Used cars - There’s never been a better time to buy a secondhand car, here’s why
PRICES of used cars have plummeted over the past few years due to the abundance of vehicles on the market.
Used cars prices have dropped significantly over the past two years due a glut in the car market.
In 2016, the amount of small city cars that were two or three years old rose by 80 percent, following a 35 per cent increase in 2015.
Causes for the increase could be due to motorists wanting to update their car for the latest model, in the same way consumers do with gadgets such as smartphones.
According to Glass’s car valuations, the price of used city cars has dropped by more than 10 per cent in two years.
Eco cars such as the VW Up and Ford KA have also seen their value drop by five per cent in 2015 and eight per cent in 2016.
Rupert Pontin, director of valuations at Glass's, said: "There is pressure on that area of the market and cheap cars are around in volume."
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The city car market is still the most popular in the UK, due to their low running costs and sale price.
There is pressure on that area of the market and cheap cars are around in volume
Also due to the generally lower emissions of city cars, they are currently some of the cheaper cars to tax.
Experts say the combinations of pre-registering by dealers, plus the return of thousands of cars bought on three-year loan purchase plans, will push prices down even further.
Mr Pontin said: "The drop in prices is based around the number of vehicles coming back into the market, but also the fact that pre-registered cars have to show a price advantage over a brand new car, so there is quite a bit of pressure to take prices downwards."
Earlier this month it was revealed that Merseyside was the best place to buy a used car with average prices 2.3 per cent slow the national average.
Major cities such as Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham also had generally lower prices that isolated cities such as Bristol, Plymouth and Norwich.
Plymouth is the priciest place at five per cent above the national average, according to research by Car Gurus.