Study finds up to 11% of new cars are sold after just one year of ownership

With U.S. consumers owning cars more than 11 years on average, it’s unusual for an individual to sell a new car after just one year of ownership. A recent analysis by iSeeCars.com found that, on average, about 2.7 percent of new car purchases (or 1 out of every 40) are sold as used after 1 year. However, cars for some 2014 new models sell on the used car market at a much higher rate: up to four times the average, or about 11 percent (1 out of every 10).

Used Car Lot

Automotive research website iSeeCars.com analyzed 5 million new 2014 model year cars sold between September 2013 and March 2014, then checked back one year later to see what percentage of those cars were sold as used with 10,000 to 15,000 miles on the odometer.

The study identified seven new 2014 model year cars that stood out for having a significantly larger percentage of new cars sold as used after one year when compared with the average of 2.7 percent. The percentage of these cars sold ranged from 7 percent to 11 percent, or about 2.6 to 4 times the average.