If You Own One of These Used Cars, Consider Selling It

The last thing on your mind right now is probably selling your car. After all, offloading your daily driver likely means you will then have to buy another vehicle to replace it, and you’ve heard enough about the continuing chip shortages, supply chain problems and automaker troubles to know that’s a tough prospect right now. Maybe just get a bike or e-bike.

Nonetheless, according to new data from Edmunds, there are some of you who should consider selling your car in the current red-hot used-car market. The automotive research site provided The Wall Street Journal with a list of the top 10 used cars — all three years old — that saw the biggest percentage increases in average transaction prices in the last year. It’s good news for those of you who have stuck by minivans and cars instead of moving on to SUVs and crossovers.

The biggest percentage increase is for the Dodge Grand Caravan, a minivan that sold for an average of $15,227 in January 2021 but is now selling for $25,789 a year later — an increase of 69%.

Part of the reason the Dodge minivan saw such a large jump in value, besides the current state of the market, is likely due to the model being discontinued back in 2020. The same goes for the BMW i3, which came in at number nine with a 53% increase. The electric pipsqueak was discontinued last year for a number of reasons, but it did carve out a niche of loyal drivers who like small, city-specific EVs. Considering the electric cars coming out now are getting bigger and bigger, it makes sense people are trying to lock down these now finite models.

Besides discontinued models, there are some vehicles on the list that have simply always been in-demand used cars, like the Toyota Prius. The car came in at number three on the list with a 61% value increase, which makes sense for a beacon of value and reliability.

Here’s the full list via The Wall Street Journal, showing the average transaction price in January 2021 compared to January 2022, as well as the percentage increase.