Cars at least 10 years old now account for 30% of used car sales, with models such as the Hyundai Sonata rapidly growing in popularity.
August 1, 2024 18:30
- As new cars become more expensive, more American consumers are buying older models.
- Since 2014, the market share of cars over 10 years old has increased by 30%.
- Older sedans, wagons and hatchbacks dominate used car sales.
Sales of used cars in the U.S. are rising sharply. That’s the conclusion of a new study that finds that the share of the used car market for vehicles at least a decade old has grown 30 percent since 2014.
ISeeCars discovered the trend when it analyzed 169 million used cars sold between January 2014 and June 2024, suggesting the shift is due to high prices that make new and nearly new cars too expensive for many buyers.
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“Consumers are looking to escape high car prices and are buying older vehicles,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “But even going back a decade or more doesn’t protect buyers from the sharp increase in used car prices in recent years, with the average price of an older model now exceeding $12,000.”
The average price of a used car has increased by more than 60 percent, from $7,583 in 2014 to $12,194 today, the study said. Normal inflation is partly to blame for the price increase, but not all. $7,583 in 2014 is equivalent to $10,064 today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.
A graph showing the market share of older cars over the past decade shows that the market share of older cars was fairly flat between 2015 and 2018, followed by a sharp drop and another period of stability, and then a sharp rise from 2020 to today.
Sedans, wagons and hatchbacks are the most common vehicles purchased by buyers seeking old metal. Analysts at IseeCars believe this is not only because these vehicles are less expensive than trucks and SUVs, but also because they tend to age more slowly and are cheaper to fuel and insure.
Examples include the Hyundai Sonata and Elantra, Subaru Legacy and Impreza, Mercedes C-Class and E-Class, and BMW 3 Series. The Sonata appears to be particularly popular, with its share of the 10-year-old-and-older club jumping 484% between 2014 and 2024.
Examining changes in demand for vintage vehicles across the country, the study’s authors found that vintage vehicles are most popular in the Seattle-Tacoma area, making up 23.2% of the local vehicle market, compared to a national average of 17.2% and just 7.7% in San Antonio.
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