If before changing cars was a sign of expense, it is now possible to make thousands of dollars in profits with a used car.
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This is the case of Marc-Antoine Croteau, who obtained $20,000 by reselling his 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime, following only one year of use.
“Normally, I would never have sold it or I would have kept it for a very long time. Except that the situation is exceptional, ”he justifies.
Due to the shortage of new cars, used vehicles are in demand and their value is higher than ever.
“When the pandemic arrived, there was a halt in the production of new vehicles. As inventories drained, dealers had fewer and fewer vehicles to sell. They have, somewhat, withheld used vehicles which they normally let go to used car dealers. Production has taken time to restart in the last few months and that is why it has created a rarity, ”explains the general manager of the Association of used vehicle dealers in Quebec, Steeve De Marchi.
This phenomenon, which particularly affects rental cars, is unheard of for dealers.
“It’s exceptional, we have rarely seen that. Currently, used vehicles in Quebec have had an increase in value between 30 and 40%. That’s what we’ve seen in the past few months,” says the president and CEO of the Corporation of Quebec Automobile Dealers, Robert Poëti, who nevertheless believes that the trend will gradually balance out.
“Obviously, we are talking regarding vehicles for which there is a strong demand. There is not this trend for older vehicles or even recent vehicles, but which have atypical mileage, ”specifies the sales director at Hyundai Ste-Foy, Mona Potvin.
She also believes that when dealer inventories return to normal, used car valuations will also return to normal.
It is therefore difficult to assess how long this situation will last, but the conditions that make this bubble in the used vehicle market possible are dissipating one following the other, according to Mr. De Marchi.
“The Bank of Canada announcement of the key rate, interest rates going up, inventories in dealer yards starting to go up once more. All of this puts a lot less pressure on the second-hand market,” he concludes.