Used cars priced under $20k. The surge in used car prices has been obvious over the past few years. pickinzusedcars.com latest study not only demonstrates the practical effects of this dramatic rise in used car costs, but also confirms shoppers must pay these higher prices despite a substantial increase in used car mileage.

For some of the best-selling cars, buyers are faced with used models having over twice as many miles compared to the pre-pandemic market, while paying 25 to 50 percent higher prices. Summary: 

The average used car’s price has increased by 47.7 percent since the pandemic Used cars priced under $20,000 made up 49.3 percent of the market in 2019; they now make up just 12.4 percent of the market in 2023

More than half of today’s used cars (1- to 5-years old) also have 20 percent or more miles than they did 3 years ago, meaning buyers have to pay more money for cars that have been driven substantially farther

 In 2019, about 50 percent of used Honda CR-Vs and Toyota RAV4s cost less than $20,000, but in 2023 only 2 percent of them are priced under $20,000, and these same used models also have twice as much mileage as they did in 2019 pickinzusedcars analyzed over 10.8 million 1- to 5-year-old used cars and found the average used car cost $22,493 in 2015, with a slight bump to $23,351 in 2019.

But over the last four years, used car prices have exploded – ballooning to $34,491 in 2023, which is a 47.7 percent rise, averaging more than 10 percent each year.

“Among the pandemic’s many casualties is the affordable used car, which has nearly vanished from the used car marketplace,” said pickinzusedcars’ Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “In 2019, used car shoppers with a budget of $15,000 could afford over 20 percent of the late-model used car market. Today that budget only gets them access to 1.6 percent of the market.”

 Used Cars by Price Range: 2019 vs. 2023 – pickinzusedcars Study Price Range Share of Used Car Sales 2019 Share of Used Car Sales 2023 % Change in Share Avg. Mileage 2019 Avg. Mileage 2023 % Change in Avg. Mileage Up to $10K 3.0% 0.1% -97.9% 72,205 116,158 60.9% $10K-$15K 19.9% 1.5% -92.6% 47,886 84,710 76.9% $15K-$20K 26.4% 10.9% 42.5% $60K-$65K 0.3% 1.5% 332.1% 17,840 27,237 52.7% $65K-$70K 0.2% 1.3% 479.1% 16,728 25,461 52.2% Over $70K 0.6% 3.2% 437.7% 12,334 16,368 32.7%

While they only made up 3 percent of the used car market in 2019, shoppers could still find models with less than 75,000 miles on the odometer for under $10,000 in 2019. 

Now those cars are gone, with only 1.5 percent costing under $15,000 and around 11 percent priced between $15,001 and $20,000. Within the sub-$20,000 price range, the average used car’s mileage was 43,541 in 2019. 

Now it’s 63,457, an increase of 45.7 percent. For added perspective, in 2015 cars costing up to $20,000 made up 52.7 percent of sales, and the average mileage of these cars was 44,777. Across all price points, more than half of cars sold in 2023 have at least 20% more mileage than similarly priced cars in 2019. 

“During the pandemic lockdowns one of the few things people could still do was take a drive, and clearly many of them did,” said Brauer. “This drove up the mileage across the used car market, but the supply of new and used cars was so constricted that the additional mileage didn’t hurt used car prices – they still went up.” Popular Cars That Cost Between 25 Percent and 57 Percent More Today 

Below are some of America’s best-selling cars and their change in used-car pricing and mileage from 2019 to 2023.

Nine of these cars cost less than $20,000 in 2019, and all but two of them averaged less than $30,000.

Today only the Hyundai Elantra still costs less than $20,000, and eight models cost more than $30,000. Examples of mainstream models that no longer cost less than $20,000 in the used car market include the Honda Accord and Civic, the Hyundai Tucson, the Nissan Rogue, and the Toyota Camry and Corolla.

 Price Increases for Best-Selling Used Cars: 2019 vs. 2023 Rank Model Avg. Price 2019 Avg. Price 2023 % Change in Avg. Price 2019-2023

1 Ram 1500 $27,324 $42,881 56.9%

 2 Toyota Corolla $14,220 $21,308 49.8%

 3 Toyota Camry $17,107 $25,537 49.3%

4 Honda Civic $16,577 $24,301 46.6%

5 GMC Sierra 1500 $32,862 $47,364 44.1%

6 Honda Accord $18,627 $26,658 43.1%

7 Hyundai Elantra $13,200 $18,744 42.0%

 8 Toyota RAV4 $20,640 $29,094 41.0%

9 Jeep Wrangler $25,936 $35,953 38.6%

10 Honda CR-V $20,714 $28,401 37.1%

11 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 $29,629 $40,359 36.2%

12 Nissan Rogue $18,015 $24,241 34.6%

13 Ford F-150 $31,520 $42,104 33.6%

 14 Ford Explorer $26,502 $34,904 31.7%

15 Hyundai Tucson $18,270 $23,869 30.6%

 16 Chevrolet Malibu $15,735 $20,372 29.5%

17 Toyota Tacoma $28,443 $36,675 28.9%

18 Subaru Crosstrek $20,763 $26,480 27.5%

19 Mazda CX-5 $20,580 $26,191 27.3%

 20 Chevrolet Equinox $17,954 $22,685 26.3%

21 Subaru Outback $23,433 $29,413 25.5%

22 Jeep Grand Cherokee $27,454 $34,307 25.0%

23 Toyota Highlander $29,153 $36,311 24.6%

 Average of all 1- to 5-year-old used cars $23,351 $34,491 47.7% “Two popular compact SUVs, the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, increased in price 37.1 percent and 41 percent, respectively, over the last 4 years,” said Brauer. “These price increases occurred despite a doubling of the average mileage on these same used models, from less than 50,000 miles in 2019 to over 100,000 miles in 2023.” 

Best-Selling Used Cars Under $20,000: 2019 vs. 2023 -– pickinzusedcars Study Rank Model Share of Used Car Sales < $20K,

2019 Share of Used Car Sales < $20K,

2023 % Change in Share Avg. Mileage Used Cars < $20K,

2019 Avg Mileage Used Cars < $20K,

2023 % Change in Avg. Mileage

1 Jeep Wrangler 6.5% 0.0% -99.6% 74,202 72,084 -2.9%

 2 Honda CR-V 48.4% 0.9% -98.1% 45,272 103,029 127.6%

3 Toyota RAV4 46.7% 1.7% -96.3% 42,529 101,880 139.6%

 4 GMC Sierra 1500 2.8% 0.1% -95.7% 80,181 122,845 53.2%

 5 Toyota Highlander 2.2% 0.1% -95.2% 93,706 127,982 36.6%

 6 Honda Accord 72.4% 3.9% -94.6% 41,579 93,395 124.6%

 7 Jeep Grand Cherokee 10.8% 0.6% -94.2% 81,078 110,348 36.1%

 8 Toyota Tacoma 6.2% 0.4% -94.0% 75,026 97,847 30.4%

 9 Mazda CX-5 45.6% 2.9% -93.6% 47,837 75,862 58.6%

 10 Ram 1500 8.9% 0.7% -92.4% 81,322 126,270 55.3%

 11 Toyota Camry 86.7% 7.9% -90.9% 41,043 89,656 118.4%

12 Subaru Crosstrek 42.3% 4.2% -90.1% 55,125 89,805 62.9%

 13 Ford Explorer 14.3% 1.5% -89.2% 80,994 107,937 33.3%

14 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4.4% 0.5% -88.0% 94,255 140,311 48.9%

15 Subaru Outback 24.5% 3.0% -87.7% 69,355 104,276 50.4%

16 Honda Civic 89.6% 11.8% -86.8% 34,393 62,245 81.0%

17 Ford F-150 4.9% 0.8% -84.2% 96,262 143,271 48.8%

18 Nissan Rogue 79.4% 19.0% -76.1% 37,618 72,430 92.5%

19 Hyundai Tucson 78.5% 20.5% -73.9% 34,941 69,409 98.6%

20 Chevrolet Equinox 78.4% 23.3% -70.3% 41,551 71,035 71.0%

21 Toyota Corolla 99.7% 37.1% -62.8% 37,034 62,005 67.4%

22 Chevrolet Malibu 94.5% 51.7% -45.2% 40,622 69,234 70.4%

23 Hyundai Elantra 99.5% 73.0% -26.6% 37,162 55,942 50.5% Average of all 1- to 5-year-old used cars 49.3% 12.4% -74.8% 43,541 63,457 45.7%

“Used car shoppers have to face the stark reality of paying more for cars with higher mileage compared to the pre-pandemic used market,” said Brauer.

 “It’s news nobody wants to hear, but the numbers don’t lie. This means due diligence in knowing a used car’s market value and confirming its service history is more important than ever.”

 These are pickinzusedcars’ top picks for the best used cars for shoppers on a budget: Best Used Cars under $10,000 Best Used Cars under $15,000 Best Used Cars Under $20,000 Changes in Affordable Cars by Metro Area The table below shows the share of used cars priced under $20,000 in 2019 and 2023 for each of the top 50 metro areas by population. In each metro area, there was a large drop in the share of low-priced used cars. The drop was largest in the Boston-Manchester area and smallest in Oklahoma City. Loss of Used Car Share Under $20,000 in

Top 50 Metro Areas: 2019 vs. 2023 – pickinzusedcars Study Rank Metro Area Share of Used Car Sales < $20K, 2019 Share of Used Car Sales < $20K, 2023 % Change in Share

1 Boston, MA-Manchester, NH 46.7% 8.2% -82.4%

2 Austin, TX 50.0% 10.0% -79.9%

3 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA 51.5% 10.4% -79.9%

 4 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 43.0% 9.0% -79.1%

 5 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC 48.9% 10.3% -78.9%

6 Denver, CO 41.6% 9.0% -78.5%

 7 Harrisburg-Lancaster-York, PA 47.9% 10.3% -78.4%

8 Milwaukee, WI 49.5% 10.7% -78.3%

 9 Los Angeles, CA 53.9% 12.0% -77.8%

10 Charlotte, NC 52.9% 11.8% -77.7%

11 Philadelphia, PA 51.2% 11.4% -77.7%

 12 Hartford & New Haven, CT 52.0% 11.6% -77.7%

13 Seattle-Tacoma, WA 44.7% 10.0% -77.6%

 14 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville), NC 51.4% 12.1% -76.5%

15 Washington, DC (Hagerstown, MD) 51.4% 12.1% -76.4%

16 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL 52.7% 12.6% -76.1%

17 Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI 49.0% 11.9% -75.8%

18 Detroit, MI 52.7% 12.8% -75.7%

19 St. Louis, MO 49.5% 12.3% -75.2%

20 New York, NY 47.8% 11.8% -75.2%

21 Birmingham, AL 47.2% 11.8% -75.0%

22 San Antonio, TX 48.9% 12.2% -75.0%

23 Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM 46.7% 11.7% -74.9%

 24 Fresno-Visalia, CA 57.5% 14.5% -74.9%

 25 Nashville, TN 48.0% 12.1% -74.7%

 26 Pittsburgh, PA 47.3% 11.9% -74.7%

27 Portland, OR 45.4% 11.6% -74.4%

28 Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, CA 51.9% 13.3% -74.4%

29 Las Vegas, NV 54.1% 13.9% -74.3%

30 Indianapolis, IN 51.7% 13.6% -73.7%

 31 Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News,VA 56.8% 15.0% -73.7%

32 Atlanta, GA 49.9% 13.3% -73.4%

33 Phoenix, AZ 53.8% 14.4% -73.3%

34 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX 46.3% 12.4% -73.3%

35 Baltimore, MD 52.0% 14.0% -73.2%

36 San Diego, CA 53.1% 14.3% -73.1%

37 Louisville, KY 51.9% 14.1% -72.8%

 38 Chicago, IL 51.6% 14.1% -72.7%

 39 Kansas City, MO 51.0% 14.2% -72.2%

40 Greensboro-Winston Salem, NC 52.8% 14.8% -72.0%

41 Houston, TX 46.9% 13.2% -71.8%

 42 Columbus, OH 55.2% 15.6% -71.8%

43 Cleveland-Akron (Canton), OH 57.6% 16.3% -71.7%

 44 Cincinnati, OH 56.0% 16.4% -70.7%

 45 Salt Lake City, UT 48.0% 14.8% -69.2%

 46 Tampa-St Petersburg (Sarasota), FL 54.5% 16.8% -69.1%

 47 Jacksonville, FL 54.6% 17.2% -68.5%

48 Orlando-Daytona Beach, FL 56.4% 17.9% -68.2%

49 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL 56.4% 18.9% -66.5%

50 Oklahoma City, OK 48.0% 16.4% -65.9%

Related Studies: Best and Worst Colors for Resale Value New Hybrids and EVs Fall Below MSRP, Despite Ongoing New-Car Demand Most and Least Driven Electric Cars Methodology pickinzusedcars analyzed over 10.8 million 1- to 5-year-old used cars sold between January and July of 2019 and 2023.

List prices and average odometer readings were tallied and aggregated to compare the share of cars at various price points across the two periods, as well as to compare the average mileage of cars before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A selection of best-selling vehicles were analyzed and ranked by the change in share of cars priced under $20,000 from 2019 to 2023.

About pickinzusedcars.com pickinzusedcars.com is a data-driven car search and research company that helps shoppers find the best car deals by providing key insights and valuable resources, including the pickinzusedcars VIN Check report and Best Cars Rankings. pickinzusedcars has saved users over $396 million so far by applying big data analytics powered by over 25 billion (and growing) data points and using proprietary algorithms to objectively analyze, score and rank millions of new cars and used cars. This study, Used Cars Priced Under $20k Are Vanishing, originally appeared on pickinzusedcars.com.

Used cars priced under $20k are vanishing

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