Used-Car Prices Reach Record High in U.S.

The average price of a used car in the U.S. climbed 2% year-on-year to a record high $19,700 in the first quarter of 2018, according to Edmunds.com.

The average is 18% higher than it was five years ago. The online car shopping service attributes the increase to growing demand for vehicles of all types and ages, coupled with an expanding flow of newer vehicles coming off-lease.

Sales of small used cars are up too, in part because fuel prices climbed to a four-year high in the first quarter of 2018, Edmunds says. Demand for small cars has pushed their average selling price up 3%-4%.

But prices on used pickup trucks and big SUVs haven’t slipped yet. Edmunds notes that the fuel efficiency of such vehicles is better than was true for models built a decade ago. But it cautions that a spike in fuel prices—or if prices creep above $4 per gallon—could “spell disaster for resale values.”