Carmigo is bringing you the best-selling used cars for December (or at least our prediction). We’ve analyzed trends on our marketplace as well as the general car market and compared those with U.S. economic trends to help you decide if this is the month to sell your car, or if you should consider waiting.
Our system is simple. We compare the prices from the Carmigo Marketplace with national auto sales and U.S. economic trends. We even talked to some of our dealership buyers to see what they plan to purchase in December.
Cars that are regularly selling for higher prices are Green-Light Cars. Alternately, cars that are not selling as well or that have dipped in price are Red-Light Cars.
But remember, these are simply our best guesses based on current trends.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Index saw a slight uptick for the first time since this summer. We’ve also seen a rise in the number of used vehicles sold since October. This slight rise comes on the heels of a five-month decline in the Manheim Used Vehicle Index.
That doesn’t mean used car prices will return to summer highs. But hopefully, we’ll see used car prices stabilize through the holiday season, maybe even go up as holiday purchasing reduces overall availability.
So what can you expect if you sell your car this winter? You can expect to make less than you would have this summer but still much more than at any time in the history of used car sales.
Hyundais sell well. They get lots of offers, and buyers are happy to pay for them. And for whatever reason, we’ve seen an uptick in Santa Cruz sales. Maybe it’s because it’s a truck, crossover, and fuel efficient? If you have one, it’ll fetch a good price on Carmigo.
The Toyota Camry is tried and true when it comes to mid-sized sedans. Nothing is more stable than a Camry. And when the car market is volatile, and gas prices are up and down, lots of people prefer a safe bet. If you’ve got a Toyota Camry or similar car you’re considering selling, we feel pretty good about your chances of fielding plenty of offers on the Carmigo marketplace.
It’s the best-selling truck in the USA. Of course, it’s selling well. Jokes aside, trucks have been harder to sell the last few months, but Ford F150s sold as well as any other car in the previous few months. This is likely because of their versatility. When the market is a little unsteady, people want a truck with options instead of boxing themselves into something more specific.
Small crossovers are a fuel-efficient alternative to SUVs. And SUVs are expensive to keep fueled. For this reason, we see cars like the Ford EcoSport and Toyota Rav4 sell well. We’ve seen buyers make more offers on Rav4s, CR-Vs, Jeep Cherokees, and the like than in previous months.
It feels like I say this every month, but vans sell. We don’t see as many vans as we do with other body types, but when we do, they sell. Cargo vans, passenger vans, minivans. If it’s a van, we can sell it fast.
They’re selling a little, but not for the prices most Tesla owners want. Buyers are no longer willing to pay over-market prices for Teslas, but we still see most Tesla owners wishing to make a profit on their cars. This slowdown in sales is likely due to the flood of Tesla transactions this summer.
We were a little surprised by how little interest buyers have had in luxury cars lately. We weren’t expecting them to sell well, but we’re not seeing many buyers making offers on luxury cars. If you’re trying to sell one, maybe wait until next year or prepare to take less money.
Sure, the F150 is on our Green Light list, and work trucks are selling alright. But when it comes to mid-sized pickups or fully-outfitted, driving-around luxury trucks, prices aren’t high enough to justify selling.
This is nothing against the Atlas or the GMC Yukon. As far as I can tell, they’re nice cars. But they fit into the category of being a little too big, a little too nice, and a little too expensive to sell well in the current used car market.
We’ve sold some Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, and Chargers lately, but not that many. It’s because performance isn’t valued as highly in a down market, meaning buyers are unwilling to pay as much as sellers want or need.
Shameless Plug: A lot of these price trends are based on the Carmigo Marketplace data. Carmigo is a one-of-a-kind platform that lets private car owners sell their used cars to dealerships.
Note: These predictions are simply that: predictions. We cannot tell the future. They are based on trends we’ve seen in the marketplace but are not a guarantee of future market outcomes.
