1:49 pm, October 18, 2012
USED car prices are at their lowest since July 2011, according to mystery shopping conducted by UsedCarExpert.co.uk.
The average car now costs just £8,688, around £1,000 lower than at the start of 2012 with prices in the South West being worst affected.
The website’s research has found that buyers are boycotting forecourts and forcing prices down, though some regions are still enjoying higher than average prices. The North East attracts the best, at an average of £10,532, some £1,844 above the national average.
Sellers in both London and Wales also enjoy slightly higher car prices with London’s average car costing £9,505 and Wales slightly lower at £9,083. Buyers looking for a good deal should look towards South West, where sellers are dropping prices to an average of just £7,419, the lowest in the UK and almost £1,300 down on the national average.
Next worst affected are sellers in the West Midlands, with the average car costing £7,597, still over £1,000 less than the national average, while the East Midlands average is also down to around £8,170.
Used Car Expert’s editor Matt Tumbridge, commented, ‘Car dealers haven’t been able to move prices by more than 1-2% since March. Prices can’t remain nearly £1,000 down on the start of the year; it’s just not sustainable. So my advice to consumers is to get out and pick up a bargain.’
‘Even Scotland, once famous for having expensive used cars, has had to drop below the £9,000 mark,’ he added. ‘The performance in the North East and London shows that in those areas consumer economic confidence is higher and dealers are doing a better job in getting customers into their showrooms.’
