Buying a Used Car in the USA: A Complete 2025 Guide
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If you are shopping the U.S. used car market in 2025, you already know the ground keeps shifting under your feet. Prices cooled from the pandemic highs yet haven’t returned to the old normal, interest rates punish casual decisions, and vehicles are more software than steel. The upside is real: inventory is healthier, depreciation is working again, and you have better tools to verify a car’s past than at any time in history. This guide is written from the ground level of deals made in back offices and bank parking lots, with the aim of helping you pay the right price and avoid the wrong car. It is long by design, because the biggest savings often come from questions most buyers never think to ask. The Current State of the U.S. Used Car Market in 2025 After the extreme volatility of 2021 to 2023, the 2025 market is steadier and more rational, but not sleepy. Supply chains for chips and components improved, new car inventories recovered, and that loosened the grip on used prices. Values h...