FASTER car sales is the strongest sign yet that the used car market has recovered from last year’s crash, trading platform HonkHonk.co.uk says.
Announcing that they’re now seeing some customer’s cars snapped up by dealers within two hours of being listed, HonkHonk adds that prices paid are also rising for all kinds of car in good condition.
Analysts at HonkHonk – a car-selling platform linking consumers to dealers who need stock – say that the average time to sell is now 36 hours.
This is 22 hours faster than during the final quarter of 2023, when crashing car prices were taking a heavy toll on confidence among both motorists and dealers.
Last year motorists – who didn’t understand that depreciation was unusually high – were refusing good offers and threatening to bring the market to a halt.
That dynamic has shifted in 2024, as demand increases and dealers snap up the best cars as fast as possible.
The general recovery of the market is illustrated in HonkHonk’s analysis by the fact that cars of all styles are seeing rising demand.
For example, a standard Vauxhall Corsa worth £4,000, an Aston Martin Vantage, worth £42,750 and an Audi RS3, sold at £51,000, were among the ten fastest movers in recent weeks.
The two fastest selling cars have been a 2019 £34,500 Range Rover Sport and a 2022 Volvo XC40, at £27,500, which were both snapped up within two hours of their owners listing them on HonkHonk.
The car that remained unsold for longest was a 2006 Aston Martin Vantage Coupe, which remained on the site for 144 hours.
Sebastien Duval, CEO of HonkHonk, said: “The speed of sales we’re seeing now is very good news for consumers because no one wants a long drawn-out process when they’ve decided to sell.
“Motorists have adjusted to more realistic expectations too, so dealers are less frustrated by having their best offers rejected – a consistent problem we reported last year – so everyone is winning.”
Analysts at HonkHonk say that most cars priced at under £10,000, in good condition and with full service history, are selling within 24 hours. Dealers will still buy cars with incomplete service history and minor damage, but are tending to wait until they have a ‘budget’ customer for that particular model, rather than buying for stock.
Prestigious marques over ten years old also need the dealer to have a customer who already wants that exact model in mind before they will make a serious offer.
This is why the car that remained on HonkHonk.co.uk for longest was an 18-year-old Aston Martin. This is in contrast to the 2017 Vantage, which was snapped up after four hours despite costing nearly three-times more.
Sebastien Duval said: “Older, more budget examples of prestigious cars are more of a risk for dealers so they will only move on them when they’re confident they already have a potential customer.
“For most other cars, whatever the size or style, demand is strong from dealers looking for stock in a market that is much stronger than last year.”
