The average value of a used car rose 13% year-on-year in February, despite a 1.1% drop compared to January, according to British Car Auctions (BCA).
At £7,056, the average price remained above £7,000 for the third month in a row, making it the third-highest value ever recorded.
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The average sale versus CAP was 98.67%, up from 98.03% in February 2012.
The year-on-year rise in value came with a fall in the average age of used cars, which fell from an average 61.33 months with a 59,339 average mileage to an average of 60.45 months and 56,341 average mileage.
Fleet, part-ex and nearly new
The average value of used fleet vehicles at auction rose £325 month-on-month, to a record value of £8,851, which was also an increase of 14.7% on the £7,714 recorded in February 2012.
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By GlobalDataThe year-on-year average age of cars fell from 40.92 months with 50,467 miles on the clock to 40.28 months with an average mileage of 46,246 while value against CAP rose slightly, from 98.78% to 98.80%.
The average value of part-exchange vehicles fell 0.6% (£24) from January’s record breaking month, to £3,556, although this was still a 25% increase, year-on-year, while performance against CAP improved from 93.10% to 97.21%.
Again, the average age decreased from 89.78 to 87.89 months, with the average mileage decreasing from 75,347 to 73, 290, year-on-year.
The unpredictable nearly-new market saw a large month-on-month fall in value, from £20,283 to £18,599, which was also down on the average £20,175 value recorded in February 2012.
Performance against CAP fell by over half a point to 100.1%.
"Constricted supply"
Simon Henstock, UK operations director at BCA, said: "Prices are high largely as a result of the constricted supply and, seasonal variations aside, we should expect a similar picture across much of 2013.
"We know from experience that values cannot keep rising and there will inevitably be an adjustment. How this will manifest itself is impossible to judge at this stage, but with the Easter break often representing a watershed in demand we might see some pressure on values in April.
"With the March plate change now in full swing and more confidence in the retail new car market, we expect to see significantly higher volumes and much greater choice for buyers at auction over the next few weeks."
