The Impact of COVID-19 on the New and Used Car Market in QLD

Buying a car may sound exciting and sunny, but with COVID-19 influencing a huge portion of our lives and society, there may be some concerns with getting a car nowadays. Car prices are rapidly rising, as they are the most multinational items around the world. The automotive sector has been experiencing challenges with the stock of new vehicles being imported and exported around the world as a result of covid-19.

The COVID Tax and Used Cars

The new automobile market has been badly damaged by international border closures and restrictions on import and export markets, resulting in the unavailability of many popular models and months-long delivery wait periods for current orders on new cars. The impact on the new car market is significant, but for the most part, it is only a minor inconvenience because costs have stayed reasonably stable despite the delays. However, this has had a significant influence on the used automobile market, with prices for used cars rising across the board.

Due to the sudden demand for used cars across the country (and, to a lesser extent, the world), some used car prices have more than tripled since Covid went into effect, and this new ‘Covid Tax,' as it has been dubbed, has seen prices for some models go through the roof - even for convertibles with no roof!

The following are some examples of used car models that have seen the most significant price increases:

Models such as the Nissan Skyline GTR, which used to sell for $50,000 to $150,000 (depending on the model and year), are now selling for anything between $120,000 and $500,000! Even locally supplied vehicles such as the Holden Commodore HSV series, which used to sell for roughly $50,000, now sell for well over $100,000.

Consumers trade in their old automobiles to buy new cars in the used car market, but a global shortage of cars owing to shut down plants and skeleton employees has severely reduced the availability and selection of new cars for customers to trade in their old cars for cash for.

This has, of course, resulted in a reduction in the number of used automobiles available for purchase, which is another reason adding to the ever-increasing price of used cars.

So, if you're in the market for a car anytime soon, be aware that prices are higher than usual, and unless you're in a desperate situation, you're better off waiting until the pandemic passes and the automotive sector recovers.