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A Good Time To Buy Used Pickup Truck

Despite the historically high fuel prices, buyers looking to stay with pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles for their business may want to look at the secondary market, where the falling purchase prices may offset the extra money spent on the lower-fuel economy vehicles.

Wholesale pricesof full-size SUVs and pickups have fallen significantly over the past year, according to vehicle auctioneer, Adesa Analytical Services, Carmel, Ind. Adesa releases a monthly analysis of Wholesale Used Vehicle Prices by Vehicle Model Class.

The drop in prices is ostensibly attributed to the higher fuel prices, but prices for trucks and SUVs have fallen more than might be explained just by fuel prices, Tom Kontos, president of Adesa, said in a release.

“Based solely on the rise in gasoline prices, the market may be overreacting to what many believe to be a ‘tipping point’ as fuel prices reached the $4 range,” Kontos said in the release. He did not return a call before the deadline for this issue.

According to the report, it would take about 40 months to offset the savings in a full-size SUV with the increased expense of gasoline.

Because diesel prices have risen more dramatically than gasoline in the past year, the savings with a diesel-powered vehicle would be matched in about 20 months, Kontos said in the report.

The basis for those returns is relatively narrow. The calculations assume vehicles are getting 15 miles per gallon for gasoline and 20 mpg for diesel and driven about 1,000 miles a month.

“To the extent that savings in SUV and pickup wholesale purchase prices can be passed on to consumers, the same payback period applies to the public,” the report said.

The calculations do not include potential future escalations in fuel prices. The analysis is based on nearly 7 million annual sales transactions from more than 170 U.S. wholesale auto auctions