There’s a common piece of wisdom among value-oriented car shoppers: Don’t buy new, buy a three-year-old car off a lease. That’s still a good idea, but according to new data from Edmunds, you may not have to wait that long. Even 2025 model year cars are getting cheap, especially if you’re looking at EVs.
In new new blog post, Edmunds Director of Insights Ivan Drury notes that 2025-model used cars sold in the fourth quarter of last year went for $6,370 less than their average new car transaction price. That’s already substantial savings, but the numbers are even better for EV and PHEV shoppers.
Models like the Dodge Charger Daytona and Jeep Wrangler 4XE have truly staggering discounts after less than a year on the road. The average used 2025 Charger Daytona went for $19,711 less than a new model in the same quarter, the study shows. (I have a guess as to why values are plummeting.) That means you’d pay 67% more for essentially the same car, with just a few miles on it. For the Wrangler, the discount is even steeper. Used shoppers saved $19,873 on average.
Dodge Charger Daytonas have super-steep discounts on the used market. But based on our contributor’s nightmarish experience with his Charger, we’re not sure if it’s a good buy even with a steep discount.
Photo by: InsideEVs
By the top-line number, though, the biggest loser was the Genesis GV70 Electrified. Barely used examples offer a stunning $24,012 discount over new ones. There are more mass-market deals, too, including the last of the Toyota bZ4Xs, the Chevy Equinox EV, and the Honda Prologue.
I’m not going to crib the whole list, because you should take a look at Edmunds’ work there. But I will say that it’s a trend I’ve certainly seen for myself. As automakers have piled on incentives and special finance deals, used models have had to compete with fire sale new prices. Factor in that many of the 2025 model year cars were sold with $7,500 tax credits—which evaporated at the end of the third quarter—and you can see why the discounts are so big.
The Equinox EV won our inaugural Breakthrough Award for its extremely affordable price. But they’re even cheaper on the used market, and I’d recommend comparing new vs. used options before pulling the trigger.
Photo by: Motor1.com
There is, of course, a catch. One underrated cost in car-buying is the interest rate on the loan, and it’s here where new cars usually significantly outperform their used counterparts. Automakers often offer discounted financing through their captive loan companies, helping to save you from rates that are higher than they were for most of the last decade.
According to Experian Data collected by U.S. News and World Report, the average super-prime customer—I.E. someone with a credit score above 781—is paying 4.88% right now. For equivalent used buyers, the figure is 7.43%.
Assuming you put $10,000 down on a five-year loan for $40,000 car, that difference alone could account for $2,139 dollars. That’s definitely not enough to account for the level of savings here, but it’s a common reason buyers shop new rather than gently used.
But in today’s world, the EV deals are clearly on the used market. The tax credit is gone, driving up new EV prices, while buyer misgivings about battery reliability and charging keep values depressed on the used market. I don’t expect that to last long, though. Modern EV batteries just aren’t worth worrying about, and once you find a working charging solution, an used EV will be the best car you’ve ever bought.
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