A new survey of 2,000 car drivers has revealed that 71% of us can’t accurately gauge a used car’s value, often over-valuing them. At least that’s what the analysis carried out for CarGurus says.
This is despite 58% of respondents saying they’re confident in assessing what a car is worth.
Participants in CarGuru’s Taking the Guesswork Out study were shown the five most sought after used vehicles in their respective classes and asked to gauge each car’s value.
Consumers were asked to value the following vehicles, assuming that each vehicle was two years old and had covered 20,000 miles:
Ford Fiesta – £12,181*
Nissan Qashqai – £18,524*
Range Rover Sport – £66,645*
BMW 320d M Sport – £27,893*
Nissan Leaf – £19,565*
In total, participants consistently over-estimated the value of the cars. 38% of respondents over-valued the BMW 3 Series by at least £4,000, while a tenth of participants over-valued the Ford Fiesta by at least 25%.
The discrepancy was greatest when it came to the all-electric Nissan Leaf, which respondents over-valued by a whopping 20.3%, adding £3,978 onto the true value of the £19,565 EV.
We think there is a lesson to be learned by all dealers here.