MW A used car for $30,000 is now a 'bargain'? How to get a good one for less.

By Venessa Wong

Years of price increases that started during the pandemic have led to a 'paradigm shift' in what is considered a used-car bargain, experts say

The average selling price for three-year-old cars is 40% higher than in July 2019.

Americans looking for an affordable used car today face a tough market.

The average selling price for three-year-old vehicles - often considered the "sweet spot" for used-car buyers, as they tend to have updated features and much of the depreciation has already occurred - was $31,216 in the second quarter. While this price tag remains near historical highs, it is 30% less than the average suggested retail price of $44,651 when these cars were new in 2022, making them a "bargain" by today's standards, according to researchers at the car-buying site Edmunds.

By comparison, in 2022, the average $31,628 selling price for three-year-old used cars was just 21% less than the average price they were listed for as new in 2019.

In other words, as three-year-old cars' prices have remained fairly flat in recent years, they have become a better value relative to new cars, whose prices have continued to climb.

"I don't care what [brand] you buy - anybody buying a new car today is making a luxury purchase," Ivan Drury, Edmunds' director of insights, told MarketWatch.

Despite representing a better value to consumers, overall affordability remains a major challenge, as the average selling price for three-year-old cars is still 40% higher than in July 2019, when it was $22,297 on average. Cars have become more expensive as automakers have loaded them with safety features, infotainment and advanced driver-assistance systems.

Read more: An average new car will cost you more than $700 a month. Can dealership incentives help with affordability?

Those years of price increases have created "a paradigm shift" in what is considered "a bargain," Drury said. Used cars still cost considerably more than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, but consumers "don't have many other choices."

This is the difficult reality for the 18% of Americans who say they want to buy a car this year, according to a recent NerdWallet survey. In the same survey, 41% of respondents who set a 2025 savings goal (for aims that included buying a vehicle) said rising expenses were a barrier.

"We see a bit of hesitancy on price alone," Drury added, with three-year-old cars sitting on dealer lots for 38 days on average, six days longer than the average a year ago. "It's hard when you see $31,000 for a used car to say, 'I'm getting a bargain.' You have to do some mental gymnastics."

The average monthly payment on three-year-old used cars was nearly $596 in the second quarter, according to data Edmunds provided to MarketWatch. This remains well above the roughly $400 monthly payment that would be affordable for the typical American household, based on the rule of thumb to spend less than 10% of take-home pay on car payments.

'It's hard when you see $31,000 for a used car to say, "I'm getting a bargain." You have to do some mental gymnastics.'Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds

With the amount of negative equity on vehicles - meaning the amount owed on the car exceeds the car's value - also near record highs, "growing vehicle debt is becoming an issue as more and more buyers are rolling larger sums of what they owe on their trade into the next vehicle purchase," Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told MarketWatch.

Models with big discounts

Still, there are some deals to be found, especially for buyers who are willing to consider an electric vehicle, Drury said.

A three-year-old Kia (KR:000270) EV6, for instance, is selling for an average of $25,900, or less than half the original price when it was new, according to Edmunds. The average selling price on a three-year-old Nissan (JP:7201) Leaf, at $16,200, is also less than half its original price, according to Edmunds.

For less than $30,000, "the usual range of solid family haulers, like the Honda $(HMC)$ (JP:7267) Pilot and Toyota $(TM)$ (JP:7203) Highlander, can be found with 40,000 miles, which should provide many more years of use," Fiorani added.

While they are selling for more than $30,000 on average, a number of Tesla $(TSLA)$ models are leading declines in used-car prices, according to a new report from iSeeCars - with used-car prices on the Model S, Model Y and Model X in July all down by more than 12% year over year.

Look at older cars

While car buyers often see three-year-old cars as offering good value, they should also consider older models, both Fiorani and Drury said -as long as they get them inspected by an independent mechanic.

"A five-year-old vehicle or one with more than 50,000 miles on it should not be the dealbreaker it once was," Fiorani said, noting that "all vehicle manufacturers have made incredible strides in improving the products, especially when it comes to longevity and reliability."

Prices may be high, but at least "today's vehicles, maintained properly, can easily top 100,000 or 200,000 miles without a major issue," he said.

"It really does come down to how well the prior owner has treated the vehicle," Drury said.

If you're just starting out on your money or career journey and have questions about how to navigate your finances, we want to hear from you. Write to Dollar Signs, MarketWatch's new advice column, at dollarsigns@marketwatch.com.

-Venessa Wong

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August 13, 2025 13:51 ET (17:51 GMT)

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