Used Truck Prices Just Eased — But They’re Still 12% Above Last Year

If you have been waiting for used iron to get cheaper before you buy, September gave you a small opening — not a fire sale. Prices eased a little, sales slowed a little, and the trucks that did sell were older and higher-mile than the month before. Read it right and it is a negotiating window, not a reason to wait for a crash that the numbers do not show.

The news

ACT Research’s final September report on used Class 8 trucks, released October 23, shows same-dealer retail sales down 5.7% from August, with the average retail price down 1.9% to $64,007. Against September 2025, though, sales were up 6% and average prices were still up 12% year over year.

ACT’s Steve Tam pointed to the mix: higher average miles and an uptick in vehicle age put downward pressure on pricing, while auction volumes rebounded at the end of the quarter and the retail and wholesale channels kept facing headwinds from higher interest rates, driver-pool challenges, and fuel costs.

The sleeper market — the segment that matters most for a truck that has to pull a hauler and sleep its driver — held firmer than the overall average. Overdrive’s reporting on ACT’s preliminary September numbers put average sleeper retail down only about 0.5% from August, with tighter inventories and demand from new drivers supporting values even as wholesale prices fell about 3.4% and auction prices dropped nearly 5%.

What this means for car haulers

A 1.9% dip on a $64,007 average is about $1,200 — negotiate like it exists, because it does. Sellers anchored to summer prices are working off a market that has already moved. Bring the ACT number to the table, politely, with the year-over-year context: you know prices are still up 12% on the year, and you also know September softened more than the usual seasonal drop.

Age and miles are doing the price cutting — so inspect like it. The average fell partly because the trucks selling got older and higher-mile. A cheaper average does not mean the specific truck in front of you is a deal. On a higher-mile unit, the maintenance file, tires, aftertreatment history, and hydraulic/PTO condition on a hauler setup are worth more than the headline discount.

Sleepers are holding — packages are not suddenly cheap. If you are shopping a truck-and-trailer package, do not expect the September dip to show up at full strength on a good sleeper. That segment barely moved. Where the softness is real is in older, higher-mile iron and at auction and wholesale — which is also where the risk lives.

Year-end still matters. A September softening heading into the fourth quarter, with Section 179 and bonus depreciation deadlines on December 31, is the classic setup for a motivated seller in November and December. If a unit pencils out, our financing options include owner financing on select units — and the tax clock is a real part of the math, not a sales line.

The bottom line

Used prices eased in September, they did not collapse — $64,007 average, still 12% above last year, with sleepers holding especially firm. For a car hauler who needs a truck, that is enough softness to negotiate hard and inspect harder, and not nearly enough to sit on the sideline waiting for 2023 prices that this market is not offering.

Browse car hauler equipment for sale — and call Victor at 954-947-3096 if you want a second set of eyes on a unit before you buy.

Sources: ACT Research, “Used Class 8 Truck Retail Sales Decline in September as Prices Ease” / State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3–8 Used Trucks (Oct. 23, 2026) — https://www.actresearch.net/resources/blog/us-classes3-8-used-trucks-blog ; CDLCrew, “Used Class 8 Truck Prices Drop” (Oct. 25, 2026) — https://www.cdlcrew.com/news/used-class-8-truck-prices-drop ; Overdrive, “Used-sleeper truck pricing holding strong” (Oct. 22, 2026, updated Oct. 26) — https://www.overdriveonline.com/equipment/article/15838251/usedsleeper-truck-pricing-holding-strong . Averages are national Class 8 retail figures across all applications — an individual truck’s value depends on its own spec, miles, age, and condition. This article is market information, not tax or financial advice.