Buying a Car? Time Is On Your Side

CarGurus Analysis of Days on Market Suggests Opportunities for Buyers

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., January 26, 2011 -- A study released today by the leading online automotive community CarGurus (https://www.cargurus.com/) indicates that low-mileage used cars take between one and two months to sell, which is close to double the time for older, less expensive models. For buyers, this means that for much of the used car inventory on the market, they have time to wait for the best deal.

"The notion that ‘this deal won’t last’ does not hold true in most cases, and consumers should know this as they head into a negotiation," said Langley Steinert, Founder/CEO of CarGurus. "Older, lower-priced vehicles and Asian makes are indeed selling fast, but the bulk of the used car inventory actually sits on the market for more than a month and a half, with the strong likelihood of price drops the longer it takes to sell. So if you are looking to buy a used car, you probably have more time than you think to find a great deal."

Shopping for “Slow Sellers” Can Lead to Great Deals

The CarGurus Days On Market Study looked at 2 million+ live used car listings and analyzed the number of days the cars remained on the market. On average, older models from years 2000 through 2002 sold within 25 days, but more recent models (2007-2009) stayed active for 45 days, suggesting opportunities for buyers to “wait out” a great deal.

Among the subset of newer model cars, American-made vehicles were the slowest to sell, with Chrysler the slowest at 53 average days on market. By vehicle body type, Pickups and Crossovers were found to stay on the market an average of 50 days, with Wagons, Sedans and Minivans not selling much faster.

Slowest Selling 2007-2009 Vehicles by Maker

Slowest Selling 2007-2009 Vehicles by Body Style

The outliers in the study were Asian-made cars, which sell faster than American-made vehicles in all model years (2000 – 2009), a trend especially apparent with newer models (see below). By vehicle body type, convertibles tend to be hot sellers at an average 39.8 days on market, besting all other vehicle body types analyzed in any of the years studied.

Fastest Selling 2007-2009 Vehicles by Maker

About CarGurus LLC

Located in Harvard Square, Cambridge MA, CarGurus LLC is an online automotive community founded by Langley Steinert, formerly Chairman and co-founder TripAdvisor LLC. CarGurus' founders, board, and investors bring a wealth of experience from such leading web companies as TripAdvisor, eBay, Expedia, and Yahoo. For more information about CarGurus visit us at www.cargurus.com.