Irish Examiner view: Used car prices increase by 40% since June 2020

Growing demand for used cars has increased their value and prices have risen according to DoneDeal's latest Used Car Price Index

Author of the DoneDeal report, Tom Gillespie from NUIG, found that 40% of us plan to buy a car this year and 60% say they will spend at least €15,000 on one. Picture: Larry Cummins

One of the consequences of home working is that cars sit in driveways for extended periods, bringing the old cost-benefit question into sharp focus.

However, and counterintuitively, growing demand for used cars has increased their value and prices have rised by 40% in the year since June 2020 according to DoneDeal's latest Used Car Price Index.

Brexit has played a role by making imports — those popular “swimmers” — untenable, but uncertainty around the future of motoring must play a part too. 

Many people happy to try to play a part in countering climate collapse by switching to electric cars remain unconvinced that the supports needed to drive that change are at hand. 

That is not the only climate factor. 

A culmination of cold weather in Texas, droughts in Taiwan, and plant fires in Japan has led to a shortage of semiconductors, delaying new car production for many brands.

The report’s author, Tom Gillespie from NUIG, found that 40% of us plan to buy a car this year and 60% say they will spend at least €15,000 on one. 

Despite growing costs, sustainability questions, and commuting hell, our love of the private car endures. But for how long?