The wholesale prices dealers pay for the cars they later sell have been falling for much of 2025, but that appears to be over. In a likely early sign of tariff impacts, they rose in the first half of April.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index tracks the prices that car dealers pay at used car auctions to restock their lot. It’s published by Kelley Blue Book parent company Cox Automotive, which also owns auction giant Manheim.
Some rise in the index is normal this time of year. But even adjusted for seasonal patterns, prices rose 2.7% compared to March — an unusually large increase for a two-week period.
Wholesale price changes usually become retail price changes after six to eight weeks. So, with dealers paying more, buyers are likely to pay more soon.
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Wholesale markets “turned on a dime the last week of the month and into early April as tariffs were implemented,” said Jeremy Robb, senior director of Economic and Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. Dealers, he says, are replenishing inventory “on the back of higher used retail demand.”
Shoppers can find one tiny spark of good news: Prices of compact cars decreased 0.8% compared to a year ago. All other segments saw prices rise, with SUVs leading the increase at a shocking 5.1%.
