Since the start of the week, used-car listings have shown a notable drop in asking prices on major classified sites, according to socialbites.ca. The overall trend points to price declines in the 5-10% range, roughly measured in hundreds of thousands of rubles.
For instance, a dealer in Balashikha near Moscow cut the price on an 11-year-old Skoda Octavia from 980,000 rubles by 70,000 rubles just a week after the listing went live. In Moscow, a two-year-old Kia Rio was listed at 1.15 million rubles, with a reduction of 100,000 rubles. Meanwhile, a 2014 Hyundai Solaris at 850,000 rubles saw a 50,000-ruble price concession within days of the posting.
The same pattern appears in regional markets. In Tyumen, the Skoda Yeti’s price dropped by 60,000 rubles a week after the ad appeared. In Chelyabinsk, the same model was 40,000 rubles cheaper, and in Nizhny Tagil a Skoda Karoq moved at least 100,000 rubles below the previous expectation within two weeks.
Used-car prices are also dipping in dealership inventories. The 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan crossed a threshold of roughly 200,000 rubles lower when Avilon in Moscow adjusted the price, with a dealership representative explaining the cut was part of a promotion driven by weakening demand. He added that sales have slowed due to the broader economic situation, noting that several cars can be sold at February pre-crisis prices right now.
Another dealer, Rolf Altufievo, trimmed the Renault Logan by 35,000 rubles just two days after the listing. The move was attributed to ongoing discounting and exchange-rate effects, according to the dealership manager. In many cases, private sellers justify the revised expectations by the reality that cars may sit on the market longer than anticipated, a socialbites.ca correspondent reported.
Many owners who have already reduced asking prices are open to additional bargaining, creating a more flexible buying environment.
Get it even cheaper
The market for used cars has heated up to the point where buyers are no longer willing to overpay, stated Sergey Udalov, the general director of Avtostat. He predicts conditions will tilt even more in favor of buyers in the near term, noting that earlier inflated costs have reversed as demand cooled. He warned that anyone who truly needs a vehicle or views it as an investment has likely already acted.
Private sellers are expected to adjust prices by as much as 15%, according to Jan Haytseer, vice president of the National Automobile Association (USA). He also cautioned that if unfriendly nations restrict channels for new-car imports into Russia, used-car prices could rise again as supply tightens.
The report indicates that most used cars come through official dealerships, secured through barter arrangements. If a dealer acquired a car at a higher price, the expectation is to maintain the price tag long enough to recoup costs, the article notes. Experts advise buyers to avoid listings of expensive, high-mileage cars because maintenance costs climb rapidly. Demand in the secondary market has been intense, leaving few liquid options, according to Maxim Shelkov, head of the avtocriminalist expert center, as quoted by socialbites.ca.
While it would be incorrect to claim that no illiquid models remain, a true, road-ready vehicle is increasingly scarce and tends to command a premium. Semyon Didenko, an entrepreneur involved in automatic selection, observed that large firms often do not endeavor to source cars below a million rubles, the outlet reports. A study from Drome portal noted that by late February, prices for used cars had risen by 13%, with the average secondary-market vehicle priced around 1,458,000 rubles. Demand for used cars grew by about a third, with Lada, Kia, Hyundai, and Toyota drawing the strongest interest, as cited in the report.