Buy or wait? Used cars are cheaper and most sold after a price cut
The same used car is about $1,600 cheaper than a year ago, and most of the cars that sold had a price cut first. Should you buy now or wait? Here’s what the data says.
Carma Market Insights
Used Car Market Report
We turn complex market data into clear signals for people buying, selling or watching the market.
About Carma Market Insights
Carma Market Insights brings together Australian used-car market data, explainers and tools to help consumers understand vehicle values, pricing trends and the factors shaping the market.
Combining market-wide listings data with insights from our day-to-day experience buying and selling cars, we examine how prices are moving, how quickly cars are selling and where value can be found.
Our analysis turns these findings into practical insights, helping buyers and sellers better understand the market and make more informed decisions.
Who's behind it
Lachlan MacGregor
Co-Founder & CEO, Carma
Lach brings a strong background in markets, investment and data-led analysis to Carma Market Insights. Before co-founding Carma in 2021, he held senior roles across investment management, private equity and investment banking, including at Alphinity Global, Platinum Asset Management and UBS. For Carma Market Insights, Lach leads the methodology and broader market analysis, connecting economic conditions with shifts in used-car pricing, demand and value.
Peter Willis
Director of Buying, Carma
Pete has nearly three decades of experience across vehicle valuation, auctions, stock acquisition and pricing. Since 1997, he has worked on the front line of the used-car market, building a deep understanding of how vehicles move, what drives demand and how values change over time. As Carma’s Director of Buying, Pete oversees vehicle sourcing and pricing. For Carma Market Insights, he brings practical market expertise to the data, helping explain what changes in supply, demand and value mean for buyers and sellers.
Carma Used Car Market Reports
Articles
Cheap used EVs have doubled, and almost half have barely been used
An electric car under $35,000 used to be hard to find. Now it's a quarter of the used EV market, and almost half of them are dealer demos, not second-hand cars.
Buying a year-old car usually means a big discount. Unless it’s a LandCruiser
Buying new or one year old? A year-old car typically saves you 14.8%, but a LandCruiser Prado saves under 1%. See where buying used really wins.