UK Used-Car Prices Were Essentially Flat in Early October as Younger Stock Hit the Market

UK used-car asking prices were essentially flat in the week of October 4-10, according to GetCarWise's weekly market pulse. Like-for-like prices rose 0.15% week on week — within the margin of error — while the median asking price rose 1.3% to 13,170 pounds, up from 12,995 pounds the week before.

The gap between the two numbers is the story. The like-for-like index compares the same type of car across both weeks, stripping out changes in what is on sale; the median does not. When the median moves more than the index, the mix changed — and this week it did: three-to-four-year-old cars rose 0.6 points of share while cars over ten years old fell 0.9 points. That fits with September's strong new-car sales, whose part-exchanges are starting to reach dealer forecourts, nudging stock younger and pushing the median up without prices themselves moving much.

The most-listed cars were the Nissan Qashqai, Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Golf, Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Focus, while the Fiesta also topped removals — the churn of Britain's most common cars, turning over steadily. For buyers, the message is that the market is stable but the stock is getting younger: a good week to shop for a three-to-four-year-old car, and a week when haggling over the headline price matters less than picking the right car from a freshening mix.