Why Used Car Prices Are Falling While Used EV Prices Climb

• Wholesale used car values fell 0.4 percent year-over-year in mid-September 2026, according to the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, while used electric vehicle values rose 2.3 percent over the same period.
• A Federal Reserve rate hike to 3.75 to 4.00 percent and gasoline prices near $4.48 a gallon are pushing buyers toward economical vehicles and pricing many out of new car loans altogether.
• Used EV prices are climbing faster than new EV prices are falling, which is quietly shrinking the savings buyers used to count on by choosing used over new.

Two Very Different Used Car Markets Right Now

Shop for a used gas-powered truck or SUV right now and the market is working in your favor. Shop for a used electric vehicle and it is not. The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, the industry’s benchmark for wholesale used car pricing, dropped to 206.2 in mid-September 2026, down 1.0 percent from August and 0.4 percent from a year earlier. Buried inside that overall number is a split that buyers need to understand far more than the headline figure: non-EV values fell 1.3 percent year-over-year, while used EV values climbed 2.3 percent over the same stretch. Two years ago, buying a used EV instead of new was one of the surest ways to save money on an electric vehicle. That gap is closing, and drivers cross-shopping used gas and electric vehicles right now are looking at two markets moving in opposite directions.

What’s Pushing Gas Vehicle Values Down

Wholesale supply is a big part of the story. Dealers reported 27.8 days of supply on hand in mid-September, up 2.4 days from a year earlier, meaning more used gas-powered vehicles are sitting on lots relative to how quickly they are selling. Sales conversion at auction, the share of vehicles offered that actually find a buyer, fell 1.4 points year-over-year to 55.8 percent, a sign that dealers are having to work harder to move inventory even as they hold prices roughly steady on paper. Jonathan Gregory, senior director at Cox Automotive, described the current pattern bluntly: the market has given back the stronger pricing seen in the spring’s tax-refund bounce and is now tracking slightly below where it stood a year ago.

Two outside pressures are compounding that softness. Regular gasoline hit $4.478 a gallon nationally, up 41 percent from a year earlier, according to fuel pricing trackers, making a gas-hungry pickup or full-size SUV noticeably more expensive to own than it was twelve months ago. At the same time, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75 to 4.00 percent, its first increase in more than three years, pushing auto loan rates higher across the board. Together, pricier gas and pricier financing are steering budget-conscious buyers away from larger, thirstier vehicles right when those vehicles are already piling up on dealer lots faster than they can sell.

Why Used EVs Are Moving the Opposite Direction

Used electric vehicles are catching the benefit of the same forces working against gas models. A driver watching gas prices climb toward $4.50 a gallon has a strong financial reason to shop for something that never visits a gas station, and a used EV is often the cheapest entry point into that math. The average used EV listing price rose 8.2 percent over the past year to $37,441, evidence that demand is outpacing the supply of good used electric inventory even as new EV transaction prices moved the opposite direction, falling 2.8 percent to an average of $54,754.

That combination, used EV prices rising while new EV prices fall, is the detail buyers need to pay attention to. For the past several years, the standard advice for anyone cross-shopping electric vehicles was simple: buy used and pocket the difference. Depreciation on EVs tended to run steeper than on gas vehicles, and a two or three-year-old EV could often be had for a large discount off its original sticker price. That gap is narrowing in real time. As new EV prices come down and used EV prices go up, the traditional savings argument for buying used gets weaker every month, and buyers who assume last year’s pricing patterns still apply could end up paying more than they expect for a used EV relative to a comparable new one.

The Retention Numbers Tell the Same Story

Manheim’s separate three-year-old vehicle index, which tracks how well specific models hold their value, showed retention improving to 99.6 percent in early September, up 0.6 points from a year earlier, even as overall depreciation ran at negative 0.8 percent for the month. In plain terms, vehicles that were already a few years old held onto more of their value than usual, even as fresher used inventory softened. That pattern typically shows up when buyers who cannot afford new vehicle payments shift down into the used market for slightly older, cheaper vehicles, propping up demand at that end of the market while newer used inventory absorbs the bulk of the price weakness across the board.

What History Says About Where Prices Go Next

Wholesale used vehicle pricing tends to move before retail prices catch up, which means the softening seen at auction in mid-September will likely show up on dealer lot price tags over the following one to two months rather than immediately. Buyers who wait a few weeks before shopping for a used truck or SUV could see the discount widen slightly as dealers adjust their asking prices downward to match what they are now paying at auction. The reverse logic applies to used EVs: if wholesale EV values keep climbing at anywhere near the current pace, retail asking prices for used electric vehicles are likely to keep rising too, which argues against waiting on that side of the market in hopes prices come down.

What This Means If You’re Shopping Right Now

For anyone shopping a used gas-powered truck, SUV, or sedan, the current market rewards patience and negotiation. With days-of-supply rising and sales conversion falling, dealers have more room to come down on price than they did a year ago, most visibly on larger, thirstier vehicles that are proving hardest to move off the lot. Buyers should compare a dealer’s asking price against the Manheim-driven wholesale trend rather than assuming last year’s retail price is still the going rate, and should factor the higher cost of financing into their monthly payment math before committing, as the Fed’s rate increase raises the true cost of any loan taken out from this point forward.

For anyone shopping used EVs specifically, the old assumption that used will automatically be dramatically cheaper than new no longer holds as firmly as it did. Shoppers should run the actual numbers on both a comparable new EV, factoring in any remaining federal or state incentives, and a used option, rather than assuming the used vehicle wins on price by default. With used EV values up 8.2 percent in a single year and new EV transaction prices falling, the math has shifted enough that a new EV with incentives applied could, in some cases, land closer to a used one than buyers expect going in.

The safest approach for any buyer right now, gas or electric, is to price both a new and a used option side by side before signing anything, rather than deciding in advance which category is the obvious bargain. Six months ago that answer might have been predictable. Today it depends entirely on the specific vehicle, the specific lender’s rate, and how badly a given dealer needs to clear a particular model off the lot. Pulling a current Manheim-adjusted price estimate alongside a real financing quote from a bank or credit union, rather than relying on a dealer’s in-house number, is the single best way to see where a specific deal actually lands.

Sources:

• Cox Automotive: Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, mid-September 2026
• Yahoo Autos: Used car values just dipped for the first time this year
• Energy Factbook: Why gas prices are at $4.46 a gallon