Used Car Prices Fall in April for 1st Time Since November Amid High Fuel Costs

Used car prices ticked down by 1.6 percent in April from the previous month as high fuel prices dampened consumer spending, marking the first decline since November 2025.

The modest spring decline is in line with seasonal dips in used car values, researchers at Cox Automotive, an automotive services and data insights provider, noted in the company’s monthly Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index report released on May 7.

“Current values are declining at normal rates for this time of year and remain elevated against long-term averages for the end of April,” Jeremy Robb, Cox Automotive’s chief economist, wrote.

According to the American Automobile Association, fuel prices averaged $4.55 per gallon on May 7, up by $0.41 from a month earlier. The continued run-up in fuel costs has placed affordability at the forefront of consumer spending decisions, Cox noted, with shoppers taking a much closer look at older and electric vehicles (EVs).

Consumer interest in EVs helped lift their wholesale prices above those of internal combustion engine vehicles for both the Manheim Index and non-seasonally adjusted values. The EV index inched up by 1.4 percent in April versus March, and it spiked by 7.2 percent year over year. Cox Automotive’s non-EV index, meanwhile, slipped by 2.2 percent from March but remains up by 1.1 percent year over year.

Cox’s Manheim Used Vehicle Index tracks the price of vehicles sold at wholesale auctions. Despite the slight decline in values in April, the index remains up by 1.8 percent year over year. The average price for used cars in March was $25,390, Cox noted. Prices for used EVs, however, stood at $34,653 in March.

A robust tax return season helped boost spending on used vehicles, especially with new car values listing at an average of $48,667 in March, Cox researchers added. Average tax returns of $3,462 were running 11.1 percent higher through the first week of April than 2025 refund amounts, the nonprofit Tax Foundation stated. That extra cash helped more consumers buy used cars, with March sales of 1.62 million vehicles increasing 7 percent from the previous month.

The jump in sales in March led to a sharp tightening of used car inventory, Cox stated. The 1.95 million used vehicles on dealer lots is the lowest number on record, dating back to 2019.

“A strong tax refund season drove consumers toward used vehicles early this year, and that kept demand and values high at Manheim through the spring market,” Robb wrote. “Energy prices backed off a bit in mid-April, [but] 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. Those higher prices are soaking up a lot of the extra money in consumers’ pockets, and currently there’s no end in sight.”

Wholesale supply at the end of April inched up to 25.2 days, a 0.3 percent increase from March. Rental prices, meanwhile, dipped by 3.3 percent in April from the previous month.