--- title: This Is the Best Time of the Year to Sell a Used Car description: New data indicates that the best time to sell a used car is around the Labor Day holiday, when used car prices are higher than normal. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 600 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-08-28T19:10:18.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T15:09:05.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - cars - News word_count: 431 canonical: https://money.com/best-time-sell-car-labor-day/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Illustration of a calendar with Labor Day marked by a car sticker](https://img.money.com/2023/08/News-Why-Labor-Day-best-time-sell-car.jpg?crop=0px%2C31px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) The best time of the year to sell your car could be just around the corner: Since 2020, used car values have been highest right after Labor Day. During the 36th week of the year, which is generally the week of Labor Day, used car values were 3.2% higher than average, according to a report from CarGurus, a buying and selling site. For a $30,000 vehicle — not an usual [price to pay](https://money.com/new-used-car-prices-december-2021/) for a [used car in today's market](https://money.com/buy-car-under-20000-dollars/) — that’s a difference of almost $1,000. Before 2020, Labor Day wasn’t the best time to sell. According to CarGurus, April used to be the “sweet spot” for selling or trading in a car, but the car market has changed quite a bit in recent years. CarGurus found that used car listings were down 6% during the Labor Day week, which could partially explain why values are trending higher that week. The company's analysis of the best time of year to [sell a car](https://money.com/how-to-sell-your-car-online/) included data from 2020, 2022 and 2023 (excluding 2021 because it was an outlier year.) - "For the auto industry we've dealt with semiconductor shortages, a lack of vehicles on lots, and significant price increases," CarGurus said in a report. These may be some of the reasons why the best time to sell has changed. - According to Edmunds, the [average used vehicle price](https://www.edmunds.com/industry/press/consumer-demand-buoys-used-market-despite-affordability-challenges-according-to-edmunds-q2-used-vehicle-report.html) was $29,472 in the second quarter of the year, which is 46% higher than the average five years ago — a sign of how much supply constraints have impacted the market to the benefit of sellers. Even [older, more weathered cars](https://money.com/buy-car-under-20000-dollars/) are commanding high prices in the used market. - The best time to buy a used car shifted with the pandemic as well. The best time was once in January, but President's Day week has been better for finding deals more recently. ## Keep in mind Historical market trends are worth considering when you’re deciding when to sell your car, but car prices fluctuate based on a lot of factors. [Used car prices](https://money.com/used-car-prices-rise-again/) were up 3.8% in Q2 compared to Q1, and there’s always the possibility that prices could increase more in the months ahead. - In short, no one knows with certainty if used car values will end the year up or down from current levels, so make sure to weigh all the other elements of the selling decision before rushing to list your vehicle. [8 Best Car Loan Rates of 2023](https://money.com/best-auto-loan-rates/) [These Car Colors Have the Highest (and Lowest) Resale Value](https://money.com/car-colors-resale-value/) [10 Best Auto Refinance Companies of 2023](https://money.com/best-auto-refinance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/best-time-sell-car-labor-day/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This Is the Best Time of the Year to Sell a Used Car" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/best-time-sell-car-labor-day/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/best-time-sell-car-labor-day/", "name": "This Is the Best Time of the Year to Sell a Used Car", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-08-28T19:10:18.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-time-sell-car-labor-day/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-time-sell-car-labor-day/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T15:09:05.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "This Is the Best Time of the Year to Sell a Used Car", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/08/News-Why-Labor-Day-best-time-sell-car.jpg?crop=0px%2C31px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Why-Labor-Day-best-time-sell-car" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-08-28T19:10:18.000Z", "description": "New data indicates that the best time to sell a used car is around the Labor Day holiday, when used car prices are higher than normal.", "abstract": "New data indicates that the best time to sell a used car is around the Labor Day holiday, when used car prices are higher than normal.", "@id": "https://money.com/best-time-sell-car-labor-day/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-01-10T15:09:05.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 431, "keywords": [ "cars", "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Vehicle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle" ] } ] } ] } ```