DETROIT — Used car prices fell last month for the first time since October as gas prices rose amid the war in Iran.
Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index — which tracks prices of used vehicles sold at its U.S. wholesale auctions — decreased 1.6% last month compared with March and were up 1.8% compared with the same month a year earlier.
Cox said affordability remains a key concern for buyers, which is driving increased demand for older vehicles and all-electric vehicles at Manheim auctions.
Gas prices at the end of April were up $1.12 per gallon compared with a year earlier to a national average of $4.30 a gallon, according to AAA. They’ve continued to rise since, with the national average hitting $4.56 as of Thursday.
“The conflict in the Middle East has now been ongoing for two months, and while energy prices backed off a bit in mid-April, they have reaccelerated to the upside: the price of gas just hit a high for the year and is up 47% since the end of February,” Cox Automotive chief economist Jeremy Robb said in a release. “Those higher prices are soaking up a lot of the extra money in consumers’ pockets, and currently there’s no end in sight.”
