Autotrader Data Shows Buyers of Older Used Cars Now Pay £463 More

• The average asking price for a 10 to 15 year old used car reached £7,183 in August, up 6.9 percent year on year, roughly £463 more than the same car cost a year ago, Autotrader’s Retail Price Index shows.
• Cars aged over 15 years are also up 2.6 percent, while newer 1 to 3 year old cars have got cheaper, down 1.8 percent, as strong new car finance deals pull buyers away from nearly new stock.
• Some individual models have moved far more sharply than the averages: the used Porsche Boxster is up 20.2 percent, while the used Nissan Ariya has fallen 17.3 percent and the Audi A6 e-tron Avant is down 24.4 percent.

Buying an older, cheaper used car has long been the way UK drivers keep motoring costs down. New figures from Autotrader make that harder. The company’s Retail Price Index, based on hundreds of thousands of daily pricing observations across the UK retail market and published on 8 September 2026, shows the average asking price for a car aged 10 to 15 years reached £7,183 in August, up 6.9 percent on the same month last year. That works out at roughly £463 more for what is, in most cases, the exact same car a buyer would have found for less money 12 months ago.

Cars aged over 15 years followed the same pattern, up 2.6 percent year on year. Autotrader’s data points to strong demand for older, more affordable stock outpacing the supply of it, which is exactly the segment that budget-conscious buyers rely on. Meanwhile, cars aged 1 to 3 years actually got cheaper, down 1.8 percent, as competitive new car finance offers and consumer incentives pulled buyers toward nearly new stock instead.

The Model You Own Decides Whether You Gain or Lose Thousands

Behind the headline averages, the model-by-model figures show a much wider spread than most drivers would expect. Across all fuel types, the strongest annual price rise belonged to the used Porsche Boxster, up 20.2 percent to an average of £20,922, followed by the Alfa Romeo Giulia, up 12.3 percent, and the Audi RS6 Avant, up 12.1 percent.

At the other end of the table, the used Nissan Ariya has fallen 17.3 percent year on year to £23,419, and the Audi A6 e-tron Avant is down 24.4 percent to £48,509, the steepest drop of any model Autotrader tracks. The BYD Dolphin Surf, down 18.2 percent, and the Ford Puma Gen-E, down 16.6 percent, are not far behind. A driver who bought one of these cars new or nearly new in the past two or three years and now needs to sell is facing a resale value thousands of pounds below what the wider market’s 6.9 percent rise for older cars might suggest.

Electric cars overall are a genuine bright spot for owners, up 3.8 percent year on year to an average of £25,095, the third straight month of annual growth. The strongest gains sit in the 3 to 5 year old EV bracket, up 9.4 percent to £20,351, led by models such as the Renault Zoe, Skoda Enyaq, MG5 and Kia Niro. But that average hides the same split seen elsewhere: newer or less established EV models, including several from premium brands, are still losing value fast even as the wider used EV market firms up.

Marc Palmer, who leads Autotrader’s data team, said the market has “real underlying momentum,” with transaction volumes up 2.6 percent year on year and, for the first time this year, growth recorded across franchise, independent and supermarket retailers at the same time.

The squeeze on older stock has a clear origin. Around three million new cars went unsold in the pandemic years, and that gap in supply has moved up through the used market from that point on, first hitting nearly new and 1 to 3 year old stock, and now reaching the 3 to 5 year old bracket, where stock levels are down close to 9 percent year on year among franchise dealers. As that shortfall keeps moving through the market over the next few years, the same pressure that has already pushed up prices for 10 to 15 year old cars is likely to reach younger age bands too, narrowing the choice available at the budget end of the market even further.

Independent dealers, who carry a larger share of older stock than franchise showrooms, have been the main beneficiaries of the shift so far, recording a 3.4 percent annual rise in transactions in August. Franchise retailers saw the opposite, a 3.1 percent decline, largely a result of their stock still leaning toward the 3 to 5 year old cars where supply remains tightest. That gap is worth knowing about for buyers as much as retailers: a car of a given age can carry a noticeably different asking price depending on whether it is bought from an independent garage, a franchise showroom or a supermarket-style retailer, and the difference between them has grown as each type of retailer competes for a different slice of a stretched market.

Can You Avoid Paying More?

For anyone buying an older car on a budget, the gap between segments is the single most useful piece of information in this data. Nearly new cars, aged 1 to 3 years, are now getting cheaper at the same time older cars are getting more expensive, which narrows the price difference between the two categories. A buyer who assumes a much older car is automatically the cheaper route should check current asking prices on a slightly newer model first, as strong new car finance offers mean the gap has closed more than most people expect.

Checking model-specific data before buying or selling is now essential rather than optional. Two cars of an identical age and mileage can be moving in completely opposite directions in value depending on the model, and a buyer with some flexibility on make and model can use that to their advantage by looking at models currently falling in price, such as several used electric models from premium brands, rather than ones in high demand and rising fast, such as the Porsche Boxster or Alfa Romeo Giulia.

Sellers face the same logic in reverse. An owner of a model currently losing value quickly, including several newer electric models, is generally better off selling sooner rather than waiting, as Autotrader’s data shows no sign of these specific models reversing course while the wider market moves the other way. Free valuation tools, including Autotrader’s own, let an owner check where their specific model and age sit against the current index before agreeing a trade-in or private sale price.

Buyers on a tight budget who are set on an older car should also factor in that a rising asking price does not always mean a rising true cost of ownership. Many 10 to 15 year old cars still carry lower insurance groups and cheaper parts than the nearly new cars whose prices have fallen, so the higher purchase price can be offset over time by lower running costs, provided the car has a full service history and has not already racked up the kind of mileage that pushes it toward an MOT repair bill of its own. A thorough history check and an independent inspection before buying remain worth the modest upfront cost, especially now that the purchase price itself has less room in it to absorb a nasty surprise.

Buyers who can be flexible on timing could also benefit from waiting for the September plate change period, when a wave of part-exchange stock typically reaches dealer forecourts and independent retailers, briefly widening the choice available at each price point. Shopping across all three retailer types, franchise, independent and supermarket, is also worth doing specifically now, as Autotrader’s own figures show all three recorded sales growth together for the first time this year, a sign that competition for stock, and potentially for customers, is picking up across the board.

Sources: Autotrader Retail Price Index, “Used car market gains momentum as both independent & franchise retailers record growth for first time this year,” published 8 September 2026 (August 2026 data, like-for-like year-on-year comparison to August 2025).