Used car prices are s , and while electric and luxury vehicles are being hit the hardest, other segments don’t always see a big savings gap between new and used. For years, Even though pre-owned models, for the most part, offer a better value proposition, often the most popular brands that get high marks for retaining their value can be some of the t. This is especially true once you factor in the difference between the interest rates on used models versus new ones.
Let’s take a look at one of the most popular crossovers the RAV4 Hybrid. A market scan of the DC Metro looking at 2022 models with under 30,000 shows cars in the low to mid-$30,000 range. A brand new 2024 XLE Hybrid with the weather package has an MSRP of $35,510 including the destination fee.
Given that most of the two-year-old cars with reasonable miles cluster around $32,000 - $33,000, that savings delta doesn’t make a lot of sense compared to getting a new one with a full warranty. Sometimes the savings look wide enough to justify the pre-owned car, but once the interest rates are factored in, the value proposition changes. I was recently shopping for a used Subaru Ascent for some clients in the Seattle metro area.
The customers wanted to be around $35,000 out the door and that meant something like this three-year-old model with about 30,000 miles. A different local dealer was offering a brand new Ascent with an MSRP of $40,099 for $35,858, with a total price with tax of $40,556. That’s a price gap of .