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Used Car Price Trends for 2025 (Updated Weekly)

Key Takeaways

  • The average price of a used car is $25,571 in 2025.
  • Over the course of the past year, used car prices have remained volatile, but have overall trended lower.
  • Now that the year-end frenzy is over, we should see less demand for used cars, sending prices lower in January.

As we enter the new year, used car prices are slowly falling. In January 2025, the average used car listing price sits at $25,571. New car incentives are pulling buyers away from the used car market as year-end sales wrap up. With the continuing volatility of used car prices, it’s never been more important to track the value of your car.

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Used Car Prices – January 2025 Update

According to the latest used car market data from Black Book, the used car prices are steadily falling at wholesale markets. These are the markets that most car dealerships buy and sell preowned inventory from. When will retail used car prices drop further? We’ll get into that below. First, let’s take a closer look at wholesale prices last week.

Is the car bubble bursting? Let’s look at the data.

This week, wholesale used car prices fell slightly. In fact, recent used car price trends mirror pre-pandemic seasonal norms. That’s a great sign, despite price remaining well above 2019’s averages. This week, used car prices fell -0.63%, following a similar decline last week. The good news is that recent price movement has been similar to pre-pandemic seasonal trends.

used car prices in January 2025

Which used car prices are falling most? Let’s take a look at the latest data from Black Book.

Used car prices (wholesale sedans)

The overall car segment saw prices drop (-0.75%) this week, with falling prices accelerating downward in 2025. This week’s price drops are broad, ranging from full-size cars to compact cars.

used car prices in January 2025

Used Truck Prices (Wholesale)

Used truck prices are falling again in January 2025. Used truck and SUV prices were down last week, dropping by -0.83% in one week. Every SUV and truck segment had used prices falling over the past seven days. Crossover prices are falling sharply in early 2025. Truck and van prices are dropping too.

January 2025 Truck/SUV Price Trends. Source: Black Book

Retail used car prices are still falling

In January 2025, retail used car prices are steady

As the data above shows, retail car prices are slowly dropping. In fact, used car prices are behaving like they historically did in the pre-pandemic era. The purple outlier on the graph is 2021, when used car prices climbed to records as the new car market suffered severe shortages. It’s good news to see 2024 and 2025 used car prices following historic norms.

Used Car Inventory – Retail Markets

How long does it take to sell a used car in 2025?

According to Black Book, the estimated Used Retail Days-to-Turn is now at 51 days. In other words, it take 51 days to sell a used car on average. Cars in higher demand will sell quicker, and those with less demand can take considerably longer.

In fact, as you can see below, used car inventory is normalizing for the first time since the pandemic. This is a notable trend, and can be used as negotiating leverage.

used car inventory update 2024

New Car Price Trends (Monthly Updates)

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Older used cars have appreciated most

A new phenomenon we have begun tracking is that older used cars are appreciating more rapidly than younger used cars.

older model used car prices
*Data as of April 2022

This is primarily a function of consumer demand. Retail customers that want to purchase a car at a sub $20,000 price-point are being forced to look at older used vehicles because the new ones have increased in value beyond their budget. This is scary, crazy, and a whole host of other words.

How much did used car prices increase back in 2021?

How did used car prices get so high? To find the answer, we simply need to remind ourselves of the car shortages of 2021. Depending on who you ask (Cox Automotive, Edmunds, CarGurus, or Black Book), retail used car prices increased anywhere from 32% to 36% in 2021.

black book 2021 used car price trends

Black Book shows a 35% increase in retail used car prices for 2021 (the purple line). For comparison, the orange line shows a 7% appreciation for used car prices in 2020, and the blue line shows a 3% depreciation of used car values for 2019.

Here’s a month-over-month table showing used car price trends for 2021:

MonthAverage Used Car Price
January$22,112
February$21,573
March$21,343
April$22,568
May$24,414
June$25,101
July$25,500
August$25,890
September$26,548
October$27,067
November$27,569
December$29,000

This data, supplied by Cox Automotive, shows the incredible ascent used car prices took in 2021.

Every used car has two prices; the wholesale price, and the retail price. As consumers we typically concern ourselves with the retail price, and with good reason, unless you have a dealer’s license you can’t buy a car wholesale at an auction.

That being said, wholesale used car prices are the lifeblood of car dealers, and the used car price trends we saw on the wholesale side in 2021 were truly unfathomable. While retail used car prices increased ~36% in 2021, wholesale used car prices rose 52%.

black book 2021 wholesale used car price trends

There is an obvious interplay between wholesale and retail prices. As wholesale prices increase, we can expect retail to prices to do the same.

Interactive data

Thanks to our friends at foureyes, we can share with you this real-time updating data set on used and new car prices.

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Last updated Jan 16, 2025

5 Comments

  1. Kapono Kamuela

    How will the recent hurricane be affecting auto prices on the used car market. Will there be concerns over cars that may have been declared a total loss on the used car market?

    Reply
  2. Anthony

    My vote is definitely team Pops/reality
    I like to be an optimist but these are most extraordinary times and the economy being the way it is and God knows getting worse I don’t see the used car market (far more affordable than new cars) going anywhere but up.

    Reply
  3. Phirum ley
  4. ssstik website

    Great insights in this post! It’s really helpful to see the data on used car price trends, especially with the fluctuations we’ve been experiencing. I’ll definitely be checking back weekly for updates as I’m in the market for a used vehicle soon. Thanks for keeping us informed!

    Reply
  5. Brandon T. Snyder

    Every single vehicle (used $35k-42k range) that I have been watching as a potential purchase just increased by $1000-$2000. Deep South. Very discouraging and not at all indicative of what I read/see on CarEdge. Then when you see the listing include “$500 price drop” ….from the new price?!!! Sickening and ready to give up and buy a piece of junk for $1500

    Reply

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