Used-car prices have been climbing for months. These 15 models are now worth more used than new.

Tim LevinDec 12, 2021, 19:35 IST

Business Insider

The Toyota Tacoma costs $4,500 more to buy used than new, according to a recent study.Toyota

Supply-chain issues have sent the price of used cars soaring for much of the last two years.
Since people can't find the new cars they're looking for, they're flocking to the used market.

Supply-chain issues have slammed coveted goods from cream cheese to cars. Shortages have hit the US vehicle market so hard, in fact, that bizarre things have started happening.

Amid a dwindling supply of new cars, used vehicles have experienced record price increases over the last year and a half. Moreover, things are so out of whack that more than a dozen models now cost more to buy lightly used than new, according to a November study from automotive research site iSeeCars.

This has been happening for months now, but iSeeCars has identified the 15 models that are experiencing this sort of backward pricing as of November.

The issue here is that new versions of popular vehicles have become increasingly scarce on dealer lots. Rather than suffer through a long wait for a brand-new vehicle, buyers are paying top dollar for slightly older ones with some mileage. For some particularly popular models, that means shelling out above MSRP.

While this doesn't bode well for buyers, it's great news for sellers. If you bought one of the identified models in the last couple of years, you may be in the perfect position to make thousands by selling your vehicle privately or to a dealer.

iSeeCars analyzed more than 1 million new and used cars listed for sale during the first half of November. It compared the asking prices for new vehicles (2021 and 2022 models) with the asking prices for lightly used ones (2020 and 2021 models with between 10,780 and 16,171 miles on the odometer).

See the full list of 15 models below:

1. Tesla Model Y

The Tesla Model Y.Tesla

Average price new: $56,685
Average price used: $64,930
Difference: $8,245, 14.5%

(Because Tesla sells directly to consumers, iSeeCars estimated new Tesla prices based on their MSRP and the distribution of trims on the used market.)