazz (2015-2020 model year) and the current SEAT Arona have seen significant drops. 

The table below shows some of the most notable drops in values over the past two weeks.

Make, model and fuel type	One year/10,000 miles	Three year/60,000 miles	Five year/80,000 miles
BMW 5 Series (2017-) hybrid	£1,150	£1,050	£1,100
Honda Jazz (2015-2020)	£550	£150	£305
Honda CR-V (2012-2019) diesel	£900	£500	£700
Hyundai Tucson (2015-2019) diesel	£900	£550	£742
Land Rover Range Rover Velar (2017-) diesel	£1,800	£100	£1,114
Mercedes-Benz B Class (2012-2019) diesel	£750	£350	£518
Mercedes-Benz GLC (2015-2019) diesel	£1,350	£1,100	£1,247
Mitsubishi Outlander (2014-2018) hybrid	£1,250	£1,200	£1,225
SEAT Arona (2017-)	£550	£300	£383
Skoda Superb (2015-2019) diesel	£650	£350	£516

Source: Cap HPI

What's the best way to sell my car?

There are various ways to sell your car including using an online buying service, a car auction, part-exchanging or selling privately. 

There are also comparison websites which can help you find the best price. 

Jamjar says that the advantage of using its online car buying comparison service is that it gives users all the information some companies may prefer to hide where possible, including administration fees, collection fees and bank transfer times and costs.

It has seen a recent influx in the number of people researching the value of their car with a view to selling.

 

Andrew King, managing director of Jamjar, said: “With the recent pandemic in mind and more people working from home, this has led to people now not needing their vehicles or only requiring one per household.

“Having helped millions of customers value their car, our highest number of evaluations has averaged at 18,000.”

The time to sell through a site like Jamjar varies depending on whether the vehicle is at the end of its life and is going to be scrapped or whether it will be sold on. 

King said that prestige and exotica buyers tend to “move very quickly” at an estimate of 48 hours as they don’t want to lose the sale once the price has been agreed while the timeframe for other mainstream purchasing partners is 75 hours throughout the UK.  

Jamjar's partners for end of life/scrap vehicles are, on average, collecting and paying for the vehicles within 69 hours (or a little under three days) of the customer's initial entrance to the Jamjar.com website.

"This means that it usually takes no more than three days for someone's scrap car to be collected, and for payment to have been made,” King said.