Price Gap on Used Cars at Record High in U.S.

The average price gap between new and 3-year-old used cars has climbed to all-time high of $13,300 in the U.S., according to Edmunds.com’s Used Car Report.

Edmunds credits a flood of cars coming off three-year leases, which has pushed up dealer inventories of used vehicles. The online car shopping guide says such models now account for nearly 25% of all used-car sales by franchised dealers in the U.S.

Even so, used-car prices are unusually high for this time of year, Automotive News reports. It cites experts who note that used-car prices usually peak in the spring and decline about 5% through the summer. But this year, used-car prices have continued to climb, with June prices topping year-ago levels by 5%.

Edmunds says the biggest deals among 3-year-old cars are in sports cars (43% below comparable new models), large sedans (45% cheaper) and midsize luxury cars (48%). The analysis says the smallest price gaps are for midsize trucks (27%), large luxury cars (30%) and fullsize trucks (33%).

Among specific models, Edmunds indicates the best deals among 3-year-old used cars are the BMW 3 Series sedan (48% cheaper), Chevrolet Malibu (46%) and Chevy Cruze (45%). The smallest price gaps are with the Toyota Corolla small sedan (32% cheaper), Honda CR-V small crossover (30%) and Toyota RAV4 crossover (29%).