Why are used car prices so high now?

I'm battling with this issue myself. My ghetto car is 9 years old now and I want an upgrade.
Was thinking about a good used truck, but the prices just seem stupid for something with 25-50,000 miles or so.

I think I'm just going to give up and go buy a used accord or camry and be done with it.

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I was looking at buying a Sonata, and have access to car auctions via a friend. A Sonata with 20k miles in great condition goes for barely less than the MSRP on a brand new Sonata

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wow

i have a 2006 with 50k miles...what are those going for?

I was in the same situation btw. I got a 2011 Malibu for 19, a 2010 on the lot with 17k miles on it was 18,200. Went for the new one. I'm sure I could have come off the 18.2 a little more but even though, got a new car and that dealership was giving me 3k more for my trade in so it was a no brainer.

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I got a 2011 Malibu for 19, a 2010 on the lot with 17k miles on it was 18,200. Went for the new one. I'm sure I could have come off the 18.2 a little more but even though, got a new car and that dealership was giving me 3k more for my trade in so it was a no brainer.

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when i bought my sonata, the 2 year old camry with 21k miles was like $18k. it was a V6 though

the sonota i bought was like $17k new with the 10/100k warranty

I looked at buying used a few months ago when I bought my wife's SUV. Used prices were terrible and financing was way worse than a new vehicle.

We ended up getting her a brand new Ford Escape for less than a 2009 Explorer with 48k miles and less than a 2008 Pathfinder with 40k miles.

I know the Escape is smaller and a step down but we couldn't pass it up with it being 2 and 3 years newer, more features, better financing, better gas mileage, and with a warranty.

Still pimping my 2000 Toyota 4Runner with 168K miles on it. Bought it with 154K about a year ago after I had a 1998 totaled out by an idiot in Denham Springs who pulled out in front of my lane of traffic.

Spent around $6K on two vehicles in 5 years. I'll deal with 18.5 mpg in exchange for no truck note and a car with decent passenger room, tons of space, no wow factor whatsoever, & the knowledge that I can quite literally drive the wheels off the damn thing before the engine stops starting up.

EDIT: I have a friend who lives on Diversion in Maurepas but commutes to the nuke plant in Marrero LA. For him, his purchase of a new Civic 3-4 years ago was a great idea, & makes tons of sense for a commute like that. But for me? Reliability, space, & no truck note FTMFW!

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no truck note FTMFW!

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The way to go. We put $15k down on my wife's Escape. A few more months and we could've paid cash, but had a baby coming and had to get her out of her sportscar.

My truck is an 04 and I think it'll last another 5-6 years; long enough to pay her car off and save enough for my next one.

I really am amazed at the amount of debt people are willing to get themselves in for an overpriced vehicle that will depreciate by 50% within a few years.

New car prices are up.

$18K to $20K is what people are paying for a Civic, Focus, or a Cruze.

My fiancé is probably getting a slightly used Corolla for a commuter car in a few weeks. Trading up from her current unreliable car.

On the other hand, my Silverado has barely lost $8,000 in value after almost 100,000 miles....and it is still very reliable and drives very well. Maybe modem cars are getting more dependable?

I remember my brother putting 100,000 on a Camry before it crapped out completely...and we considered that a good car in the mid 1990s.

If you only get 100,000 miles out of a car today, you'd have some very angry consumers.

Cash for Clunkers certainly hit used car supply, the credit crunch after the housing bubble did a number on it too reducing the number of leased cars. The economy has probably reduced how often people upgrade their cars reducing the supply as well. On top of that frugal is in so buying a slightly used car has become the smart thing to do rather than something only Money Board types did, so shrinking supply meets rising demand leading to high used car prices.

In your situation I'd go with the new car. For my wife's car we ran into a similar market where used cars and new cars were very close in value, but that was back when the car industry was doing all the crazy discounts like employee pricing. We had fully intended to buy used but the new cars were such a good deal in comparison we bought new.

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The part about depreciate by 50% is BS though. As you can see from the subject of the thread, cars are holding their values pretty damn well even at 3 or 4 years old.

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I'm talking about the people that buy Ford F250 King Ranches for $65-$70k. 6 or 7 years down the road that truck is worth a fraction of that.