Clutch Used Car Pricing Report

National Overview: flat on average, cheaper for the same car

The average used vehicle sold in Canada for $33,917 in September, 0.5% above August and 0.4% below September 2025. It's the second month in a row below a year ago, and the gap is small.

The average has spent thirteen months inside a band of about $600.

The question a shopper asks is different: is the car I want cheaper than it was? To answer it, compare one model with itself at the same age, a 2023 Honda Civic sold this September against a 2022 Honda Civic sold last September, repeated for every model and age.

On that measure the same car cost 1.8% less than a year ago in September, after 2.2% less in August. The line peaked in August 2025, crossed below zero in March and hasn't been above it since. The same car is about 2% cheaper, for a second month.

So how can the same car be 2% cheaper while the average is only 0.4% lower? More near-new vehicles reached the used market.

Vehicles two years old or newer were 33.1% of September's sales, up from 28.4% a year earlier, and three-year-olds lost share. That is supply, not a change of taste. Canada's new-vehicle market fell to 1.49 million sales in 2022, the first year under 1.5 million since 2009, and was back to about 1.9 million in 2025, so the one- and two-year-olds reaching the used market today come from bigger model years than the three-year-olds they replace. A one- or two-year-old vehicle costs more than the average even after a discount, so a market that tilts toward them holds its average up while the same cars get cheaper. The same-age decline took about $600 off the average; the newer mix put about $400 back.

Every age from one to six years cost 1.2% to 3.0% less than a year ago at the same age, while the current model year was flat and older vehicles fell less as a group. If you're shopping anything from one to six years old, this is the year's discount.

Wholesale prices point the same way. Canadian Black Book's wholesale index fell in every week of September, by less than 0.2% a week. Nothing upstream suggests the easing stops in October.

Province by Province

British Columbia is the only large province above its September 2025 level, up 1.0% to $37,824, the highest average in the country. Ontario is the weakest large province, 1.6% below a year ago, and it's the biggest market, so it pulls the national figure with it.

Body Style

Ontario SUVs fell most, 3.9% below a year ago, while cars rose most in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. SUVs were 64.7% of September's sales, near their record, and cars 20.4%, their lowest share in our records; the cars that did sell were newer, which is why the average car costs more than a year ago while the same car costs less.

Used Teslas: the fall was last year

Used electric vehicles were the only fuel type to cost more than a year earlier at the same age, 2.0% above September 2025, against 2.1% below for gasoline vehicles. That rise is last year's drop ending, and the two best-selling used EVs in our data, the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, show it.

Take one car and follow it. A 2023 Model 3 has sold inside a band of about $2,500 every month this year, $31,951 in September, even though it is a year older than it was in January. Through 2025 the same car fell 13%, more than a year of age explains. A 2023 Model Y has held the same way this year, at $43,235 in September.

Tesla's new-car prices explain both halves. The only new Model Y on sale cost $84,990 in spring 2025, and Tesla cut it by $20,000 that summer; used Model Ys followed it down. This year the new cars got cheaper again and then stopped. A Berlin-built Model Y Standard arrived in January at $49,990, and a Shanghai-built Model 3 at $39,490 from May. Those two prices are now the ceilings. From July to September a 2024 Model 3 of the same build as the new car sold for about $38,400, roughly $1,000 under it.

The rebate decides which used Tesla is still a deal. The federal program pays up to $5,000 on a battery-electric vehicle with a final price of $50,000 or less, and the Model Y RWD is the only Tesla that qualifies; the Shanghai Model 3 does not. So a new Model Y costs about $45,000 after the rebate, less than $2,000 above the 2023 Model Y. On the Model 3 there is no rebate, and Tesla stopped taking orders for the new car in October after using up its import quota.

The used Tesla to look at is the 2023 Model 3: at about $32,000 it is $7,500 under the new car, it has already taken its fall, and the new car can't be ordered.

Affordability

Line up every September sale from cheapest to most expensive and compare each rung with a year ago.

The cheapest tenth sold for 3.2% less than a year ago. The median sale was 1.3% less, and from the upper quarter up the change was less than one percent either way. The discount reached the middle of the market and faded above it.

The budget tiers barely moved from August: 22.4% of cars sold for under $15,000 and 21.4% of SUVs for under $20,000.

The Ford F-150 is back at number one, up from third in August, at an average of $45,614. The Honda CR-V is second, the Nissan Rogue, August's leader, third, then the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda Civic.

The year-over-year column compares average prices, and an average rises when newer or better-equipped examples sell. At the same age, 47 of the 50 best sellers were cheaper than a year ago and three cost more: the RAV4, the Toyota Tacoma and the Tesla Model 3. The Volkswagen Jetta is the sharpest example, its average up 11.1% while a same-age Jetta is 3.1% cheaper. A higher average doesn't mean a model got more expensive.

Budget Buys

Under $15,000, the Hyundai Elantra was 11.3% of the cars sold in that tier. The Ford Escape led SUVs under $20,000 and the F-150 took 22.7% of the trucks sold under $30,000.

What to Watch

Our read for the rest of the year: the same car keeps getting cheaper, the average keeps hiding it, and the used Tesla floor holds. Three things will tell us if we're wrong.

The same-car decline. We expect it near 2% again in October, a third month. The year-ago base softens from here, which flatters the annual number, but wholesale prices fell every week of September and nothing in the pipeline has turned. If the decline narrows to under 1% in October, the market has found its floor earlier than we think. Until then, the average is not the number to shop on.

The 2024 Model 3 against $39,490. A 2024 of the new car's build sold about $1,000 under it through the summer, and the new car can't be ordered until March. We expect that gap to hold, not close: a used Tesla bought in October will not be cheaper in January. The signal we'd be wrong is a 2024 Model 3 selling under $38,000 in November.

The Bank of Canada on October 28. The Bank held at 2.25% on September 2, and September's jobs report showed employment down 68,000. Whatever the Bank does, it won't move used prices before year end. Financing costs haven't been what's moving this market in 2026; mix and new-car pricing have. A cut changes the payment, not the price.

About This Data

This report is based on Clutch's internal data, collected from retail vehicle sales reported across Canada. The analysis includes vehicles that meet the following criteria:

• Model year 2016 or newer

• Less than 200,000 km at the time of sale

• Sold vehicles only

References to "cars" include both sedans and hatchbacks, while SUVs and trucks are categorized separately. This segmentation helps reflect real-world buyer preferences across different body styles.

While the dataset covers a large national sample, pricing in smaller provinces or regions with lower sales volume may be influenced by individual outliers. This can lead to greater month-over-month fluctuations in certain areas compared to larger markets like Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.

The figures presented reflect average asking prices at the time of sale. Prior months are quoted as published in that month's report; the underlying series is revised as late sales arrive, so small differences from earlier reports are expected.

Same-age ("like-for-like") figures compare the same model at the same vehicle age, with each model and age weighted by its September 2026 sales. Dollar figures, including the $600 national decline, are expressed against the September 2025 average. The national, body-style and fuel-type percentages divide those dollars by the year-ago average for the group, so a model with no match a year earlier counts as unchanged; the age-band and model-level percentages use matched models only.