If you’re shopping for a used car, get ready to pay more for less.
Online car resource Edmunds found that the average price of a three-year-old used car soared to $32,461 in the second quarter of the year, a record high for that time period. In a recent report, Edmunds explored how the used car market has “fundamentally repriced itself,” and how anyone shopping on the cheapest end of the pricing spectrum will feel that change the most.
Back in 2019, cars priced under $20,000 made up 55% of all used car sales. In the second quarter of 2026, they only accounted for a 32% chunk of the used car market—a dramatic drop-off. The share of cars priced under $15,000 dropped from 32% to 18% during the same time period. Meanwhile, the high end of the used market boomed, with the share of sold vehicles priced above $50,000 rocketing from just 2% of used car sales to 8%.
Pre-owned cars aren’t the deal they once were. Used car shoppers will pay 4% more this year on average compared with the same time period last year and 15% more than in 2021, when prices in the used market began creeping up. In the report, Edmunds found that a used car shopper with a budget between $10,000 and $15,000 could expect to buy a nine-year-old vehicle with 98,222 miles. In 2019, with that same budget, a used car buyer could afford a five-year-old car with only 40,000 miles on it. Similar trends manifested in other lower rungs of the used car market.
Car brands hold their value differently
Brands still make a big difference when hunting for a used car. A used car shopper looking to spend between $15,000 and $20,000 could afford a relatively new Kia or Nissan with only around 50,000 miles on the odometer. For the same price, a Subaru, Toyota, or Honda would be roughly twice as old with 25,000 to 35,000 more miles.
“Conventional wisdom to ‘just buy a used Toyota’ comes with trade-offs in today’s market,” Ivan Drury, Edmunds director of insights, wrote in the report. “For many shoppers, a newer, lower-mileage vehicle from a brand that depreciates more quickly may offer better overall value, particularly when factoring in a remaining warranty, fewer near-term repair needs, and more modern safety features.”
In spite of higher prices, three-year-old used cars aren’t sitting around any longer than they were last year. They spent 38 days on lots on average in the second quarter or 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. Used cars priced between $5,000 and $10,000 sold the fastest, spending an average of 25 days sitting on dealer lots compared with the 44 days it takes to move a used car priced over $50,000. Even with prices still on the rise, pre-owned cars offer an appealing value for people who can’t afford to or don’t want to shop new.
Inflation just won’t go away
While used cars are just a single indicator, elevated prices continue to plague nearly every sector of the economy. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh expressed worries about persistent inflation late last week, noting that the summer’s consumer pricing readings looked positive but didn’t show that the “underlying trends” driving inflation were actually getting better.
Warsh, who took office as Fed chairman in May, blamed the past five years of high inflation on the central bank and its policies. Trump picked Warsh with the hope that the Fed could usher in an era of business-friendly, low-interest rates, but the new chair didn’t rule out rate hikes to wrestle inflation down. Otherwise, he offered few hints about the Fed’s next moves.
“We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed,” Warsh said. “Otherwise, we have work to do.”
