Second-hand car market in Estonia down 26 percent

At the time when it has become increasingly difficult to lease new cars and people have been postponing purchase decisions, companies say that volumes in the second-hand car market are down between 15 and 25 percent.

Urmas Karik, CEO of Veho Eesti that sells Honda and Citroen cars, says very few people are currently buying cars. “But we did well in September that was the best sales month for the year for us when we sold 133 second-hand cars.”

Raul Kivirand from A2-Autowelt that sells second-hand cars says that many customers are looking for exchanging their more expensive cars with cheaper ones. “People simply want to cut their large leasing bills,” he said.

Car dealers say that many leasing companies have confiscated luxury cars from customers who have not kept up payments and put them on sale.

According to Karik, more than half of people who buy a new car from their dealership exchange it with their current car. “A few years ago only about a third did so an preferred to sell their current car themselves on the aftermarket,” he said.

Source http://balticbusinessnews.com/default2.aspx