Dealers Hunt for Used Vehicles

Washington DC Sepember 12, 2023; The AIADA report stated that dealers continue to watch auction values as they gauge whether it’s affordable to stock up on used vehicles.

Publicly traded, new-vehicle dealership groups say they’re self-sourcing as many used vehicles as possible – that is, from trade-ins and buying vehicles off the street – to avoid auction prices they regard as still too high and still bring in the profits from used-car demand. That retail used-car revenue may change, as used-car values at wholesale auctions were down in August, making it 12 months in a row auction value fell vs. the same month a year ago, according to the latest Manheim Used Vehicle Value index.

However, the rate of decline was smaller, compared with greater declines in fourth-quarter 2022 and into January 2023, and double-digit percent declines in June and July, according to the recently published index, reports Wards. By the numbers: the August Manheim Index was 212.2, a bare increase compared with July at 211.7, but down 7.7 percent vs. August 2022.

The corresponding seasonally adjusted average price was $19,412 in August, down from $21,039 a year ago, Manheim says.

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