The state of Texas ranked No. 6 in a new study about which states paid the most for used cars and Dallas was among the four Texas cities that paid the highest price.
“That has to do with a high share of pickup trucks,” said Julie Blackley, spokesperson with iSeeCars.com. “Dallas has a high share of pickups, SUVs and sports cars purchases.”
The iSeeCars.com study found that the average used car price in Texas was $26,620 compared to $26,351 in Dallas.
“People are moving away from sedans and a lot of lower priced economy cars have been discontinued,” Blackley told Dallas Express. “So, there usually is a trend of car prices going up on the new car side and used cars tend to mirror that but they are a lot higher now than they were in previous years because of the state of the marketplace.”
In addition to Dallas, three other Texas cities ranked in the top ten for paying the most for used cars.
San Antonio residents paid $26,308 while Houston residents paid $26,964 and Austin residents paid $26,010.
“People in Texas like bigger cars,” Blackley said in an interview. “They like more expensive cars than other states and Texans are willing to pay more for them.”
Although new cars are more desirable to the average American, new car inventory is down due to the impact of COVID-19 and its lock downs.
“There are a lot of instances where used cars right now are more expensive than new cars,” Blackley said. “Trip shortages have heavily impacted pickup trucks and so a lot more people are flocking to the used car market. Used car prices are inflated because of high demand and lower supply.”
In comparison, West Palm Beach residents in Florida paid an average of $27,737 for a used car and Alaskans paid the highest price at $29,656. Indiana residents paid the least amount for used cars at $21,961.
“Because Texas is such a large state, that’s another reason why car prices are higher,” Blackley said. “People are less apt to cross state lines to purchase a car.”
The study further found that Dallas ranks 8th for buying the most expensive SUVs, showing a preference for large and luxury SUVs. Dallas ranks 3rd in the nation for used truck prices, which indicates a preference for large and loaded trucks and Texas was 7th in the nation for luxury vehicle acquisitions.
“Cars that tend to rack up the most mileage are trucks and the large full-size SUVs so people who tend to drive more do lean towards buying buy larger vehicles,” Blackley added. “You’d think it would be the opposite that they’d buy more efficient cars but typically they buy the larger cars for hauling purposes and as family vehicles. Large vehicles and high mileage driving tend to go hand in hand.”
