A supply crunch has sent used car prices soaring. These 16 models are now worth more used than new

Tim LevinJul 7, 2021, 18:33 IST

Business Insider

A new Kia Telluride costs close to $4,000 less than a used one - if you can find one. Kristen Lee/Business Insider

Car dealers are facing a supply crunch that's caused used car prices to go through the roof.
Some 2019 and 2020 cars are cheaper to buy new right now, according to a study from iSeeCars.
The Kia Telluride now costs $3,564 more to buy used than new.

Skipping a brand-new car for one that's lightly used has always been the most wallet-friendly way of going about things. Not anymore.

In the strange and sometimes utterly backward-seeming times we're living in, it's actually cheaper to buy some cars new rather than second hand. A recent study from automotive research site iSeeCars.com identified 16 such vehicles, some of which cost thousands more to buy used.

The pandemic has led to a diminished supply of cars and an outsize demand for them, the result being that used vehicle prices are through the roof. Amid financial uncertainty, people have been hanging onto their cars longer, choking one of the key pipelines of used cars to dealers. Meanwhile, an ongoing shortage of microchips has hampered car production globally and slashed the supply of new models.

The result, according to iSeeCars.com's analysis of some 470,000 2019- and 2020-model-year cars listed for sale in June, is that the gap between used- and new-car prices have shrunk considerably in recent months. In early November, the average lightly used car cost nearly 11% less than its new counterpart. In June, that gap closed to just over 3%.

Some especially popular models - ones that are hard to find new right now - cost thousands more than their MSRP on the second-hand market. See the list of 16 vehicles below: