Used petrol prices keep rising as EV values keep falling
Autotrader data shows used petrol prices up for a tenth straight month while EV values keep dropping, and a supply crunch is coming. Here is what it means for buyers and sellers.
Two used cars, two very different stories
If you have shopped for a used car recently and come away confused about whether prices are up or down, that is because the answer depends entirely on what is in the driveway. According to Autotrader's 2026 market data, the average used petrol car now costs £15,039, up 1.5% year-on-year and the tenth consecutive month of increases. Over the same period, the average used electric car has fallen to £23,678, down 7.2% year-on-year.
Older cars are moving in the same direction as petrol. Vehicles aged 10 to 15 years rose 9% year-on-year to an average of £6,949, as buyers priced out of newer stock chase anything reliable and cheap to run.
Why petrol and diesel are holding firm
Part of the answer is simple scarcity. Fewer petrol and diesel cars have been registered new in recent years as manufacturers shift production toward electric and hybrid models, which means fewer are filtering through to the used market three to five years later. Autotrader's own data points to a sharper version of this problem ahead: the volume of five and six-year-old cars on the market is projected to drop 25-30% in 2026 compared with 2024, with five to seven-year-old stock potentially down 35% by 2027.
That scarcity matters because cars in that age bracket are usually the sweet spot for private buyers — old enough to have shed the steepest depreciation, new enough to still feel modern. When there is less of that stock to go around, prices for what remains tend to hold up.
Why EV prices keep sliding
Electric cars are seeing the opposite pressure. A wave of new EVs, sharper new-car pricing from manufacturers competing for market share, and growing second-hand supply as early adopters trade in have combined to push used EV values down for a sustained run. The used car market has broadly rebounded on the back of this improved choice, with more than four million used vehicles changing hands in the first half of 2025 alone as softer pricing and better supply drew buyers back in.
The wider market backs this up. webuyanycar's Q2 2026 figures show used car transactions rose 0.7% year-on-year to just over two million — the first Q2 to clear that mark since 2021 — while new car registrations climbed 11.7% in July to 156,571 units, the strongest July since 2019. Battery electric vehicles made up 27.5% of those new registrations, a record share and up 44.5% year-on-year. Every one of those new EVs eventually becomes a trade-in, keeping used EV supply well fed even as demand for petrol stock tightens.
What this means if you're buying
- Shopping for an EV, this is a genuinely good window. Falling values mean more car for your money, and with EVs also selling fastest of any fuel type (around 38 days on average), dealers are turning stock over quickly rather than sitting on it.
- Shopping for petrol or diesel, especially in the 5-7-year-old bracket, expect less room to negotiate than a year ago. If you find the right car at a fair price, moving quickly makes more sense than waiting for a discount that may not come.
What this means if you're selling
If you are selling an older petrol or diesel car, current conditions are in your favour — scarcity is doing some of the work for you, particularly on cars aged 5 to 15 years. Sellers of used EVs face a tougher market: values are still heading down, so a car that has sat on the drive for a year is worth meaningfully less than when you first considered selling it. If an EV sale isn't urgent, that is worth factoring in, but waiting for values to recover isn't a strategy backed by the current data.
The broader picture is a used car market that is healthier than it has been in years — more choice, more transactions, more buyer confidence — but not a uniform one. Which side of it you are on depends entirely on what is parked on your drive.