BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It looks like it's getting a little easier for people to make ends meet when it comes to shopping for a vehicle. Sticker shock at the car lot could be easing up for buyers. That's based on nationwide trends for new and used cars.
The consumer price index shows the average price of a used car dropped almost nine percent in 2022.
That's the biggest 12-month decline since 2009. The Executive Vice President at Paddock Chevrolet in Kenmore tells 7 News the market is starting to normalize. She says the pandemic had a big impact on the price of used vehicles. Lauren Paddock explains, "When the pandemic was happening and the new car supply was so down, everybody was getting used cars because that was their only option. It was supply and demand, so when that happens, what can you do but the prices raise. So, when the prices raise, and you have no other options."
Kelley blue book reports the average new car sold for nearly 50-thousand dollars late last year. The average used car cost roughly 27 thousand but as manufacturers resolve the micro-chip shortage and car supply increases, "j-p morgan" expects new car prices to drop between two and ten percent this year.
It says used car prices could drop as much as 20 percent.
