Used cars are more expensive again, but buyers don’t want to pay more

The average price of a used car has risen sharply in recent years. Buyers want to pay less for a used car than in the months before the previous month.

Data from sales sites Gaspedal.nl and AutoTrack shows that the average asking price of a used car in January last year was €21,219. The average search price was 16,981 euros. As of January 1, 2023, an average used car costs 24,332 euros and the average search price is now 18,974 euros.

The gap between the offer price and the search price of used cars is getting bigger and bigger

The gap between the search price and the asking price has therefore increased. In January 2022 it was still 25 percent, now it is more than 28 percent.

The fact that diesels are becoming less and less popular does not only apply to new cars. In January 2023, consumers will be searching for diesel vehicles more than 40 percent less than a year earlier. Diesel hybrids are almost 20 percent less in demand.

Used cars with petrol engines are popular with 1.45 percent more searches. The greatest growth was in the hybrid petrol engine, which was in demand by almost 17 percent. Electric cars are up 5.6 percent in the number of searches.

Manual gearbox no longer popular

The manual transmission is occasionally not popular. In January 2022, 23.2 percent of consumers were still looking for a car with a manual transmission, a year later it was only 19.7 percent.

If you look at the body styles, the station wagon remains popular. Nevertheless, it is less in demand. In January 2022, 26.9 percent of searches still consisted of station wagons, compared to 24.7 percent last month.

Top 10 most searched occasions

The most coveted used car is the Volkswagen Golf. The polo was also popular again. Black, white, gray, blue and silver are the most commonly searched colors. Together they make up 76.8% of searches.