Car buyers in Gauteng paid, on average, more for their used passenger and light commercial vehicles from June to August this year than buyers in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, says research house Lightstone.

However, Lightstone's analysis of data gleaned from its transactional system, Signio, shows that it was the North West province which recorded the highest average used-vehicle price, with the Free State at the bottom end of the price spectrum.

According to Lightstone, June to August used-vehicle prices in Gauteng averaged R391 000, which is 13% higher than the R346 000 average seen in the first quarter last year, and well ahead of headline consumer price inflation (as reported by Statistics South Africa) which increased by 5% over the same period.

KwaZulu-Natal came in at an average of R368 500 – a 6% increase over the first quarter of 2024, while used-vehicle prices in the Western Cape averaged R328 000.

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape were also the largest used-vehicle markets in South Africa in terms of volume, followed by the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the middle, and the Northern Cape, Free State and North West at the bottom.

Lightstone says prices in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have generally mirrored each other over the last 20 months, moving between R350 000 and R400 000, but average prices in the Western Cape have peaked at under-R340 000 over the same period.

Used-vehicle prices in the Eastern Cape have jumped by 25% since 2024 (from R313 000 to R391 000), the largest percentage increase in the country.

Limpopo's three-month average for the June to August window was R385 000, only 5% up on the first quarter of 2024, while the R371 000 average in Mpumalanga was 10% higher than at the start of last year.

The Free State recorded the lowest average price, at R296 000. It is also the only province with an average under R300 000.

This number is essentially also unchanged from the beginning of 2024, when the average price in the first quarter was R297 000.

At the other end of the spectrum, the North West province, at R424 000, was the only province with a used-vehicle average above R400 000 – 14% up on the R370 000 recorded for the January to March window last year.