Used values edge back up

Image credit: Depositphotos.com

The retreating of used vehicle prices seems to have hit the brakes.

After a few months of a downward trend, used vehicle values crept upward to start 2023.

Canadian Black Book’s Used Vehicle Retention Index for January 2023 showed a slight increase. Now at 158.2 points, the index went up 0.4 per cent (one-sixth of an index point) from the end of 2022.

Year-over-year, however, used values are still down. After a 44 per cent rise from January 2021 to January 2022, the index is down 2.4 per cent from last year.

“For most of last year, we saw what could be described as a calm decline in wholesale values, especially compared to the rapid increase the year before that,” said David Robins, principal automotive analyst and head of Canadian vehicle valuations at Canadian Black Book. “The modest increase to begin 2023 is essentially keeping pace with what we saw throughout 2022.”

The Index is calculated using Canada Black Book’s published Wholesale Average value on two to six-year-old used vehicles, as a percent of original typically equipped MSRP. It is weighted based on registration volume and adjusted for seasonality, vehicle age, mileage and condition.