Used‑car prices jump; used EV wave

Used-car prices are rising again, but “used vehicle” no longer means one market. In March 2026, Cox Automotive said its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index climbed to 215.3, up 6.2% from a year earlier and the highest reading since summer 2023. (coxautoinc.com) That index tracks wholesale auction prices, which are the prices dealers pay before a car reaches a retail lot. When wholesale prices jump, shoppers usually feel it later in sticker prices, trade-in values, and insurance total-loss calculations. (coxautoinc.com) (autobodynews.com) The March increase was not a small seasonal wiggle. Cox Automotive said the index rose 1.4% from February, even though the long-term average move for March is flat, and values were up 2.3% from the start of 2026. (coxautoinc.com) The forces behind the jump are plain old household math. Tax refunds put cash in buyers’ pockets, new vehicles remain expensive, interest rates still make monthly payments painful, and higher gasoline prices push more shoppers toward cheaper used options. (cnbc.com) (coxautoinc.com) Cox chief economist Jeremy Robb said wholesale supply at Manheim remained tight in March, which helps explain why prices kept moving up. If more buyers chase a limited number of auction vehicles, dealers bid harder and the clearing price rises. (coxautoinc.com) That would be a familiar used-car story if electric vehicles were not moving in a different direction at the same time. In the first quarter of 2026, used electric vehicles sold through Manheim’s wholesale lanes reached nearly 37,000 units, a quarterly record, up 12% from a year earlier and 17% from the fourth quarter of 2025. (electrek.co) Retail demand is following that supply. Cox Automotive estimated more than 100,000 used electric vehicles were sold at retail in the first quarter, making it the second-strongest quarter on record after the incentive-driven spike in the third quarter of 2025. (electrek.co) The supply surge has a clock behind it: leases signed a few years ago are ending now. Many of those vehicles were originally leased when a $7,500 federal tax credit helped lift electric vehicle adoption, so a larger batch of off-lease cars is now flowing into auctions and dealer inventories. (electrek.co) That creates a split market inside the used-car business. Gasoline vehicles are being supported by tight supply and affordability pressure, while used electric vehicles are getting a bigger supply pipeline that changes how fast they depreciate and how dealers price them. (coxautoinc.com) (electrek.co) For dealers, that split changes remarketing, which is the business of buying, reconditioning, financing, and reselling vehicles at the right speed. A three-year-old gasoline sport utility vehicle and a three-year-old electric crossover may now require different bidding strategies, different pricing expectations, and different timelines on the lot. (electrek.co) (coxautoinc.com) For shoppers, the result is less one big used-car market and more two overlapping ones. Traditional used vehicles are getting more expensive because replacement costs stay high, while used electric vehicles are becoming more available because the lease wave is finally arriving. (cnbc.com) (electrek.co) That does not mean every used electric vehicle will suddenly be cheap, and it does not mean every used gasoline car will keep rising forever. It means the headline number for “used cars” now hides two different supply stories, and 2026 is the year that split is becoming visible in the data. (coxautoinc.com) (electrek.co)