Now 'the perfect time' for buying used cars

Now is the perfect time to be buying a used car, according to the latest industry data.

Figures from used car pricing specialist CAP indicate that for the first time in 2010, the average cost of a used car is lower than it was 12 months previously.

Lower medium-sized cars and mini MPVs have seen significant price drops in the last month, but the real savings are with city cars and superminis.

CAP data shows that these two car types are now nearly ten per cent cheaper than there were in July 2009.

"Taking the used car market as a whole, values are now on average almost 3 per cent lower than in August 2009 . it does mean that this is a better time to buy a used car than we have seen for a couple of years," said Mike Hind of CAP.

CAP recently predicted that the number of people buying new cars will fall when VAT goes up to 20 per cent in January.