STUDY: The Chevy Corvette is One of the Top 20 Vehicles that is Currently Better to Buy New vs Lightly Used

We’ve been watching C8 Corvette prices plummet over the last year and it’s all but certain that the days of buying a new Corvette Stingray and then selling it for a hefty profit are now long behind us. Instead, we are starting to see a plethora of dealers offering discounts on the new Stingrays while in the secondary market, many pre-owned cars are now selling below their original MSRP.

The folks at iSeeCars analyzed over 1.6 million new and lightly used cars to determine which used models offer the biggest savings compared to new, as well as which lightly used vehicles are holding their value so well that buyers would do better to consider buying them new. After making their findings, they have the details of their study compiled in a report they call “The Top 20 Cars to By Used and the Top 20 Cars to Buy New”.

The data from the survey tells us that the average lightly used car costs about 12.8% less ($5,778) than its new-car equivalent. However, pre-owned vehicles like the Chevrolet Corvette tend to keep their values higher than the market average even after 12 months or 10,000 miles of use.

In analyzing Corvettes in the marketplace, iSeeCars says that pre-owned Corvettes (2022-2023) only show a price difference of around -8.4% versus new cars (2023-2024), which is about a $6,945 difference in price used over new. And with the average used price of the Corvette being $76,050, it does appear to make a lot of sense to consider buying new as the savings still are not that much greater.

Here’s the list of the Top 20 Cars to Buy New vs Lightly Used:

“Buyers seeking used car value should avoid these cars, which offer less than a 10 percent savings compared to a brand new model,” Karl Brauer, iSeeCars executive analyst. “At these prices, shoppers are better off simply buying a new model and getting the full new-car experience at a slightly higher cost.”

As for the vehicles that are better to buy lightly used, some of the vehicles in this Top 20 list are showing a substantial discounts over their new car prices. It not much of a surprise to use to see that the list is full of EVs.

“Car buyers seeking the best value often shop used models instead of new,” said Karl Brauer, iSeeCars executive analyst. “While a used car almost always costs less than it did new, some models lose more than 25 percent of their value after just one year, giving buyers a near-new ownership experience at a substantial savings.”

iSeeCars has a bunch of more data that doesn’t really pertain to the Corvette, so if you want to see some more data about Buying on a Budget, click here.

Source:
iSeeCars

Related:
Corvette Convertible Receives Runner-Up Honors in iSeeCars’ Best Used Cars Study
Corvette is One of 25 Cars that Hold Their Values the Best Over Five Years
The Chevy Corvette is One of the Top 20 Fastest Selling Used Cars on the Market

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