Some car buyers are turning to gently used vehicles from over a decade ago as inventory remains low.
The past two years of the consumer car market have produced no shortage of strange trends, most of them driven by record wait times for new vehicles.
The most noticeable effect for cars buyers has been the sight of empty lots and obscene dealer markups on new and used vehicles, often applied to models actually ordered months prior but which are just arriving on dealer back lots. And it’s been going on long enough for “market adjustments” to have become a household phrase.
But besides new and relatively fresh, off-lease cars, a much rarer-seen category has emerged to tempt those desperately looking for new wheels, or rather new-to-them wheels. And like never before, this category of used vehicles has become seen often enough to now be noticed even by casual car shoppers: Vehicles that are over a decade old, but still somehow have about a year’s worth of miles on them.
Not classics by any means—they’re often very ordinary—but they range in age from 10 to 20 years, and they somehow have under 10,000 or 30,000 miles on them. And they’re tempting used car buyers tired of seeing wild markups on two- or three-year-old cars that have just come off lease.
Until now, these sorts of vehicles were mild curiosities seen regularly at classic car auctions and dealer auctions: a Caddy that grandpa drove for 5,000 miles and then parked a decade ago, or a base Mustang from two decades back with several thousand careful miles on it and plastic still on the seats.
These cars were always in the background at car auctions, but never quite broke into the mainstream used-car game. Some relatively recent cars, such as the Toyota FJ Cruiser and Honda Element, had been in demand with low miles even before the pandemic, and had commanded premiums from enthusiasts for years. But these vehicles had fan followings and represent niche interests.
Trucks that are even two decades old, like this 2002 Ford F-350 Lariat Crew cab, have actually held their values, if offered with relatively low miles, and can still command tens of thousands of dollars. However, such models are typically bought just for towing.
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It’s safe to say this has changed with the current shortage of new and gently used vehicles, to the point that we’re now seeing them in surprising numbers at ordinary dealerships. The causes are easily explained: Dealers are scouting dealer auctions and estate sales for cars that are about a decade old but that have fairly low miles, in the hopes of squeezing a serious profit out of desperate car shoppers who might not mind something that’s not an off-lease vehicle, and might not have a backup camera or an infotainment system at all. And they’re often making solid bets.
If there is one particular segment that has seen especially acute demand from early in the pandemic, it has been light trucks. We’re talking about Ford Rangers and Chevy Colorados that are about 10 or 15 years old, but that have well under 30,000 miles on them.
This category is widespread enough thanks to low-mileage trucks sourced from company fleets—trucks that had just never really been used all that much—and car dealers are snapping them up and asking prices similar to three-year-old trucks.
Normally, such trucks could sell for a favorable price if you spotted some base model that had belonged to a utility company or had been driven around some industrial site for years, but now some buyers are desperate enough for vehicles with low miles to spend serious cash to obtain one.
And it’s a phenomenon that’s not showing any signs of receding as new vehicle prices and delivery times stretch into months or years.
Keyword: Would You Buy a Decade-Old Vehicle with Low Miles?