Slight dip in used-car sales as the top five value holders named

NEW figures provide an interesting insight into what’s going on in the secondhand vehicle market.

It appears the number of deals is down 5pc so far this year but the percentage of people looking at electric and hybrid cars online is up substantially.

According to the new DoneDeal.ie motor industry review for the first half of the year, nearly half a million used cars (483,152) have changed hands so far.

We often lose sight of just how many older cars are traded every year.

We tend to fixate on new-car sales as a reflection of economic activity.

However, in terms of transaction volume, they are relatively small compared with their secondhand counterparts.

The survey also claims the Skoda Octavia is the best car on the market as far as retaining its value is concerned.

It further claims that the Volkswagen brand is the one most widely searched for.

As part of the report, the company carried out a depreciation analysis.

In doing so, it identified what it claims to be the best five makes and models to retain their value from new (the cars were first bought in 2014/15).

The Octavia had an average depreciation of 31pc — an excellent result.

It was followed closely by the Volkswagen Golf (32pc).

A bit further back but still in the top five were the Nissan Qashqai (40pc), Volkswagen Passat (46pc) and the Ford Focus (49pc).

The survey found that there has been a 58pc increase in electric vehicle ads in the first six months of 2018.

At the same time, hybrid listings have risen by a significant 65pc.

Petrols are down 17pc but diesel is up 11pc (to 215,937).

The report says: “Electric car searches have also sky-rocketed, with more than one million in the first six months of 2018, compared with 350,000 for the corresponding period last year — a rise of 223pc.”

A total of 48,166 Volkswagens changed hands in the used car market over the first six months.

That number was followed by Toyota (41,412), Ford (40,018), Nissan (23,954) and Audi (20,173).

Also, in a survey of more than 1,000 people thinking of buying a car, 57pc said they were interested a vehicle of four years or older.

Significantly, just 13pc of those surveyed said they were in the market for a new motor.

Diesels were popular (63pc).

Petrol vehicles were less so (24pc), and the remainder were split between hybrid and electric transmissions.