Used Car Prices Are The Highest They’ve Been Since COVID – Jalopnik

Happy Friday! It’s November 14, 2025, and that is The Morning Shift — your each day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from all over the world, in a single place. This is the place you will discover a very powerful tales which might be shaping the way in which Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version, we’re wanting on the climbing costs of used automobiles, and South Korea’s newest response to U.S. tariffs. We’ll additionally have a look at Japanese auto employee unions, and Jeep’s newest recall. 

Doesn’t every thing really feel prefer it’s too costly now? It’s not your creativeness; used automobile costs are the best they have been for the reason that chip scarcity of the COVID lockdown period, and automobiles are sitting on heaps unsold for longer intervals than they have been again then. From the Detroit Free Press:

The costs of recent and used automobiles have been stubbornly excessive for some time.

…

Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds, mentioned there’s one thing uncommon concerning the worth of 3-year-old used automobiles, which noticed common transaction costs above $30,000 within the third quarter of this yr, at $31,067, up 5% from the identical interval final yr. It’s the best third-quarter common transaction worth since 2022, when the common hit $31,259, in keeping with knowledge equipped by Edmunds.

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The final time used automobile costs have been so excessive for an prolonged interval was a lot of years in the past. They crossed the $30,000 threshold within the fourth quarter of 2021 and stayed above that mark till the third quarter of 2023, when common transaction costs dropped to $29,697, in keeping with Edmunds.

Granted, we’re popping out of a chip scarcity now, however one much more minor than the period once we really cared about curbing COVID unfold in any manner in any respect. The Free Press speculates that used automobiles are sitting on seller heaps longer as a result of clients are getting pickier, and weighing used automobiles towards offers on new automobiles, however I posit there’s one more reason: Car patrons are broke, and making do with what they’ve within the face of a looming U.S. financial collapse. 

United States tariffs have performed hell with the worldwide automobile market, however South Korea is stepping in to assist its automakers out. The nation shall be growing subsidies for carbuyers within the nation, particularly for EVs — a market the place each different nation is flailing compared to China, which jumped on the subsidy prepare far earlier. From Bloomberg:

South Korea plans to extend monetary help for its automakers and lift car-buyer subsidies on electrical automobiles subsequent yr to assist offset the prices from US tariffs and ease strain from Chinese and different rivals.

The authorities is earmarking greater than 15 trillion received ($10.2 billion), together with low-interest-rate loans and ensures, for home automobile and auto components makers in 2026, the nation’s business ministry mentioned Friday.

Subsidies for patrons of EVs are set to be elevated by greater than 30% to 936 billion received, and consumption and acquisition taxes shall be waived for all-electric, hybrid gas-electric and hydrogen-powered automobiles. South Korea additionally plans to introduce a trade-in subsidy of as much as 1 million received for brand new EV patrons who scrap their outdated automobiles.

Remember when everybody complained that China was dishonest as a result of it used authorities funds to assist its automobile corporations develop EVs? Is South Korea dishonest right here, or can all of us simply admit that placing authorities funds in direction of your nation’s corporations to ascertain an early lead in a nascent however rising market is a fairly regular factor to do?

Japanese auto employees are making ready for union negotiations with their employers, and one level of disagreement between the 2 events is more likely to stick: Wages. Automakers need to pay out much less, due to tariff-induced hits to earnings, whereas the employees have their expectations set as fairly as ever. From Reuters:

Japan’s prime car business union group has no plans to cut back its wage calls for at labour talks subsequent yr regardless of a heavy drag on the sector’s earnings from U.S. tariffs, its chief informed Reuters on Friday.

The remark from Akihiro Kaneko, president of the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions (JAW), underscores the willpower of Japan’s most influential industrial umbrella union to maintain wage momentum going right into a fourth yr.

“With inflation persisting and real wages still lagging, there’s simply no option to go into next year’s wage talks with a weaker stance than last year,” Kaneko mentioned in an interview.

“We do recognise that the auto industry is in a critical situation, with the severe hit to automakers’ earnings from U.S. tariffs,” Kaneko mentioned, because the business braces for a revenue plunge of about 30% this yr.

“But to keep the positive cycle turning, with higher wages driving consumption, consumption fuelling growth, we need measures that push demand, and wage hikes are a key part of that,” he mentioned.

Kaneko is correct right here — in the event you do not pay your working class something, there shall be nobody who can afford your merchandise. Hard to make gross sales when nobody’s shopping for, irrespective of how low you slash your price of products bought. 

Toyota recalled its turbo six-cylinders the opposite day for engine points, and now Jeep has joined in on the pattern — although just for hybrids. The firm is recalling 112,859 Grand Cherokee 4XEs and Wrangler 4XEs for doable engine particles that might result in fires. From Reuters:

Chrysler-parent Stellantis is recalling 112,859 U.S. automobiles over doable engine failure or compartment hearth, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mentioned on Friday.

The NHTSA pointed to mess contained in the engine as a trigger however didn’t supply extra particulars.

The U.S. automaker was recalling some 2023-2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4XE and 2024-2025 Jeep Wrangler 4XE Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), NHTSA mentioned.

Hey, it isn’t Ford for as soon as!

New York City introduced public transit to the U.S., and we’re nonetheless the most effective at it. In the States, anyway. Europe nonetheless has us beat. 

Sometimes it is only a Mountain Goats day.