The UK used car market grew by 2.8% in the third quarter of 2025, as over two million models changed hands.
The latest figures from the SMMT suggest the July to September period was the best third quarter since 2021, as 2.02 million units found their way to new owners. It also marks an 11th consecutive quarter of growth, as a healthy new-car market enables strong supply.
The quarter was also the strongest of the year so far. Between January and September, a total of 6.03 million transactions took place, a rise of 2.4%. Therefore, 2025 looks set to be a better year than last.
During the quarter, July proved to be the best month, with 693,512 transactions, a 3.7% rise year on year. In total, 24,622 more cars changed hands in the period. August saw a 1.4% increase in sales, with 678,945 transactions. Despite being a plate-change month, September continued the trend of being the worst month of the quarter, with 648,808 units swapping hands. This was still a 3.4% year-on-year increase, with 21,130 more cars sold.
Used car age rises
With the rise in used car sales, comes another increase in the age of the UK car parc. It currently stands at 9.5 years, up from eight years in 2019.
However, during the third quarter of the year, 99,313 cars under a year old, around a third of them electrified, changed hands.
According to the SMMT, many of these will have entered the used car market via employee car ownership schemes (ECOS), which provide essential mobility for workers in the automotive sector.
However, this supply of these latest, low and increasingly zero emission vehicles will be severely impacted by government plans to levy company car tax on ECOS vehicles, which would see new car registrations fall by around 80,000 units a year.
Scrapping the proposals would preserve this essential pipeline of high-quality, cost-effective nearly-new vehicles, giving consumers maximum choice, affordability and access to more sustainable motoring.
However, this increase in young used cars suggests that independent workshops could see newer models entering their businesses sooner rather than later. With no ties to main dealerships, buyers are likely to consider their options when it comes to servicing and maintenance.
Petrol remains on top
Petrol remained the best-selling fuel type in the used car market during the quarter. In total, 1,145,148 units were sold, a rise of 1.9% compared to the same three-month period in 2024.
Diesel transactions fell 2.8% between July and September, with 658,664 sales. This suggests there is still an appetite for diesel. The used car figure is high when compared with the new car market, where just 24,934 units were registered in the quarter, a 20.7% decline.
This new car decline is likely down to limited models offered by carmakers, as the technology continues to be demonised. However, while still offering sturdier engines for longer distance driving, many drivers are looking to the used-car market for their diesel models.
With diesel registrations having been in decline for some time, however, the supply of newer models to the used car market has dwindled. Therefore, many of these transactions are coming from older vehicles. These will require servicing to keep them on the road, and once again, it will be the independent garage sector that will pick up this work. Therefore, it is unlikely that diesel demand on the aftermarket will disappear any time soon.
In total, 89.2% of all used car transactions in the third quarter went the way of internal combustion engine cars, a slight year on year fall.
Records for EVs
While petrol and diesel dominated the used car market, full hybrids saw a 30% rise year on year. With 107,727 transactions, the technology increased its market share to 5.3% of the total.
Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) also had a good quarter, with a 2% rise to 23,480 units and a 1.2% market share.
However, the fastest-growing powertrain was the battery-electric vehicle (BEV). While the technology is the second-best selling in the UK’s new car market, with 80,614 transactions, it is the fourth-best in the used car sector. Yet this figure is up 44.4% year on year, with one in 25 buyers opting for the technology. This gave it a 4% market share.
While this is a record figure for BEVs, its low market share suggests that while buyers are interested in new models, older all-electric vehicles are struggling to inspire. With old battery technology, shorter ranges and possibly depleted energy storage, the sector is fighting as newer models come to market.
Even with reduced residual values of older BEVs, it seems buyers will either opt for new models or move away from the technology completely. Yet the total in the third quarter is higher than the 60,365 new BEVs sold in the period of July to September 2022. Therefore, the lower figure could also be due to stunted supply, with lower registrations in the regular three-year period before, on average, a new car moves to the used car market.
Continuing trends
Once again, superminis were the most popular used buy, up 1.8% to 649,859 units and accounting for 32% of transactions. They were followed by lower medium cars, with 543,094 units changing hands, representing an increase of 2%.
Dual purpose vehicles also grew in popularity, with sales up 9.3% to 339,628 units. This was the highest growth of any segment. Specialist sports cars experienced the greatest decline of 8.6% to 55,088 units, followed by upper medium and executive, which fell by 2.8% and 0.9% respectively.
The best-selling car of the quarter was the Ford Fiesta. A total of 78,062 units changed hands, suggesting once again that the carmaker was too quick to discontinue the model. With smaller cars again proving popular in the new car market, rumours that Ford may resurrect the Fiesta continue to grow.
The Vauxhall Corsa was second in the three-month period, with 64,585 transactions, while the Volkswagen Golf took third, with 58,412 sales.
Black and grey remained the best-selling used car colours, up 3.1% and 6.3%, with white, up 6.3%, overtaking blue to reach the top three. It therefore seems that bland colours are proving popular amongst buyers.
Cream recorded the strongest growth of 10.1%, although volumes were small at 1,379 transactions. This was followed by green which recorded 9% growth and 35,762 transactions.
Despite a 3.2% uplift, maroon cars were the least popular with just 1,250 changing hands. Pink cars, meanwhile, recorded the steepest decline, of 7% to 1,314 units.
