Drop In Value Of Used "Gas Guzzlers" Drags Used Car Value Index

Atlanta GA April 13, 2022; The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, a gauge of wholesale market prices for used vehicles, dropped for its second straight month. That's the largest monthly decline since April 2020, during the worst of the pandemic recession. Wholesale prices for used vehicles — Manheim adjusts for age, mileage and other attributes — are now 5.4% lower than their January peak of $21,754.

Jesse Toprak, chief analyst at EV subscription provider Autonomy, offers the following commentary regarding used-vehicle prices and EV prices:

“After reaching all-time record levels, industry-average used-car prices have stabilized and even posted small a decline in the last couple of months. However, this minor decline is largely caused by the drop in the price of gas guzzlers such as full-size SUVs. Market prices for fuel-efficient vehicles, particularly EVs, remain the same if not even higher today.

“Supply for used EVs is still extremely low and prices for this category are not likely to drop anytime soon. When we add in the element of historically high gas prices fueling unrelenting consumer demand, we don’t anticipate any easing in the prices of EVs for at least the next year, especially for very high demand models such as the Tesla 3.”