Would you fly nine hours to save $10,000 on a car? Here are the cities where popular used cars were most overpriced and where to find the best deals.
Would you fly nine hours to save $10,000 on a car? Here are the cities where popular used cars were most overpriced and where to find the best deals.
Opting for a good used car over new is supposed to be a smart financial move. Before 2020 pandemic shutdowns led to inventory shortages of new cars, a used car would often save you big money—especially on high-depreciating models that often lost 30% to 40% of their value within the first three years.
But these days, cars are tougher to come by—new and used—and when supply is low and demand is high, driving a hard bargain isn’t so easy. Some people have ended up wildly overpaying for used cars—paying even more, in fact, than the price of a new version.
Most car search engines allow you to filter by search range, and widening your search for a car helps—you’ll find more inventory, more options, more models, maybe even the color you want, and most important you’ll probably find better deals. It might be worth it to travel 100 or 200 miles to get a car at a better price.
To find the best and worst cities to get a deal on a used car, auto search engine iSeeCars.com looked at the 50 most populous metro areas to determine the used cars that are priced the most above and below the national average, analyzing over 1.3 million 1- to 5-year-old used cars from the top best-selling models sold between January and April of 2022.
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The average asking price of each model in each metro area was calculated, and the highest and lowest prices were compared to each other, as well as the nationwide average price. They excluded cities and models with very low inventory.
The popular Subaru Forester was cheapest in the area around Duluth, Minn., and Superior, Wis. The Forester cost the most, on average, in Columbus, Miss., with an average difference of $7,889, or 23.5%, between the two metros.
If you live in Fairbanks, Alaska, is it worth it to spend $1,000 on a 9-hour flight to San Antonio, Texas to save $10,738, or 32.4%, on that Nissan Rogue you’ve been eyeing? That’s up to you.
Are you looking for a used Honda Civic? Search in Lincoln, Neb., where the price averages $23,375—that’s $4,794 cheaper than the national average, a savings of 17%.
Here is where iSeeCars found the worst car deals around the country, followed by the five best cities to look for the models that offer the average best-bargains.
The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Seattle-Tacoma, Wash.Vehicle: Toyota TacomaPercent overpaid: 8.8%Amount overpaid: $3,347 The Worst Used Car DealsAndriy Blokhin / Shutterstock
Albuquerque-Santa Fe, N.M.Vehicle: Jeep WranglerPercent overpaid: 8.0%Amount overpaid: $2,902 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Harrisburg-Lancaster-York, Pa.Vehicle: Nissan RoguePercent overpaid: 6.9%Amount overpaid: $1,742 The Worst Used Car DealsSan Antonio, TexasVehicle: Honda Civic (hatchback)Percent overpaid: 6.3%Amount overpaid: $1,783 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TexasVehicle: Honda Civic (hatchback)Percent overpaid: 6.0%Amount overpaid: $1,678 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Salt Lake CityVehicle: Ford F-150Percent overpaid: 5.9%Amount overpaid: $2,497 The Worst Used Car DealsDenverVehicle: Jeep Grand CherokeePercent overpaid: 5.9%Amount overpaid: $2,176 The Worst Used Car DealsPhoenixVehicle: Jeep WranglerPercent overpaid: 5.7%Amount overpaid: $2,079 The Worst Used Car DealsSt. LouisVehicle: Ford EscapePercent overpaid: 5.4%Amount overpaid: $1,301 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Oklahoma CityVehicle: Honda Civic (hatchback)Percent overpaid: 5.2%Amount overpaid: $1,475 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
HoustonVehicle: Honda Civic (hatchback)Percent overpaid: 5.1%Amount overpaid: $1,442 The Worst Used Car DealslittlenySTOCK/Shutterstock
Las VegasVehicle: Jeep WranglerPercent overpaid: 4.8%Amount overpaid: $1,727 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, Mich.Vehicle: Honda PilotPercent overpaid: 4.7%Amount overpaid: $1,687 The Worst Used Car Deals4kclips / Shutterstock
ChicagoVehicle: Jeep Grand CherokeePercent overpaid: 4.6%Amount overpaid: $1,688 The Worst Used Car DealsBirmingham, Ala.Vehicle: Honda Civic (hatchback)Percent overpaid: 4.6%Amount overpaid: $1,307 The Worst Used Car DealsSacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Calif.Vehicle: Jeep WranglerPercent overpaid: 4.5%Amount overpaid: $1,621 The Worst Used Car DealsPhoto: Steve Heap / Shutterstock
PittsburghVehicle: Ford EscapePercent overpaid: 4.5%Amount overpaid: $1,079 The Worst Used Car DealsMilwaukeeVehicle: Jeep Grand CherokeePercent overpaid: 4.4%Amount overpaid: $1,635 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Charlotte, N.C.Vehicle: Honda Civic (hatchback)Percent overpaid: 4.4%Amount overpaid: $1,237 The Worst Used Car DealsGreenville-Spartanburg, S.C.Vehicle: Honda AccordPercent overpaid: 4.4%Amount overpaid: $1,193 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.Vehicle: Nissan RoguePercent overpaid: 4.3%Amount overpaid: $1,099 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
IndianapolisVehicle: Hyundai TucsonPercent overpaid: 4.3%Amount overpaid: $1,088 The Worst Used Car DealsNashville, Tenn.Vehicle: Toyota RAV4Percent overpaid: 4.1%Amount overpaid: $1,227 The Worst Used Car DealsKansas City, Mo.Vehicle: Honda CR-VPercent overpaid: 4.1%Amount overpaid: $1,218 The Worst Used Car DealsShutterstock
Los AngelesVehicle: Toyota CorollaPercent overpaid: 4.1%Amount overpaid: $896 The Worst Used Car DealsRudy Mareel / Shutterstock
Austin, TexasVehicle: Subaru OutbackPercent overpaid: 4.0%Amount overpaid: $1,231 The Best Used Car Deals in AmericaNissan
These are the car models and cities where you’ll likely find the best deal on a used vehicle.
The Nissan Rogue in San Antonio, TexasPercent below national average: -11.8%Amount of savings: $2,981 The Best Used Car Deals in AmericaToyota
The Toyota Tacoma in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.Percent below national average: -11.2%Amount of savings: $4,275 The Best Used Car Deals in AmericaSubaru
The Subaru Forester in Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, Mich.Percent below national average: -9.0%Amount of savings: $2,634 The Best Used Car Deals in AmericaHonda
The Honda Civic hatchback in PittsburghPercent below national average: -7.2%Amount of savings: $2,029 The Best Used Car Deals in AmericaToyota
The Toyota Tacoma in Orlando-Daytona Beach, Fla.Percent below national average: -7.2%Amount of savings: $2,733Check out iSeeCars.com for the full study on which vehicles have the largest price disparities between the cheapest and most expensive cities.