- Dealers paid less for used cars at auction in early July
- That will help keep prices down in late summer
Car dealers get used cars to sell through two channels:p trade-ins and used car auctions. The prices they pay at auction fell in the first 15 days of July.
We track wholesale prices to understand where retail prices are headed. A wholesale price drop usually becomes a retail price drop after six to eight weeks.
That news comes from Kelley Blue Book’s parent company, Cox Automotive, which also owns car auction giant Manheim, where dealers go to buy used cars they later sell.
Related: Is Now the Time to Buy, Sell, or Trade in a Car?
Manheim reports that dealers are paying 0.7% less for used cars so far this month, even after adjusting for normal seasonal fluctuations.
Analysts expect hefty tariffs on new cars to eventually push used car prices higher. Higher new car prices can send would-be new car buyers with their higher budgets to used car lots looking for something they can afford.
But big price hikes have, so far, held off in both the new and used car markets. The average used car shopper paid $25,512 last month — just $71 more than a month before.
