Used vehicle demand remains elevated, with growing demand for the youngest and oldest models, while new vehicle demand ticked up slightly but remains off 2025’s pace, according to CarGurus’ August Intelligence Report.
Driving the news: Though cooling from a three-year peak in the spring, demand in the used market continued to rise for a second straight month in August, even though there was no change in the average price for the last two months, staying at $30,200.
Demand grew year over year for all models three years old and under and for models 11 years and older.
Additionally, demand softened for vehicles between four and 10 years.
“A lot of the demand growth we’ve been seeing this year is on both ends of the spectrum,” Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence for CarGurus, said. “We see a lot of sales demand this year for two years and younger vehicles, and the thesis is that’s people getting priced out of the new market going over to the used market to find the price points they’re looking for. Then we’re seeing a lot of growth in the more aged vehicles, which tend to be at those lower price points… It’s affordability affecting both ends of the used market.”
Used vehicles moving slower: For a fourth straight month, the average days on the market increased, reaching 68.4 days in August.
Inventory shrank, with days of supply falling from 47 to 44.5 month over month.
Vehicles under $25,000 are below 45 days' supply.
New vehicle prices, demand increase: The average price of new vehicles hit a year-high at $51,700, 4.4% above August 2025.
The share of vehicles under $30,000 dropped to 10%.
Demand rose slightly in the past month to its highest point since May, though still behind last year, while the average days on the market remained unchanged at 84.7 for the second straight month.
Less expensive vehicles in short supply: New vehicles under $30,000 presented just more than a 50-day supply in August, and vehicles priced at $60,000 sat at more than 75 days.
Among the early 2027 models in the greatest volume, three of the four vehicles with the most days' supply are priced below $34,000 - Chevrolet Equinox, Honda HR-V and Kia Seltos.
Roberts noted the average price of 2027s has been trending higher, though some of the early arrivals have been on the more “affordable side” of the market.
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Honda, Hyundai grow in demand: For most automakers, demand softened year-over-year, with Hyundai and Honda being the exceptions among OEMs with a more than 10% share.
Though behind last year, Toyota remained the most in-demand brand and had the lowest inventory supply, with less than 50 days, and Honda was next in the lowest days on the market, with Roberts pointing to the pull of consumers searching for hybrid options.
GM and Stellantis increased their inventory levels from August 2025, but both have cut down on their early arrivals of the next model years compared to last year.
The 2026 Jeep Wrangler is staying on the market for 134 days, the longest of the top 10 available models from the current year.
Bottom line: Affordability continues to impact the overall market with consumers looking for value in the used and new markets.
“If you can source affordable inventory, both on the new and used side, that's clearly where consumer demand and interest is now,” Roberts said. “Affordable inventory continues to be the single largest draw for consumers at this point. It's been a trend now for several years. With everything going on with the macro environment and bond markets now, I continue to see interest rates more likely to go up than down at this point… Affordability is going to continue to be the number one trend. Obviously, the sub-trend underneath that is if you can get an affordable hybrid to go along with it, fantastic.”
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