It’s a buyer’s market for used vehicles in Australia, with a sales surge in May being celebrated as a win for motorists looking to save money on secondhand cars.
Data compiled by AutoGrab and published by the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) shows 191,625 used cars were sold in May, the highest monthly sales figure since the Automotive Insights Report (AIR) debuted at the end of 2023.
This figure represented a 4.4 per cent increase on the month prior – driven by higher sales in each state and territory – with 65.1 per cent of used vehicles being sold privately.
While the average time to sell a used vehicle in Australia rose from 44.3 to 45.5 days, it’s still well below the record highs of 52 days in November 2023, and not too far from the recent low of 44 days in February.
“Ongoing strength in the new car market means that we are seeing an increased supply of used vehicles coming to market, providing consumers with more options at more affordable price points,” said AADA CEO James Voortman.
“We expect this trend to continue, particularly in the next few months leading into the end of the financial year, which traditionally sees increased activity in both the new and used car market.
“Over the past month we have seen a marked reduction in used cars being listed by dealers as more Australians seek to sell their cars privately.
“With the prevalence of online scams, odometer fraud and the lack of statutory protections when buying private, consumers need to exercise due diligence when engaging in a private-to- private used car transaction.”
As is the case in the new car market, petrol and diesel vehicles dominate the used vehicle sales mix, combining for 182,430 sales or 95 per cent of transactions.
Hybrids continue to be the third-most popular choice, with 7168 electrified petrol vehicles sold in May, well ahead of the 1647 electric vehicles (EVs).
LPG-powered vehicles continue to die a slow sales death, with 204 examples sold last month, a 13.6 per cent reduction on April – though they’re still ahead of plug-in hybrids, which contributed just 176 sales despite a 16.6 per cent increase.
Traditional passenger vehicles such as sedans, hatchbacks and wagons are still the used car of choice for buyers, but there’s an ever-tightening gap between them and SUVs.
Ute sales also continue to grow, though they still account for less than 20 per cent of used vehicle sales.
Despite this, there were four utes in the top 10 vehicle used vehicle sales list, which is topped by the Ford Ranger – now closing in on 6000 sales per month – and the Toyota HiLux, with the Mitsubishi Triton and Nissan Navara also starring.
Such is the growing popularity of the Triton that it’s now fourth in the used vehicle sales charts, moving past the Toyota Camry to sit behind the Toyota Corolla.
The Toyota LandCruiser vaulted back into the Top 10, having ebbed and flowed in and out of the list in recent months.
There’s still no sign of the Holden Commodore, which was the sixth-most popular used vehicle in Australia last year but has since failed to feature in the Top 10.
This could be largely driven by the exclusion of models from this monthly report which are more than 15 years old, ruling out three model years of the VE Commodore.
The AADA and AutoGrab offer the following definitions for the monthly Automotive Insights Report:
- For Sale: Level of available used and demo cars listed online by dealers and private sellers nationally at the time of reporting. AutoGrab processes and de-duplicates listings to identify and eliminate repetitions, ensuring that vehicles listed across multiple platforms are counted only once.
- Sales: Total vehicles delisted from online marketplaces, serving as a close proxy to actual sales and recorded monthly. The delisting count also reflects unique vehicles, as AutoGrab processes and deduplicates listings to identify and eliminate repetitions, ensuring that vehicles listed across multiple platforms are counted only once.
Best-selling used cars
| Model | Sales (May 2024) | Change from April | Average days to sell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Ranger | 5922 | +6.6% | 53.2 |
| Toyota HiLux | 4653 | +7.0% | 49.0 |
| Toyota Corolla | 3631 | -2.9% | 32.3 |
| Mitsubishi Triton | 2643 | +4.3% | 46.3 |
| Toyota Camry | 2631 | +-1.1% | 38.0 |
| Hyundai i30 | 2518 | +3.7% | 31.8 |
| Toyota RAV4 | 2377 | +1.7% | 39.8 |
| Mazda 3 | 2336 | +0.8% | 36.5 |
| Toyota LandCruiser | 2189 | +4.6% | 61.9 |
| Nissan Navara | 2157 | +5.3% | 52.2 |
Used car sales by state and territory
| State/territory | Vehicles listed | Vehicles sold |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 86,761 (+6.2%) | 54,586 (+2.4%) |
| Victoria | 82,218 (+8.2%) | 46,887 (+4.9%) |
| Queensland | 62,893 (+7.7%) | 43,205 (+7.3%) |
| Western Australia | 31,516 (+6.3%) | 24,386 (+3.5%) |
| South Australia | 20,354 (+8.5%) | 12,906 (+1.5%) |
| Tasmania | 5325 (+2.0%) | 4407 (+7.0%) |
| Australian Capital Territory | 5321 (+5.7%) | 3686 (+7.3%) |
| Northern Territory | 2154 (+6.7%) | 1562 (+6.1%) |
| Total | 296,542 (+7.2%) | 191,625 (+4.4%) |
Sales by vehicle type
| Listed for sale | Total sales | |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger cars | 114,765 (+15.3%) | 77,612 (+3.3%) |
| SUVs | 114,289 (+1.3%) | 73,599 (+3.9%) |
| Utes | 56,879 (+4.4%) | 34,615 (+6.9%) |
| Vans and buses | 10,609 (+7.8%) | 5799 (+11.4%) |
Sales by fuel type
| Vehicle type | Sales (May 2024) | Change from April |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 120,912 | +3.4% |
| Diesel | 61,518 | +6.2% |
| Hybrid | 7168 | +6.6% |
| EV | 1647 | +8.0% |
| LPG | 204 | -13.6% |
| Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) | 176 | +16.6% |
Average retained value
| Vehicle type | Average retained value |
|---|---|
| Passenger (2-4 years old) | 84.1% |
| Passenger (5-7 years old) | 69.8% |
| SUV (2-4 years old) | 78.4% |
| SUV (5-7 years old) | 62.4% |
| Light commercial vehicles and utes (2-4 years old) | 80.9% |
| Light commercial vehicles and utes (5-7 years old) | 69.0% |
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