Used car buyer confidence is at its lowest level for six months, according to research by Startline Motor Finance.
It said the percentage of motorists who were positive about the idea of buying a used car was now 48% – down from 59% in August 2024.
However, the percentage of those surveyed with negative feelings had only risen from 7% to 10%, while the percentage of those who said they felt neutral had risen from 34% to 43%.
Startline CEO Paul Burgess said: “There’s a general feeling of negativity around the economy at the moment and this appears to be feeding through into used car buyer sentiment, with quite a substantial fall in confidence over the last six months.
“However, there is some nuance to this picture. Largely, people appear to be moving from feeling positive to neutral about the prospect of buying a car, rather than becoming negative.
“This is perhaps reflective of the wider economic mood – things aren’t bad by most measures, they just don’t necessarily feel good.”
Reasons given by those surveyed for feeling negative about changing their car included that their existing vehicle was fine (41%), their finances were worse (38%), they just didn’t feel like a change (24%), and that used cars were currently too expensive (17%).
The most common reasons given for positive sentiments were that the respondent’s current car needed replacing (49%), they just felt like a change (31%), their personal finances had improved (25%), they wanted a bigger car (23%), and electric car prices had fallen (15%).
Burgess said: “Last month, we released some data about how used car buyers felt about 2025 in general and the overall message was that they were taking a very practical view. Largely, they would change their car when it needed changing and then look for the best deal.
“These figures for February seem to underline that impression. More people are seeing a deterioration in their personal finances than are seeing an improvement, and relatively few are in a position to just change their car because they feel like it.”
