According to the latest AA Cars Used Car Index, the prices of the UK’s most popular and hybrid vehicles have slumped by almost a fifth (19%). All of the top 20 EVs and hybrids listed for sale on AA Cars have fallen in price, with a second-hand Tesla Model 3 down over a third (35%) in 12 months and, worst still, the price of a used Toyota Prius down by 52% between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024. In contrast, the AA data reveals that prices for the most in-demand used petrol and diesel cars have risen.
The latest AA Cars used car index shows that in the three months to June, the average prices of the UK’s most popular used electric and hybrid vehicles were down by nearly a fifth (19%) compared with the same period the previous year.
The average price of the 20 most popular second-hand EV and hybrid cars on the AA Cars platform dropped from £23,255 in Q2 2023 to £19,456 in Q2 2024, while there was also a 12% decrease compared with the previous quarter.
The prices for each of the top 20 used electric or hybrid cars on the AA platform have fallen between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024.
Interestingly, and directly contrasting what is happening in the used electric and hybrid car market, the average price of the 20 most popular used petrol and diesel cars on the platform actually increased in the three months to June.
Overall, prices for used combustion models were up by 3.5% in the three months to June compared with the previous quarter, which reverses two consecutive quarters of falling prices.
The average price of the most in-demand used petrol and diesel cars stood at £18,519 in Q2 2024, up from £17,897 in the three months to April. The biggest quarter-on-quarter price increase was seen with the Audi A5 (33%), and the brand’s A1, A3, A4, and Q3 models have also seen modest price rises. The chart below shows the price changes with the top twenty used petrol and diesel models.
Despite an average increase in value quarter-on-quarter, used car prices remained down 3.9% in the second quarter of 2023, driven by significant price reductions for the Volkswagen Golf (-22%), Ford Fiesta (19%), and Ford Transit (18%), among others.
James Hosking, Director of AA Cars, stated, “Buyers are seeing lower average prices as corporate leases begin to expire and thousands of former fleet EVs come onto the second-hand market for the first time – providing greater choice and more attractive prices for buyers.
“Buyers will find that prices for a lot of used cars are still considerably lower than they were this time last year and that there are plenty of good deals out there.”