- Since 1953 (the first full year both series were tracked monthly), used car and truck prices have risen 6.7-fold, while new vehicle prices have risen only 3.8-fold, used vehicles rose at almost twice the rate of new ones over 73 years.
- Used vehicle prices spiked 42.8% from 2020 to 2022 from 2020 to 2022, then fell 12.7% from 2022 to 2024, a sharp, mostly-reversed swing that new vehicle prices never showed.
- New vehicle prices rose more steadily through the same period (+16.9% from 2020 to 2022) and have kept rising since, while used prices partly retreated.
- Despite the correction, used vehicle prices are still up 24.9% since 2020, slightly more than new vehicles' 21.4% rise over the same span.
01 Introduction
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks new vehicle and used vehicle prices as two separate components of the Consumer Price Index, going back to the late 1940s for new vehicles and the early 1950s for used ones. Both series are index numbers, not dollar prices: they measure how much prices for a comparable vehicle have changed relative to a fixed 1982–1984 reference period (confirmed directly in this data: the 1982–1984 average for the new-vehicle series comes to 99.99, essentially exactly 100). This article uses both series in full to compare how new and used vehicle prices have actually moved, separately, over more than seven decades.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U New Vehicles (CUUR0000SETA01) and Used Cars and Trucks (CUUR0000SETA02), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted.02 New and Used Vehicle Prices Since 1953
The table below shows both index series at 5-year intervals since 1955, the first year with a complete run of monthly data for both series (1953 is the actual first full year for both, used as the base comparison point below).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U New Vehicles and Used Cars and Trucks, annual averages calculated from monthly not-seasonally-adjusted data.| Year | New Vehicles | Used Cars/Trucks |
|---|---|---|
| 1955 | 44.9 | 21.5 |
| 1960 | 51.6 | 25.1 |
| 1965 | 49.8 | 29.8 |
| 1970 | 53.1 | 31.2 |
| 1975 | 63.0 | 43.9 |
| 1980 | 88.5 | 62.3 |
| 1985 | 106.0 | 113.7 |
| 1990 | 121.4 | 117.6 |
| 1995 | 141.0 | 156.5 |
| 2000 | 142.8 | 155.8 |
| 2005 | 137.9 | 139.4 |
| 2010 | 138.0 | 143.1 |
| 2015 | 147.1 | 147.1 |
| 2020 | 147.6 | 144.2 |
| 2025 | 178.5 | 184.9 |
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Use the Calculator03 Year-by-Year Prices
For readers looking for a specific year, the table below lists the CPI-U New Vehicles and Used Cars/Trucks index values for every year from 1953, the first full year of monthly data for both series, through 2026 year-to-date.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U New Vehicles (CUUR0000SETA01) and Used Cars and Trucks (CUUR0000SETA02), calendar-year averages of monthly not-seasonally-adjusted index values. 2026 is a partial-year average (January–August).| Year | New Vehicles | Used Cars/Trucks |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 47.2 | 26.7 |
| 1954 | 46.5 | 22.7 |
| 1955 | 44.9 | 21.5 |
| 1956 | 46.1 | 20.7 |
| 1957 | 48.5 | 23.2 |
| 1958 | 50.1 | 24.0 |
| 1959 | 52.2 | 26.8 |
| 1960 | 51.6 | 25.1 |
| 1961 | 51.6 | 26.0 |
| 1962 | 51.4 | 28.4 |
| 1963 | 51.1 | 28.7 |
| 1964 | 50.9 | 29.9 |
| 1965 | 49.8 | 29.8 |
| 1966 | 48.9 | 29.0 |
| 1967 | 49.4 | 30.0 |
| 1968 | 50.7 | 30.7 |
| 1969 | 51.5 | 30.9 |
| 1970 | 53.1 | 31.2 |
| 1971 | 55.3 | 33.0 |
| 1972 | 54.8 | 33.1 |
| 1973 | 54.8 | 35.2 |
| 1974 | 58.0 | 36.7 |
| 1975 | 63.0 | 43.9 |
| 1976 | 67.0 | 50.3 |
| 1977 | 70.5 | 54.7 |
| 1978 | 75.9 | 55.9 |
| 1979 | 81.9 | 60.2 |
| 1980 | 88.5 | 62.3 |
| 1981 | 93.9 | 76.9 |
| 1982 | 97.5 | 88.8 |
| 1983 | 99.9 | 98.7 |
| 1984 | 102.6 | 112.5 |
| 1985 | 106.0 | 113.7 |
| 1986 | 110.6 | 108.8 |
| 1987 | 114.4 | 113.1 |
| 1988 | 116.5 | 118.0 |
| 1989 | 119.2 | 120.4 |
| 1990 | 121.4 | 117.6 |
| 1991 | 126.0 | 118.1 |
| 1992 | 129.2 | 123.2 |
| 1993 | 132.7 | 133.9 |
| 1994 | 137.6 | 141.7 |
| 1995 | 141.0 | 156.5 |
| 1996 | 143.7 | 157.0 |
| 1997 | 144.2 | 151.1 |
| 1998 | 143.4 | 150.6 |
| 1999 | 142.9 | 152.0 |
| 2000 | 142.8 | 155.8 |
| 2001 | 142.1 | 158.7 |
| 2002 | 140.0 | 152.0 |
| 2003 | 137.8 | 142.9 |
| 2004 | 137.1 | 133.3 |
| 2005 | 137.9 | 139.4 |
| 2006 | 137.6 | 140.0 |
| 2007 | 136.3 | 135.7 |
| 2008 | 134.2 | 134.0 |
| 2009 | 135.6 | 127.0 |
| 2010 | 138.0 | 143.1 |
| 2011 | 141.9 | 149.0 |
| 2012 | 144.2 | 150.3 |
| 2013 | 145.8 | 149.9 |
| 2014 | 146.3 | 149.1 |
| 2015 | 147.1 | 147.1 |
| 2016 | 147.4 | 143.5 |
| 2017 | 147.0 | 138.3 |
| 2018 | 146.3 | 138.4 |
| 2019 | 146.8 | 139.8 |
| 2020 | 147.6 | 144.2 |
| 2021 | 156.2 | 182.6 |
| 2022 | 172.5 | 205.9 |
| 2023 | 178.9 | 191.2 |
| 2024 | 177.9 | 179.8 |
| 2025 | 178.5 | 184.9 |
| 2026* | 179.2 | 180.1 |
04 The Pandemic-Era Divergence, 2018–2026
The most dramatic recent movement in either series is the used-vehicle price spike that began in 2021. The annual data below shows just how sharply used prices diverged from new prices, then partly reversed while new prices kept climbing.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U New Vehicles and Used Cars and Trucks, calendar-year averages of monthly not-seasonally-adjusted index values.| Year | New Vehicles | Used Cars/Trucks |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 146.3 | 138.4 |
| 2019 | 146.8 | 139.8 |
| 2020 | 147.6 | 144.2 |
| 2021 | 156.2 | 182.6 |
| 2022 | 172.5 | 205.9 |
| 2023 | 178.9 | 191.2 |
| 2024 | 177.9 | 179.8 |
| 2025 | 178.5 | 184.9 |
| 2026* | 179.2 | 180.1 |
Used vehicle prices jumped 42.8% from 2020 to their 2022 peak (144.2 to 205.9), They then fell 12.7% from that 2022 peak through 2024 (205.9 to 179.8). New vehicle prices, by contrast, rose more gradually through the same window (16.9% from 2020 to 2022) and never showed a comparable reversal, they kept climbing even as used prices fell back.
Calculated: (205.9−144.2)÷144.2 = 42.8% (used, 2020-2022); (179.8−205.9)÷205.9 = −12.7% (used, 2022-2024); (172.5−147.6)÷147.6 = 16.9% (new, 2020-2022). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U New Vehicles and Used Cars and Trucks.05 Why These Numbers Look Smaller Than They Feel
A 3.8-fold rise in new vehicle prices since 1953 will feel low to anyone comparing a 1950s car to a 2026 one, and that's by design: these CPI indexes are quality-adjusted, meaning they try to separate price inflation from changes in the vehicles themselves. The index tries to answer "how much more does it cost to buy a functionally comparable vehicle," not "how much more does the average new car cost today than in the past," which is a larger number since today's average vehicle is a different, more equipped product than one from decades ago.
06 What This Means for Buyers
On this index, used vehicles have been closing the price gap with new ones for seven decades, not just since 2020: the used index was about 57% of the new index in 1953 and 95% in 2019, and was above it in 2025 (1953: 26.73 vs 47.25; 2019: 139.8 vs 146.8; 2025: 184.9 vs 178.5). The 2021-2022 spike accelerated that convergence sharply, and while used prices have partly cooled since, they have not returned to their 2019 level relative to new vehicles. See this site's vehicle lifespan and survival-rate data for how many miles a used vehicle can realistically be expected to deliver, and average car payment history for how these price trends have flowed through to actual monthly loan payments.
07 Data Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), New Vehicles (series CUUR0000SETA01) and Used Cars and Trucks (series CUUR0000SETA02), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted. data.bls.gov
- This site's related analysis: Average Car Payment by Year, 1971-2026 and How Many Miles Does the Average Car Last?