Here’s what happened. Supply chain issues sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and its effects have limited new car production, leaving it unable to meet demand. That drove up the price of new cars. But it also forced more buyers into the used market, driving up those prices too. Prices rose much faster than wages (just like everything else these days, it seems). And while conventional wisdom would once have told you to buy a lightly used car coming off a lease to get the best value, that old chestnut no longer holds true.
iSeeCars used its Car Affordability Index to look at used cars that were affordable in 2019 as three-year-old vehicles. In the intervening three years, some have gone from being affordable to dramatically not affordable, with average prices jumping more than $10,000. That stinks if you’re buying. But on the flip side, if you are leasing one of these vehicles, you can likely buy it out for the lower residual value and flip it.
Here are 10 used cars that have seen huge jumps in prices.
Toyota Avalon
JAMES HALFACRE- 3-Year Used Price: $35,137
- Increase from 2019: $13,181
- Percentage Above Affordability: 37.6%
