SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Used vehicles priced below $20,000 have become increasingly scarce, and consumers shopping at those price points are getting significantly older vehicles with tens of thousands more miles than they did before the pandemic, according to new data from Edmunds.
Edmunds said vehicles priced below $20,000 accounted for 31.8% of the used market in the second quarter of 2026, down from 55.2% in the second quarter of 2019.
Meanwhile, the share of used vehicles priced above $30,000 has more than doubled, rising to 35.8% from 16.8% over the same period.
A Fundamental Change
The shift has fundamentally changed a market that historically offered an affordable alternative for first-time buyers, consumers seeking to avoid new-car depreciation and shoppers priced out of new vehicles, according to Edmunds.
The effect is particularly pronounced for consumers with budgets between $10,000 and $15,000.
In the second quarter, the average vehicle sold in that price range was 8.7 years old and had 98,222 miles. In the second quarter of 2019, the same amount of money bought a vehicle averaging 4.7 years old with 58,250 miles.
That means consumers with a $10,000-to-$15,000 budget are now getting vehicles that are four years older and have nearly 40,000 additional miles, Edmunds said.
What Consumers Get for the Money
The deterioration in what consumers get for their money extends across lower-priced segments of the market.
For vehicles priced between $15,000 and $20,000, the average age increased to 6 years from 3.4 years between the second quarters of 2019 and 2026. Average mileage climbed to 71,192 from 41,851.
Vehicles priced between $5,000 and $10,000 averaged 10.7 years old in the second quarter, up from 8.1 years in 2019, while typical mileage has risen above 120,000 miles.
Demand Remains Strong
At the same time, lower-priced vehicles remain in strong demand.
Used vehicles selling for between $5,000 and $10,000 spent an average of just 25 days on dealer lots in the second quarter, the shortest period of any price category tracked by Edmunds. Vehicles priced above $50,000, by comparison, took an average of 44 days to sell.
According to Edmunds, the rapid turnover means consumers shopping for affordable vehicles may have less opportunity to wait for prices to decline or negotiate before another buyer purchases the vehicle.
Pressure, and Not the Tire Kind
Pressure is also evident among three-year-old vehicles, traditionally an important benchmark for the used market.
The average transaction price of a 3-year-old used vehicle reached $32,461 in the second quarter, a record for the period and up 4% from a year earlier, Edmunds said. The price was 15.5% higher than in the second quarter of 2021, when pandemic-era supply disruptions began reshaping the used market.
Despite the higher prices, Edmunds said three-year-old vehicles continue to sell at the same pace as a year ago. They spent an average of 38 days on dealer lots in both the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026.
A Historical Comparison
The combination of rising prices, older vehicles and relatively fast sales illustrates the challenge facing consumers at the lower end of the market.
In 2019, used vehicles priced below $20,000 outnumbered those above $30,000 by more than 3-to-1. Seven years later, vehicles priced above $30,000 represent a larger share of the used market than those below $20,000, according to Edmunds.
