High fuel prices are reshuffling the used-car market. Wholesale values for used electric vehicles rose 4.3% from a year earlier in September, while values for everything else fell 1.6%, according to Cox Automotive's Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, released October 7. Compact cars were the other bright spot. Midsize cars, pickups and SUVs kept sliding.
The overall index, which tracks what dealers pay for used vehicles at auction, fell to 205.9 in September. That is 0.6% below September 2025 and 1.1% below August after Cox adjusts for mix, mileage and season. Before those adjustments, wholesale prices were down 1.2% from a year earlier and 1.3% from August. Regular gas averaged $4.367 a gallon nationally on October 10, according to AAA.
"We are in the weakest season for wholesale valuations," said Jeremy Robb, Cox Automotive's chief economist. He pointed to higher fuel costs, the conflict in the Middle East, record diesel prices and rapidly rising interest rates as the pressures on prices.
EVs gain ground at auction and on dealer lots
The EV numbers stand out because they cut against the broader trend. Wholesale EV sales rose 22% from the second quarter and 45% from a year earlier, Cox said, and EVs made up a record 4.9% of Manheim transactions in the third quarter, up from 3.9% in the second. At retail, dealers sold about 124,000 used EVs in the quarter, also a record and up 11.4% from a year earlier. That is still only about 2.8% of used retail sales.
Manheim index, September 2026
| Measure | Vs. Sept. 2025 | Vs. Aug. 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall index (adjusted), 205.9 | -0.6% | -1.1% |
| Wholesale prices (unadjusted) | -1.2% | -1.3% |
| EV index | +4.3% | +0.6% |
| Non-EV index | -1.6% | -1.7% |
| Rental vehicle prices | +4.2% | -2.2% |
Source: Cox Automotive, Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index: September 2026 Trends, Oct. 7, 2026.
Diesel is the mirror image. Diesel vehicles were just over 3% of wholesale inventory, but their days' supply climbed to 39, which is 27% higher than a year ago, as diesel prices hit records. Cox said large pickups and SUVs saw both demand and values decline, while smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles held their value better. Overall wholesale supply stood at 28 days at the end of September, 2.4 days more than a year earlier.
A weaker outlook for the rest of 2026
Cox now expects its index to finish 2026 just 0.2% higher than it started, down from the 2% gain it forecast in July. Values rose 0.4% in 2025, and the long-term average is 2.3% a year. "Taken together, we're entering Q4 with our antennas up," Robb said, adding that many of the metrics Cox tracks "are converging back toward pre-pandemic norms."
Demand itself is holding up. Cox raised its forecast for total used-vehicle sales this year to 38.5 million, roughly flat with 2025, and its retail used-sales forecast to 20.5 million. More supply is coming, too. Off-lease returns are expected to rise from about 190,000 vehicles a month in the first half of 2026 to about 220,000 a month in the second half, and EVs are a growing share of them: about 10% in the first half, an expected 16% in the second half and about 19% by summer 2027.
What it means if you are buying or selling
Wholesale prices are what dealers pay, not sticker prices, but they set the tone for trade-in offers and, over time, for prices on dealer lots. Owners of big gas or diesel trucks and SUVs who plan to trade in may see softer offers than they did over the summer. Shoppers looking for a used EV face firmer prices than a year ago, though rising lease returns should add more EVs to the market over the next year. Compact cars and other fuel-efficient models are holding their value better than most of the market.
The Chevrolet models in the photos are shown to illustrate electric vehicles and are not named in Cox's report.
