Business
Used-Car Prices Still on the Rise
Used cars are offered for sale in Glendale, Calif., in this 2007 file photo (Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)
(USA Today) – With the average transaction prices of new cars hitting record highs, many buyers are hitting the used-car lots.
But it turns out there’s not much refuge from high prices there, either. Used cars are costing more on higher demand, with sales up compared with last year.
The average new car went for $31,831 last year compared with the previous year, up 1.9%, automotive data site TrueCar reports, while the average used car sold for about half that, $16,335. But that was a 5.1% jump from 2013, says TrueCar, with overall used-car sales up 3.3%.
Used cars are just now fighting back from the hangover of recession — years of slower new-car sales that now have led to few late-model used cars hitting the market.
