Used-Car Prices Dropping, Not Crashing, from Wards Auto.
Rising new-car sales and incentives end a streak for pre-owned vehicle values.
A drop in used-car prices doesn’t mean they’ll crash and burn, say automotive remarketing experts at a conference here.
Chatter of a potential crisis in the pre-owned vehicle market is exaggerated, says Jonathan Banks, a senior analyst for the National Automobile Dealers Assn. “We’re talking about a soft landing, not a collapse like housing prices dropping 35% during the recession,” he says. “But people will be paying lower prices for used cars.”
It ends what was quite a run. Used-car prices increased 20% since 2007. It was the same old story: high demand meets low supply.