Used car prices in shock rise

Outside the realms of extremely rare supercars, it's well known that a car is a depreciating asset. Or so we thought, because industry research has found that used car values are rising this year.

On average a car will depreciate by around 15 percent in value year-on-year, but shortage of supply has caused a complete turnaround, with some cars gaining hundreds of pounds compared to their price at the start of 2009. The average family car is now worth £600 more than it was in January, though the highest reported gain is for a Land Rover Discovery - with a 30,000-mile example on a 06 plate worth over £3,000 more.

The news will be a bonus for those looking to sell their cars, but of course the opposite is true for buyers. The rises are the extraordinary result of a shortage of used cars on the market and the fact that dealers were slashing prices at the end of 2008 because of the recession.

Experts predict that the market will return to normality very shortly, however. The £300m scrappage scheme pot, currently well over two-thirds drained, is expected to run out in November.

Compare new and used car prices
Get expert driving advice

Mark Nichol