Used cars at mid-range values being snapped up

Used cars at mid-range values being snapped up

Online car auctioneers are reporting that buyers are currently clamouring to get their hands on used cars in the mid-range value bracket of between £5k and £7k.

Reports have been coming from Autorola, the online vehicle remarketers who offer channels for buying and selling wholesale cars in the UK, that mid-value used vehicles are in great demand at the moment, with many wholesale buyers finding it hard to source inventory. Cars in the £5,000 to £7,000 price range have been selling for on average 10% more than current industry guide prices.

The growing demand for such vehicles can be put down to the car scrappage scheme of 2009-2010. This government funded initiative was meant to get older cars off the road and more new cars on the road, and it is thought that over 300,000 cars registered before 2000 were scrapped or removed from circulation by this. With fewer used cars out there, there are not enough to satisfy current demand.

Drivers are also going for used cars in order to save on running costs and to downsize their motoring bills. Demand is currently so high that Autorola and other vehicle remarketers are saying that the used car market is beating the nearly-new car market. Those vehicles marketed as nearly-new are often finding it hard to sell at their reserve prices; this can be put down to the fact that new car offers, including finance and discounts, can end up being a similar price.

The mid-range priced used car is being called "by far the most popular" used car on the market currently, according to the Autorola head of operations, Neil Frost. He also commented: "The nearly new sector is proving tough as there is an abundance of supply but the excellent new offers are so tempting that used cars are losing out unless they are very competitively priced or are quite rare."

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