Today's used car prices are high? Can you give an example?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

In 2007, I paid $5800 for a 1999 Camry with 70k miles.

8 years old
70k miles.
$5900.

Today, that translates to a 2004 Camry with 70k miles.
How much would this car cost?

I keep hearing that used car prices are now so high, but I guess I need some sort of basis to compare.

2

I have heard that, for some models, a vehicle that is one or two years old may sell for almost as much, if not more than, a brand new car, same make and model. I have also observed that, in my neck of the woods, econoboxes are priced quite high in the used car market, sometimes outrageously so, especially if they have a Honda or Toyota emblem on the hood. It’s not at all unusual around here to find someone selling a rusted 1994 Accord with a quarter million miles on it for three grand, and actually getting it. Domestic full size pickup trucks are priced pretty low, on the other hand. I just picked up a rust free '98 Ford F-150 Super Cab for $900.

3

Yes , used car prices are very high, I had a 2004 PT Cruiser in nice shape that got totaled last November. The insurance company paid me more than 50% of what I paid for it brand new. That is more than I could have sold it for 3 years ago.

4

I am hoping for more specific examples of how a particular car sells for more than it would have a few years ago.

It makes no sense that a used car would sell for MORE than it’s new equivalent. New cars also come with 0% financing. Who would pay more for used?

5

A well maintained 2004 Camry LE with 70K miles, sells over $10K here in CA.

6

That car (assumeing 4-cyl) according to Manheim Market Reports (dealer auction report, real cars being sold at auction to real dealers) is going to sell for $7500-$8500… So as Galant says $10k sounds about right on a dealers lot.

Why is this?? Three reasons come to mind

  1. Econommy- People HAVE to get to work, and with the economy being down people are buying used more then new… 70K is no longer “high” mileage
  2. Leases- When the economy took a dive so did leases… The result is you have less 3 year old cars hitting the used car market, thus driving up the demand for the older cars and therefore the prices. Along those same lines are the fact that rental/fleet companys are keeping there cars longer then they used to. This once again means less late model cars on the market.
  3. Cash For Clunkers- I still belive we are feeling the sting from this program (which was a great idea at the time), it took out almost 700,000 under $5000 cars, and the market has not recovered.
7

With the ads for new cars offering all manner of rebates, discounts, free scheduled maintenance , doubling factory warranties and easy credit at ZERO interest I am amazed that late model used cars are so high. The interest and finance charges on a used car would seem to increase its total cost above a similar new car.

8

A well maintained 2004 Camry LE with 70K miles, sells over $10K here in CA.

Galant, I spot checked a few ads in my area. Average asking price for a 2004 with 70k would be in the ballpark of $8900. So, figure $8500. Wow, they have gone up in price. But, I recall I got a good deal at $5900. Fair market was more like $6500.

So, $6500 is now $8500.
Offsetting that, you are getting 2004 technology vs. 1999 technology.
That’s not nearly as outrageous as people claim.

9

Rod Knox, Exactly. I know many people who can’t afford paying $8000 in cash for a used car. So, what do they do? They lease a brand new one for $200/mo. Everyone’s got $200/mo.

10

Forgot one- Scrap mettal prices at all time high… When I started scrapping cars, I was getting between $150-$200 for them, now your talking $500+$100 just for the cat+$10-!5 PER aluminum wheel… There goes all the sub $1000 cars…

11

GSragtop, that’s odd. I heard sheet metal prices have crashed since 2008, b/c of no demand.

12

I can’t tell what the question is.

13

Nope, its at an all time high. Lots of demand in china. It dipped for a while but it’s back up now. It used to be as a scraper you would get the car for free. Now you have to pay for the honor of towing away someones junk

14

When the credit market collapsed in June 2008, car sales and leases came to a standstill…It stayed that way for 2 years…There are very few 2009, 2010 models available…Cash for clunkers got rid of all the beaters, leaving a used car vacuum…Today, consumers are willing to pay astounding prices for what people like me consider to be road oilers…

15

With used Japanese cars higher than normal, this might be a good time for otherwise frugal drivers to finally upgrade to a used luxury car. If you know an honest indep. mechanic or can do some basic work yourself, you can really score a deal and a half. eg: Used BMW? You can barely give them away. By far, the best bang for your buck, if you can allocate money for future repairs.

$7000 gets you a very nice BMW vs. a Honda of the same year.

16

On what planet can you get a nice BMW for $7000?? I just sold (last week in fact) a 2005 325i with 115,000 for just over $10,000… I cant imagine nice being much less than that

17

@gsragtop; agreed, at over $10K, I will still take my 05 Camry with 78K miles and drive it around.

18

Here’s an example:

In September 2010 I bought a brand new Mazda6 i Sport for $17,800 plus ttl. It had about 30 miles on the odometer from various test drives.

At the same time, CarMax and Hertz (both nonnegotiable) wanted $18,200 OR MORE for a 2009 Mazda6 i Sport with 30-35,000 miles on the odometer.

That’s right - the (over) 1 year old car with a fair number of miles was selling for prices HIGHER than what you would pay for a brand new (but otherwise identical) car.

19

GS, here’s one for $5100. 2001 with 140k. For $7k, you could find lower miles.

20

Found this on Autonew.com today, which is a trade publication. Thought it fit well with this thread.