by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
The used-vehicle pipeline is messed up for years to come.
Used vehicle prices – retail and wholesale – had performed a historic 50%-plus price spike between mid-2020 through mid-2022 when consumers were suddenly willing to pay whatever; dealers saw it and jacked up their prices. And knowing that they could extract record profits from those bedazzled consumers no matter what the price, dealers were willing to pay whatever at auctions to replenish their inventory. But starting in 2022, consumers gradually came to, and dealers had to respond. What followed was a historic plunge in used vehicle prices, both retail and wholesale, giving up about half of the price spike.