Article Highlights

1. All cars on the road are used. At the moment a vehicle is driven off a dealer’s lot by a proud new owner, that vehicle becomes a used car. This document illustrates some key facts about the size, scope and economic impact of the used car industry in this country.
2. There are more than 278 million vehicles on U.S. roads, and every one of them is used. But even if one were to consider the 17.1 million new vehicles retailed in 2017 as still “new,” the number of used vehicles on the road today still dwarfs the number of new.
3. Each year, consumers buy around 39 million used vehicles, about two and a half times the number of new cars sold. In 2017, for example, 39 million used vehicles were sold and 17.1 million new vehicles were sold. Even with the higher average price of new vehicles ($35,152) vs. used ($22,900), the total value of used transactions ($760 billion) exceeds that of new transactions ($598 billion).