There are two factors that determine what car buyers are looking for today. One is fuel efficiency (because of the high gas prices due to the war in Iran), and the other is the car’s MSRP. The average price of a new car is $50,000.
Bloomberg News calls the Toyota RAV4 “America’s most coveted used car.”
why? With used car prices under $50,000, the hybrid RAV4 gets more than 40 miles per gallon, well above the U.S. new car average of 27.2 mpg.
Online dealer CarMax recently advertised a 2024 RAV4 Hybrid XSE with 29,000 miles. They bought it for about $47,000, which was more than the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $38,735.
According to Bloomberg, the demand for used RAV4s is so high that the number of new RAV4s in showrooms has decreased because many buyers are already on waiting lists for the used car portion rather than the new car portion.
“Right now, though, Toyota has less than five days’ worth of new RAV4 Hybrids in its U.S. showrooms, far less than the company’s overall inventory of about 15 days,” Bloomberg reported.
The report also notes that there is still a market for used electric vehicles, and consumers are buying them for less than the original list price.
“People who are unwilling or unable to go fully electric are turning to hybrid vehicles, which combine an electric motor with a gas-burning engine. Long considered a niche product in the United States, they are now highly coveted,” the article said.
