Secondhand car sales plummeting

Sales of secondhand cars have been declining as more brand-new cars have become available in the market and due to the combination of other factors.

In the last three years, the prices of secondhand vehicles had been on the rise, but this stopped in July after the Trade Ministry imposed some restrictions on the sales of secondhand cars.

Moreover, consumers stopped buying new cars as an investment after other financial instruments became more attractive. This meant the abundance of vehicles in the market, which prompted dealers to launch campaigns to offer more favorable terms to potential buyers as they seek to deplete the cars in their stocks.

Those developments in the market for the brand-new cars also had consequences for the secondhand market.

Sales of secondhand cars almost came to a complete halt. The number of ads posted on the two largest digital platforms increased from 400,000 in July to more than 1 million in October.

Poor demand forced people, who put up their vehicles for sale, to slash prices.

The numbers of Cardata show that the price of Renault Megane Sedan, the best-selling car in the secondhand market, declined from 870,000 Turkish Liras ($31,000) in July to 815,000 liras.

"Prices of brand-new cars are not increasing. In fact, their prices fell by 0.19 percent in the past month. In the second-hand market, prices declined as much as 9 percent between Oct. 1-20," said Hüsamettin Yalçın, general manager at Cardata.

People are turning to investment instruments such as the stock market and bank deposit accounts, according to Yalçın.

"In the last two months of the year, companies are likely to continue their campaigns to sell new vehicles. Therefore, second-hand vehicle prices will keep...