Prices plummet as diesel vehicles ‘biding their time before the scrap heap calls’ – Percayso Inform

After a year of across-the-board price drops, the UK’s used car market has seen a rally in resale values, with electric, hybrid and petrol cars all recovering from their slumps – and only diesel vehicles continuing to drop in value.

The data informing these trends comes from insurtech Percayso Inform’s vehicle intelligence platform, a daily tracker of over 800,000 car sales across over three million sale adverts, provided for analysis exclusively to Insurance Times.

Up-to-date car valuation data is highly important to insurers – as Percayso Inform previously explained, it helps underwriters determine accurate, fair and competitive pricing and informs settlement offers during the claims process for the 500,000 cars written off each year.

By indexing the price of vehicles to April 2024 and assessing the month-on-month valuation trends, differing performance can be seen across vehicle fuel types.

Hybrid vehicles fell by just 1.3% across the latter half of 2024 – the best performance of any fuel type – before a strong 2025 performance saw the category surpass its initial value, finishing October nearly 1.4% higher than 18 months ago.

Petrol vehicles saw resale figures drop across the latter half of last year, which, despite a brief rally in January, continued to fall across 2025. A late surge over the past two months saw petrol vehicles finish 2.5% down against April 2024.

Electric vehicle values plummeted across 2024 and early 2025, driven in part by the tumbling value of secondhand Teslas. After reaching a nadir in April of this year, the category rallied strongly, finishing 3.1% down on 18 months ago.

Diesel vehicles were the worst performing of all car types. A largely uninterrupted 18 months of resale value decreases has seen the category finish 11.8% cheaper than April 2024.

Commenting on the plummet in diesel vehicle prices, Kieran Fisher, account director at Percayso Inform, explained: “Diesel vehicles have been consistently impacted by factors such as ULEZ zone expansions, tax adjustments and rising fuel costs.

“Many drivers who have traditionally preferred diesel vehicles are now shifting towards petrol, hybrid or electric alternatives, as ongoing regulatory changes and the increasing penalisation of diesel ownership are expected to continue.

”Diesel cars are essentially biding their time before the scrap heap calls, so it’s unlikely they’ll ever see a rebound in retail prices.”

EVs recover

In absolute terms, diesel vehicles dropped in resale value in each six-month period over the past 18 months, falling from an average of £12,161 in April 2024 to £10,820 in October 2025 – a dramatic £1,341 drop that insurers and consumers will both need to be aware of in order to attain accurate cover.

Likewise, the high cost of electric vehicles meant their comparatively lower percentage value decrease still represented a considerable £854 loss in value, lowering their average price to £25,930.

Hybrid vehicles, meanwhile, managed to buck the trend and gain an additional £419 in value, up from £26,131 to £26,550.

Secondhand petrol vehicles ended the period with an average value of £14,570, some £410 less than their initial value of £14,980, representing the smallest price change across fuel types.

Fisher explained that the balance of valuations between petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric cars “remains fluid” and is expected to continue to evolve, “particularly with the emergence of new technologies such as hydrogen”.

According to him, however, the price falls in electric vehicles may not persist. He said: “Electric cars have certainly seen some dramatic falls in used car values over recent years, but they are still eyed as the car of the future.

“With used Tesla model 3s, for example, now available for between £15,000 and £20,000, retail buyers are starting to see value in this popular price band and sales are increasing.

“Additionally, there’s more confidence in long-term battery health now due to better validation and certification at point of sale, which is breeding more confidence.”

Dealership variations

Interestingly, average car prices differ substantially by dealership type – largely due to differing stock profiles – and dealerships have seen trends diverge over the past 18 months, with differences driven largely by fluctuating stock levels.

Main dealers – those with affiliated partners such as the Toyota Dealer Network – began April 2024 with approximately 324,000 vehicles in stock, climbing to a peak of 541,000 in April 2025 before falling to 383,000 in October of this year. Over that timeframe prices reacted in an inverse manner, dropping from £22,100 to £19,300 as stock climbed, before falling £20,900 as stock levels dropped.

Independent dealers across the country started April 2024 with 331,000 cars, a number which fell to just 217,000 by October 2025. Despite stock pressures, vehicle prices remained consistent across the 18 month period, falling by less than £100 to £12,400.

Supermarket dealers – high-volume retailers such as Cazoo – had the lowest stock levels, averaging approximately 26,000 cars across the period. A fall in stock from 34,000 vehicles to 22,000 vehicles did however contribute to raising prices from £12,700 on average to £15,400.

Given that stock levels can vary seasonally, the data can be useful for predicting car values over time. Fisher concluded: “We work with multiple insurers who not only recognise the current value of assets but also assess historical valuations and projected future residuals.

“This allows them to evaluate how both the specific asset and its broader vehicle category are likely to depreciate – and to what extent – over the course of the policy term and at renewal.”