UK Used Car Prices Report — October 2026
In October 2026 we analysed almost 18,000 used-car asking prices from large UK online car dealers (October 2026). Every car was recorded with its advertised price, year, mileage, fuel type and gearbox. We then built a statistical price model to separate the effect of each factor (age, mileage, fuel, gearbox, trim) from the make and model itself. All figures are retail asking prices from dealers, not private-sale or trade-in prices.
Key findings
- The typical used car on sale costs £16,999 (median). The average is £19,195, pulled up by premium and nearly-new cars.
- Each extra year of age takes about 5–6% off the price for the same make, model and mileage: about 4.8% in the first year, rising to about 5.9% by year six to seven.
- Every 10,000 extra miles costs about 5% of value on top of age, roughly £850 on a typical £17,000 car.
- Automatic gearboxes add about 11% vs an identical manual.
- All-wheel drive adds about 11%; a higher trim (M Sport, AMG Line, S Line, R-Line and similar) adds about 7%.
- Electric cars: about 6% above an equivalent petrol car when nearly new, about 8% below it at four years old.
- Plug-in hybrids: about 5% above petrol when new, about 3% below at four years.
- Diesels: about 5% below equivalent petrol cars.
How much a car loses per year, by brand
For each brand we compared cars of the same model with different ages and mileages. The figure is the average drop in asking price for one extra year of age, keeping mileage fixed.
| Brand | Cars analysed | Median price | Value lost per extra year | Value lost per extra 10,000 miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen | 1,884 | £17,949 | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| SEAT | 460 | £13,044 | 4.5% | 4.8% |
| Skoda | 790 | £17,624 | 4.8% | 5.9% |
| Toyota | 441 | £15,399 | 4.9% | 4.5% |
| Vauxhall | 973 | £11,549 | 5.8% | 5.7% |
| Volvo | 469 | £26,799 | 6.1% | 5.4% |
| Ford | 1,127 | £13,899 | 6.8% | 6.0% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 888 | £24,794 | 6.9% | 5.5% |
| BMW | 1,144 | £22,824 | 6.9% | 5.4% |
| Audi | 1,358 | £21,099 | 7.0% | 5.0% |
| Nissan | 1,072 | £14,649 | 7.1% | 5.7% |
| Hyundai | 1,071 | £16,999 | 7.3% | 5.8% |
| Peugeot | 694 | £14,999 | 7.3% | 4.4% |
| Kia | 994 | £17,424 | 7.7% | 5.1% |
| MG | 568 | £14,849 | 8.8% | 5.1% |
Value lost per extra year
What this means: Volkswagen Group brands (VW, SEAT, Skoda) and Toyota held their value best in our sample, losing under 5% per year. MG, Kia, Peugeot and Hyundai lost the most, around 7–9% per year, partly because these brands sell many nearly-new cars at large discounts to the new price.
Price by fuel type
| Fuel | Cars | Median price | Median age | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 11,445 | £15,399 | 3 years | 23,255 |
| Diesel | 1,647 | £18,144 | 5 years | 38,915 |
| Hybrid | 1,509 | £21,249 | 2 years | 16,739 |
| Plug-in hybrid | 1,509 | £23,399 | 2 years | 19,617 |
| Electric | 1,868 | £19,674 | 3 years | 21,509 |
Petrol cars make up 64% of the used stock. Diesels are now the oldest and highest-mileage group on sale, while hybrids and plug-in hybrids are the youngest.
Price by year of registration
| Year | Cars | Median price | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 272 | £9,649 | 52,173 |
| 2018 | 762 | £10,499 | 48,896 |
| 2019 | 1,436 | £11,599 | 43,936 |
| 2020 | 1,212 | £12,799 | 40,143 |
| 2021 | 1,536 | £14,599 | 35,518 |
| 2022 | 2,389 | £16,199 | 30,102 |
| 2023 | 3,752 | £17,299 | 24,112 |
| 2024 | 2,244 | £18,999 | 16,886 |
| 2025 | 2,390 | £23,899 | 9,740 |
| 2026 | 1,975 | £26,299 | 4,635 |
These medians mix different models in each year, so they are not a pure depreciation curve. The brand table above controls for model and mileage.
The most common used cars on sale
- Vauxhall Corsa — 550 cars
- Nissan Qashqai — 525
- Kia Sportage — 486
- Volkswagen Polo — 438
- Volkswagen Golf — 362
- Nissan Juke — 361
- Hyundai Tucson — 353
- Audi A3 — 333
- Ford Kuga — 307
- BMW 1 Series — 293
See how each of the 15 most-listed models loses value, with prices by year and a worked example, in our car depreciation by model pages.
Practical takeaways if you are selling
- Mileage matters almost as much as age. Each 10,000 miles costs about 5%, so selling before a big mileage milestone can make sense.
- An automatic is worth noticeably more. If your car is automatic, make sure it is clearly stated in your advert.
- Electric cars lose value faster in the first years. If you own a three- to four-year-old EV, expect a bigger gap to the original price than with a petrol car of the same age.
- Trim and specification matter. A higher trim adds around 7%, so list your trim name and key options.
Use the free moValue valuation tool to see what your specific car is worth across private sale, part-exchange and instant-buy routes.
Methodology
- Data: almost 18,000 used-car asking prices from large UK online car dealers (October 2026), recorded on 13–14 October 2026. 51 brands and 413 models. Duplicate listings were removed.
- Prices: advertised retail prices including any retailer admin fee. They are asking prices, not final transaction prices, and are higher than what a dealer or instant-buy service would pay you.
- Model: a regularised regression on the logarithm of price, with make and model, age, mileage, fuel type, gearbox, all-wheel drive, seven seats, trim level and engine size as factors. Tested on cars it had not seen, the model predicts the asking price within about 5% for the typical car and explains 95.6% of price variation.
- Limitations: listings do not include condition, service history or number of owners. Cars older than 2017 are rare in this stock, so the findings describe cars up to about nine years old. Brand figures with fewer than 500 cars are less precise.