CarGurus Study Shows Which U.S. Cities Have the Best (and Worst) Used Car Deals

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 10, 2014 -- CarGurus (www.CarGurus.com), the nation’s fastest growing car shopping and research website, today released its second annual Regional Used Car Price Study, identifying the U.S. cities with the highest and lowest prices on used cars.

The findings (top 10 lists below) show that the most affordable cities to buy a car are primarily in the eastern part of the United States. Miami, FL, held onto the top spot as the most deal-friendly car-shopping destination, followed by Cleveland, OH, New York, NY, and Stamford, CT.

The most expensive cities for used car shopping trended westward, including Fresno, CA, Seattle, WA, and El Paso, TX.

The study highlights the extent to which local market conditions impact market prices on used cars. Relative to nationwide prices, comparable used cars in the most affordable city, Miami, are on average 8.02% less expensive than the national average, while used cars in Fresno, CA, were 7.85% more expensive—a difference of nearly 16 percentage points.

“Where you shop for your car can make a big difference in the prices you’ll find, so if you are motivated to save money, it’s worth looking beyond your local area,” said Langley Steinert, founder and CEO of CarGurus. “However, even for shoppers living in the more affordable used car cities, understanding local market values is critical to assessing whether a particular listing is a good deal or not. At CarGurus, we do this automatically for shoppers, factoring in local market values among other variables to help them find the best deals from reputable local dealerships.”

CarGurus’ Top 10 Most Affordable Cities to Buy a Used Car

1. Miami, FL
2. Cleveland, OH
3. New York, NY
4. Stamford, CT
5. Akron, OH
6. Detroit, MI
7. Hartford, CT
8. Providence, RI
9. Boston, MA
10. Worcester, MA

CarGurus’ Top 10 Most Expensive Cities to Buy a Used Car

1. Fresno, CA
2. Seattle, WA
3. El Paso, TX
4. Albuquerque, NM
5. Jackson, MS
6. Bakersfield, CA
7. Reno, NV
8. Little Rock, AR
9. Mobile, AL
10. Wichita, KS

Methodology

CarGurus applies mathematical models to analyze and compare millions of car listings and help car shoppers find great deals in their local market. For this analysis, CarGurus compared Instant Market Value (IMV) data on more than 4 million used cars listed for sale in the largest metro areas in the contiguous U.S. to determine how prices stack up in different cities. Analysts compared prices on used cars (model years 2001+) in each metro area to the nationwide average for comparable vehicles, then averaged the price differences for the cars studied to determine an overall percentage difference for each city versus the national average. Metro areas are defined as the area 50 miles around the city center. For the complete 2014 ranked list of cities, visit: https://cargur.us/1mSkf

CarGurus’ free listings search tool helps users compare available car listings from their desktop or mobile device and quickly identify the best deals in their local area. Millions of car listings are analyzed daily to calculate the Instant Market Value (IMV) and rank whether a deal is great, good, fair or overpriced compared to similar local listings. CarGurus’ Instant Market Value (IMV) calculation is determined by a proprietary algorithm that analyzes millions of car listings daily, factoring make, model, year, mileage, trim, options, vehicle history and the specific location of millions of listings.

Last year’s 2013 CarGurus‘ Regional Used Car Price Study can be found here: https://www.cargurus.com/press/20130213.html

About CarGurus

CarGurus (www.cargurus.com) is a car shopping and research website that helps users find great deals from great local dealers. Located in Cambridge, MA, CarGurus was founded in 2006 by Langley Steinert, co-founder and former Chairman of TripAdvisor. More than 10 million users visit CarGurus each month to research and shop for new and used cars.