Used car values at BCA made a bumper start to 2025, hitting the highest level recorded since June 2023.

January 2025 values at BCA hit the highest monthly value recorded since June 2023

Values averaged £8,042 across the board at BCA in January 2025; up 9.4% (£688) month-on-month and 5.9% (£445) compared with January last year.

BCA also saw numerous records fall during January, with benchmarks set for the highest number of individual buyers in a week, the highest weekly sold volume figures for three and a half years and the best week ever recorded for EV sales, with more than 1,000 EVs sold in a single week.

Values for vehicles over five year old strengthened across the Christmas period and this trend continued throughout January and February. While demand for fleet and lease vehicles was initially a little slower to pick up, by the second week of trading sale conversions had lifted significantly and most price points were well contested, regardless of fuel type.

Customer feedback suggests that used car retail remains robust with a number of influencing factors from forecourt shortages, a testing new vehicle marketplace with a heavy focus on new EV sales, a well-documented shortage of three- to four-year-old product, and used EV retail sales seeing rising levels of interest from consumers.

BCA’s figures follow data from Cap HPI showing that the used market in January recorded a significant improvement compared to December, with demand increasing as the month progressed.

BCA chief operating officer Stuart Pearson said: “With many retailers taking a more cautious approach on stocking on the run-up to Christmas, the minor imbalance in supply and demand has stimulated the rise in average values – the highest monthly figure since the summer of 2023 – and supported some very strong sale conversion figures.  BCA continues to grow its volume offering and has secured a number of significant vendor renewals and business wins early in the year that mean we will continue to offer the widest selection of used stock to our buyer customers.”

He added: “February trading has continued in a similar vein with prices remaining steady and demand improving further. With the supply of three- to four-year-old product being at an all-time low and the expected lag in volume uplift reaching the wholesale market following the plate-change, there is every expectation that used vehicle prices and demand will remain stable for some months to come.”