After running hot, market for used cars is cooling, according to The New York Times.
It was 9:30 on a recent Tuesday morning at Manheim Riverside, a wholesale auto auction, and more than a thousand used-car dealers were mulling in the desert heat. The bidders had gathered on the perimeters of Manheim’s 10 lanes of cars, watching the vehicles cycle through 10 different auction blocks, at no longer than 45 seconds a pop. Over a collective din that drowns out the auctioneers, the dealers wink, nod or, for the less stealthy, raise a hand to indicate their bid.
The wholesale auction is just one of the hundreds across the country that set the pace — and the price — for most Americans who buy used cars. Often viewed as an afterthought, the used car market is far larger than the one for new vehicles, with more than double the sales, and automakers pay close attention to the ebb and flow of its prices.
