Get ready to pay even more for a used car this year

• Cox Automotive says used vehicle supply hit the lowest level "since 2021 for this time of year."
• Prices are appreciating as inventory shrinks from the start of the year.
• Dealers cited heightened uncertainty amid White House tariffs.

Used vehicles might not be the bargain they used to be.

Trade and economic uncertainty are shrinking vehicle supply and pushing prices higher, data from Cox Automotive shows.

At the start of May, dealers held a 43-day supply of vehicles, the lowest level "since 2021 for this time of year," Cox Automotive said. While that is better than what it was at the start of April — 40.5 days — supply has been getting tighter over the last 12 months. Used-car supply is even "more constrained at lower price points," fueling affordability challenges for buyers, Cox said.

With fewer used vehicles to sell, prices are moving up. Even as the latest consumer price index report highlighted a 0.5% decline in used cars and trucks prices in April from March, Cox Automotive observed the opposite: steady price gains for both wholesale and retail markets. President Donald Trump's tariff policies in general haven't been reflected much in CPI data just yet. Still, in response to those tariff announcements, manufacturers like Ford Motor have announced coming price increases.

Among used vehicles, the top 50 US bestsellers have now appreciated to an average of nearly $29,000 over the past two months, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Cox Automotive data.

Part of this results from a spike in sales, as consumers rushed to acquire a vehicle in anticipation of tariffs' impact. That's according to dealers referenced in a recent Cox Automotive sentiment survey, many of whom pointed to White House tariffs as a near-term industry boost.

"The recent sales pace has been a positive, lifting current market sentiment higher for franchised dealers," Jonathan Smoke, the chief economist at Cox Automotive, said in a press release. "But as we've said before, 2025 is going to be a roller coaster for this industry, and the market could be a lot more hair-raising in the months ahead."

In the second quarter, franchised dealers saw in-person visits surge to the highest level since data recording began in late 2022. Census Bureau data showed sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers were high in March and April.

But Washington's protectionist policy is also injecting a wave of doubt about what's to come next.

"Cost to obtain inventory is higher. Transporting sold cars is way up. Seems most third-party vendors have had steady price increases," said an Audi Dealer quoted in the Cox survey.