The used car market has always been relatively buoyant in the UK. Many people prefer to purchase a second-hand car because it is cheaper than buying a new one.
What’s more, lower value cars are generally cheaper to insure and will depreciate much less rapidly than brand new ones. However, since the social restrictions that were put in place to help stop the spread of coronavirus were eased, the used car market has become even more popular. Why is this?
To begin with, it is worth mentioning that the increased popularity of used cars doesn’t mean you cannot find good cars worth investing in. For example, KAP offers a wide range of fully inspected used cars in Brighton at the best local prices. Book your free test drive today! However, the prices demanded by second-hand car dealers have gone up compared with a few years ago. This is due to the increasing demand for used cars, of course. Nevertheless, second-hand cars still are, on average, much cheaper than new ones.
The demand for used cars post-covid has largely been driven by people wanting to drive themselves. As more people work from home nowadays, fewer people have season tickets for their rail travel. More people want a car to keep at home than used to be the case. Some of it is down to the fact that less people want to share their space when travelling, either by public transport or by taxi. However, that is not the full story.
Another aspect that has driven people towards the used car market is the problem that exists in the supply chain of the new car market. Most people know that it was always possible to drive a hard bargain with a new car dealership, especially if you didn’t need to finance your car. However, with fewer new cars available, dealers are tending to stick to their list prices.
There are many reasons why there are not so many brand new cars around. Some of it is due to components being stuck in the international supply chain but it is also down to lost production time in car makers’ production facilities, something that arose when people were asked to stay at home. Even in the more recent past, skilled car workers have had to take time off work due to being ‘pinged’. All of this has meant fewer new cars, higher prices and, therefore, more people looking to the second-hand market than otherwise usually would.
