WTH is up with used van prices?

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IceBurghDJ

DJ Extraordinaire
Apr 17, 2015
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With two vehicles getting older I thought maybe I'd get a 'back up' vehicle..choices being something fun (miata, mustang) or something practical, like a van for the DJ biz and other misc uses.

I last looked about 3 years ago...a 70k mile used van was $5-6k or so. SAME DEALER today? 13k! (used utility vans)

And out on the open market...$150k to 200k miles they want $8k! I saw some with over 300k miles on them. 10, 12, 15 years old.

So ok, maybe an SUV that can pull my cargo trailer...they're stupid priced too, or WAY too many miles.
 
You gotta look. North Versailles has a 2009 Chrysler Town & Country, 86k miles, $7800. Du Bois has a 2009 VW Routan, 72k miles, $7900. Clarksburg, WV has a 2006 E350, 72k miles, $9983
 
With two vehicles getting older I thought maybe I'd get a 'back up' vehicle..choices being something fun (miata, mustang) or something practical, like a van for the DJ biz and other misc uses.

I last looked about 3 years ago...a 70k mile used van was $5-6k or so. SAME DEALER today? 13k! (used utility vans)

And out on the open market...$150k to 200k miles they want $8k! I saw some with over 300k miles on them. 10, 12, 15 years old.

So ok, maybe an SUV that can pull my cargo trailer...they're stupid priced too, or WAY too many miles.
As a result of new car prices increasing due to part costs, used cars are now more in demand and therefore increasing in price as well. Work vans especially are in high demand. Don’t forget all that stimulus has to get spent somewhere... new cars are one of those ways.
 
10k for a 15 year old vehicle seems high...I don't want a 350 (have an f350) as they ride like hell.
Wouldn't own a vw if you gave it to me, and don't want a mini van. Considered it..had one in the past.

You gotta look. North Versailles has a 2009 Chrysler Town & Country, 86k miles, $7800. Du Bois has a 2009 VW Routan, 72k miles, $7900. Clarksburg, WV has a 2006 E350, 72k miles, $9983
 
Kinda weird... I looked up the value of my Chrysler Town & Country minivan, that I bought for my business 6-7 years ago, and it was worth $2K-$3K. Now Blue Book says it’s worth over $5,000! I was gonna try to sell it for $2,000. I don’t need it anymore, since I closed my DJ business. I could use my wife’s Outback if I ever had a gig I wanted to do, but it’s a GREAT hauler. The stow-n-go seats leave a ton of cargo space, and any time I need to pick something large up from the home improvement store, it comes in REALLY handy. It holds an 8x4 sheet of plywood. I’d rather have a pickup truck (I traded one in to buy the minivan), but the minivan is what I’ve got. The minivan runs GREAT! Maybe it’s time to sell. I need to take it in though for the airbag recall.
 
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Kinda weird... I looked up the value of my Chrysler Town & Country minivan, that I bought for my business 6-7 years ago, and it was worth $2K-$3K. Now Blue Book says it’s worth over $5,000! I was gonna try to sell it for $2,000. I don’t need it anymore, since I closed my DJ business. I could use my wife’s Outback if I ever had a gig I wanted to do, but it’s a GREAT hauler. The stow-n-go seats leave a ton of cargo space, and any time I need to pick something large up from the home improvement store, it comes in REALLY handy. It holds an 8x4 sheet of plywood. I’d rather have a pickup truck (I traded one in to buy the minivan), but the minivan is what I’ve got. The minivan runs GREAT! Maybe it’s time to sell. I need to take it in though for the airbag recall.

It's a cycle and somewhat dependent on the economy and supply and demand. I didn't check the numbers but I bet new car sales have been down the last couple of quarters.

I used to buy a lot of cars when I was in the taxi business. This happened twice before that I remember back in '08 there wasn't a decent priced used car to be found we wound up buying a couple in Florida that we managed to swing a deal on and drove them home. In '95 or '96 it was the same too

When things are good people buy new when things are slow they buy used which creates the supply and demand problem and prices go up quick and a lot. It should level off in a year or so. The upside is you can sell piles of junk for a decent price

All that being said since your van is in decent shape you should be able to get top dollar right now
 
It's a cycle and somewhat dependent on the economy and supply and demand. I didn't check the numbers but I bet new car sales have been down the last couple of quarters.

I used to buy a lot of cars when I was in the taxi business. This happened twice before that I remember back in '08 there wasn't a decent priced used car to be found we wound up buying a couple in Florida that we managed to swing a deal on and drove them home. In '95 or '96 it was the same too

When things are good people buy new when things are slow they buy used which creates the supply and demand problem and prices go up quick and a lot. It should level off in a year or so. The upside is you can sell piles of junk for a decent price

All that being said since your van is in decent shape you should be able to get top dollar right now

CARS (4 door sedans) are going to be the best value for the dollar right now.

Yes, Car Sales are down, BUT demand is high because fewer trade ins are occurring, AND because of Covid there were far less vehicles manufactured in 2020 than originally anticipated. 2021 manufacturing numbers are going to be down as well so the high cost of Used vehicles that are sought after will remain in place for likely the rest of this year.

SUVs, Pick Up Trucks, and popular Sports Cars will all be high priced right now.


What amazes me is so many Americans infactuation with wanting to drive around a big Pick Up Truck as their daily driver. The fact of the matter is that MOST people who drive pick up trucks hardly ever use the pick up truck for it's intended purpose. It isn't a financially sound vehicle decision.

Every guy I know who owns a pick up truck except the landscape company owner who cuts our grass, and a couple of guys who haul campers around never uses their pick up trucks to haul stuff, or use the bed to transport things. They just have a pick up truck because they wanted to look cool, be big on the road, and be a part of the American past time of owning a driving a pick up truck every where.
 
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CARS (4 door sedans) are going to be the best value for the dollar right now.

Yes, Car Sales are down, BUT demand is high because fewer trade ins are occurring, AND because of Covid there were far less vehicles manufactured in 2020 than originally anticipated. 2021 manufacturing numbers are going to be down as well so the high cost of Used vehicles that are sought after will remain in place for likely the rest of this year.

SUVs, Pick Up Trucks, and popular Sports Cars will all be high priced right now.


What amazes me is so many Americans infactuation with wanting to drive around a big Pick Up Truck as their daily driver. The fact of the matter is that MOST people who drive pick up trucks hardly ever use the pick up truck for it's intended purpose. It isn't a financially sound vehicle decision.

Every guy I know who owns a pick up truck except the landscape company owner who cuts our grass, and a couple of guys who haul campers around never uses their pick up trucks to haul stuff, or use the bed to transport things. They just have a pick up truck because they wanted to look cool, be big on the road, and be a part of the American past time of owning a driving a pick up truck every where.
I owned my last pickup truck for 17 years... 1997 Ford F-150. Best vehicle I ever owned, and the only one I kept that long. It had the 302 V8 and 4WD. Nothing fancy. I drove it to work for a couple of years, then my wife drove it for a couple of years. It got cr@ppy gas mileage, but when it snowed, you couldn’t beat it. When it got over 100K miles on it, we kinda retired it to hauling duty only, but it never had any mechanical problems, and it ALWAYS started up on the first click, no matter how long it had been sitting unused. Most people don’t NEED a pickup on a daily basis, but when you do need to haul something, like that new washing machine or BarBQ grill, it sure helps to have one. Our’s was such a pleasure to drive, we took it on trips to Dallas several times. I took it camping a BUNCH of times. If I could get it back, I would.
 
What amazes me is so many Americans infactuation with wanting to drive around a big Pick Up Truck as their daily driver. The fact of the matter is that MOST people who drive pick up trucks hardly ever use the pick up truck for it's intended purpose. It isn't a financially sound vehicle decision.

It's handy to have around I don't use the pickup part daily but I do use it a bit and I use it especially in the summer camping season. Not once have I ever been stuck in mud or snow and my repair bill mile for mile will be much lower over the course of ownership than small vehicles. If you are only comparing fuel it's a definite losing situation to have a pickup overall expense it's not

Mine is a '16 F150 I've had it in some strange places LOL1619042277194.png1619042252984.png

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10k for a 15 year old vehicle seems high...I don't want a 350 (have an f350) as they ride like hell.
Wouldn't own a vw if you gave it to me, and don't want a mini van. Considered it..had one in the past.
I don't know where you learned math but 2009 wasn't 15 years ago. You didn't specify age nor mfr, only miles. Regardless, I've shown you very small sampling of vans (within a 10-15 year range) with similar mileage at the same price point, which you said didn't exist - all I said was that you had to look for them. In fact, you claimed - 'I saw some with over 300k miles on them. 10, 12, 15 years old.' I showed you the same exact age range with the mileage and price point you specified. As posted, the laws of supply & demand drive the pricing.

Every guy I know who owns a pick up truck except the landscape company owner who cuts our grass, and a couple of guys who haul campers around never uses their pick up trucks to haul stuff, or use the bed to transport things. They just have a pick up truck because they wanted to look cool, be big on the road, and be a part of the American past time of owning a driving a pick up truck every where.

So unless people haul things 24 / 7, then they only want a truck to 'look cool, be big on the road, and be a part of the American past time of owning a driving a pick up truck every where'?
 
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As stated above you got to shop around. That's like a store that sells a particular item for less. You can also look for a used vehicle with a private seller. I bet you've only looked car dealer lots.
 
Another side effect of COVID.

Folks lose their job, can't afford new car payment, which causes more demand in used car market,

As already mentioned, classic issue of supply & demand affecting price.
 
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