Used car sales bounce back after slow start to 2025

Sales of used cars have grown for the third straight month in Australia, finally creeping back above the 200,000 mark after a period of decline.

Data compiled by AutoGrab and published by the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) shows 200,566 used vehicles were sold last month (March 2025), a huge 14.8 per cent increase on the month prior.

The result also represents a significant increase on the 184,054 used cars sold in March last year, and it’s only the fifth month in which used vehicle sales have been above 200,000 since the AADA’s Automotive Insights Report (AIR) debuted at the end of 2023.

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While used car listings were down 4.7 per cent to just under 312,000, AADA CEO James Voortman hailed the result as a positive for the market.

“This month’s results show the resilience of the used car market. Sales rose for the third consecutive month and there was a noticeable drop in listings this month, suggesting dealers and private sellers moved vehicles more quickly and efficiently,” Mr Voortman said.

“March also marked a noticeable shift in buyer behaviour, with the average days to sell climbing to 51.3 days which is the highest figure since November 2023.

“It’s a modest increase, but in the context of falling listings, it suggests buyers are having to search longer or be more selective, particularly in tighter segments.”

The AADA and AutoGrab offer the following definitions for the monthly Automotive Insights Report:

• For Sale: Level of available used and demo cars listed online by dealers and private sellers nationally at the time of reporting. AutoGrab processes and de-duplicates listings to identify and eliminate repetitions, ensuring that vehicles listed across multiple platforms are counted only once.
• Sales: Total vehicles delisted from online marketplaces, serving as a close proxy to actual sales and recorded monthly. The delisting count also reflects unique vehicles, as AutoGrab processes and deduplicates listings to identify and eliminate repetitions, ensuring that vehicles listed across multiple platforms are counted only once.

Best-selling used cars (up to 10 years old)

Unsurprisingly, the Ford Ranger continues to dominate the sales chart, with the top 10 best-sellers remaining the same as in February, albeit in a slightly different order.

Despite still lagging behind, the Toyota HiLux experienced one of the largest month-on-month sales increases, and continues to be trailed by its Corolla and RAV4 stablemates.

Used car sales by state and territory

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) experienced the greatest month-on-month increase in used vehicle sales, at least in terms of percentage gained.

In terms of volume, New South Wales was the biggest grower, with sales back above the 60,000 mark – accounting for 30 per cent of the annual total. 

Sales by vehicle type

After surpassing traditional passenger cars in October, SUVs continued to be the best-selling vehicle type, now taking a commanding lead to the tune of more than 10,000 sales a month.

Sales by fuel type

Hybrid vehicles continue to be one of the fastest-growing propulsion types when it comes to used car sales, reflecting a desire for more economical vehicles.

But after a big rise of 35 per cent in February, plug-in hybrid sales growth slowed down in March.

MORE: SUVs dominate ‘competitive’ used car market in Australia MORE: Australia’s best-selling used cars of 2024 revealed