The average used car buyer paid $25,547 in April, up $367 from March’s total. The increase may be related to new tariffs driving up the prices of new cars. An increase in new car prices can drive up used car prices, sending would-be new car buyers to the used lot in search of lower prices.
Related: Is Now the Time to Buy, Sell, or Trade-in a Car?
The data come from vAuto, a company that provides dealership management software. Kelley Blue Book and vAuto share an owner, Cox Automotive.
Pre-Tariff Sales Rush Trailing Off
The pace of sales slowed. Some of that is normal, and some is tariff-related. March is the typical peak of used car sales, as many Americans take their tax returns to the used car lot. But this year, March saw a higher pace than normal as some also sought to buy ahead of tariff-related price spikes.
Used retail sales were 1.57 million vehicles in April, a decrease of nearly 4% from the 1.63 million reported in March.
The supply of used cars available for sale recovered slightly.
Supply Still Low, But Recovering
Dealers ended March with just 39 selling days’ worth of used cars in stock, well below normal inventory levels. They sped up their own buying at auctions last month, even though wholesale prices increased (usually a sign that retail prices will soon increase).
Between slowing sales and the effort to rebuild stocks, they ended April with 43 days’ worth of used cars in stock. That’s still low by normal standards, but more supply and lower demand should help blunt the impact of the inevitable price increases.
Affordability remains challenging for shoppers, with the least expensive used cars the hardest to find.
Dealers have just 32 days’ worth of used cars priced under $15,000 — six days lower than the same time last year and 10 days below the overall industry average.
The top five sellers of the month were listed at an average price of $23,926, more than 6% below the average listing price for all vehicles sold. Once again, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan were the top-selling brands, accounting for 51% of all used vehicles sold.