The rising popularity of older cars: buying and selling old cars for the best price

Delays in the production and delivery of new cars have seen a boom in popularity for used cars, with the value of used vehicles up year-on-year as a result.
On the one hand, it means people are paying more for a used car. But on the other, it means those looking to sell their old car could make more money than they might think. A quick (and free) valuation will show you how much your car is currently worth. All you need to do is enter your registration and mileage to find out how much your car is really worth. We only use independent market data to find your valuation and look at millions of vehicles every day to ensure your valuation is accurate. Join the millions who value their car with Auto Trader here.

This rising popularity of older cars will change the face of Britain’s roads over the next few years. Our forecasts, based on DVLA figures, show there will be more than 15.4 million 10-year-old cars on the road by 2027.
That means 40% of the total number of cars on the road will be at least a decade old – 3.6 million more than in 2021. This is partly due to the lingering after-effects of car production being disrupted by the pandemic – which essentially saw a two-year gap in the production of new cars. So, will this mean Britain’s roads will be less safe, with so many older cars on them? Not necessarily. The wear and tear that comes with age is definitely a factor to consider when looking at a used car aged 10 or over, but the mileage and condition of the car are the crucial areas to look at. Just because a car is 10 years old it doesn’t mean it’s a risk.

The advice for looking at used cars remains largely the same regardless of age. The older a car, the more likely you are to see wear and tear and higher mileage; so we’d advise you look a little closer at the car to make sure it’s safe and suitable for your needs.

There are great resources out there to assess the history of the car, not least the DVLA’s MOT check online feature.
Auto Trader provide a basic history check as standard, but there’s also the option to pay for a more detailed full-history check for full peace of mind.

Regardless of age, look for a full-service history when buying a used car. A folder full of receipts detailing all the work that’s been carried out by previous owners would suggest that the car has been well taken care of, whereas one or two old stamps from a mechanic isn’t the best sign.
Be sure to check all the essential paperwork, covered here.

It’s worth inspecting the car yourself, so try and arrange a test drive if you can. See how it handles, whether it suits you, and keep an eye for any red flags.
Look at the tyres - matching tyres from a respected brand are a good sign. But be wary of mismatched budget tyres, cheap fixes like that are often a sign of poor vehicle maintenance. For full confidence, read through our guide to test driving a used car before the day. Although an older car’s high mileage can be off putting, if the service history looks good and the car hasn’t been flagged for many issues on its MOT, the chances are you’re getting yourself a bargain car that’s been looked after by its owners and should still have plenty of years on the clock.

So how is this impacting car values? Well, the impact of the new car shortages has pushed the average cost of a 10-year-old car in the UK up by more than £2,000 since before the pandemic. The average asking price for a 10-year-old car was £6,176 in September 2022, up 53% on three years ago.
Prices aren’t putting people off though. Our data also shows a big jump in drivers hunting for older vehicles on Auto Trader, with 51 million advert views for 10-year-old cars in September (up 22% on pre-Covid levels). The BMW 3 Series, Volkswagen Golf and Ford Fiesta were the most popular decade-old models on the site at the time of writing.

With prices going up, it’s more than fair to stop and ask whether you’re still getting your money’s worth.
Truthfully, the shortage of cars and the necessity for drivers to stay on the road means these higher prices are likely to stick around for the foreseeable. We can’t turn the clock back to pre-pandemic times, but we can shop in some confidence knowing prices aren’t suddenly going to drop the week after we buy a used car. In terms of driving older cars, the aftermath of Covid means that around 40% of cars on the road will be more than 10 years old in the next five years. The number of decade-old cars is set to rise from 7.2m to 9.2m by 2027, while the number of cars more than 15 years old is also predicted to jump by a third to 6.2 million. Older cars can be a great option for consumers looking to save money, but it’s important to do your due diligence to make sure you’re getting an older car that’s still in good condition and worth the asking price.

So let’s look at the flip side, what if you’ve got a car to sell?
Now’s quite a good time to be selling a car. Older cars are popular, but that doesn't mean they're cheaper – they're actually £2,000 more on average than they were pre-pandemic. Of course, that doesn’t give you carte blanche to charge what you like. You have to make sure your car is roadworthy and in good condition, and make sure it’s fairly priced – otherwise it’ll just sit there while other cars with the right price tag get snapped up. To get started, getting a free valuation of your car on Auto Trader can help you determine what your car is really worth in the current climate. Hundreds of buyers and sellers trust and use our valuations tool to determine how much they could sell their car for. All you need is your car’s registration number to get a fair view of how much is your car worth in just a few minutes. Once you know your car’s worth, you can take the next steps and gather paperwork and ways to sell, all of which we cover in our guide to selling a car. Finally, when you’re ready, you can create an Auto Trader advert and get started.