KEY POINTS:
Take a drive around the used car yard zones in Auckland and you'll notice a fair few have closed up shop.
And although not as sweeping as first mooted, new emissions rules could hurt even more yards selling cars at the bottom end of the market.
One estimate has about 20 per cent of car yards closing over the past 12 months due to the boom in private sales, dealers turning to the internet, and the collapse of finance companies who had specialised in used car loans.
But this hasn't led to a collapse in prices for the bulk of low to mid-range cars still on the lot. Dealers say average prices have held up because of the high New Zealand currency making a bigger difference to the price of top of the range used cars, and, more dramatically, new cars. More buyers are being tempted to buy further up the market.
Reduced supply of used imports is also holding prices up. At this time last year 104,000 cars had been imported - it is now down to 101,000.
New Zealand wholesale importers now face tougher competition in Japan - used cars now go to 70 different countries - from Russia and Chile.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer's Dog & Lemon Guide, says used car prices are fairly stable.
He believes the new emissions standard - with its crackdown on pre-1998 imports - will have very little effect on the used car market.
"Most second-hand Japanese imports are already from the late 1990s. Restricting the age of imports will also have very little effect on the ability of poor people to buy vehicles. Most people who buy a recently-landed Japanese import will be selling their existing vehicle to someone else, so there's no shortage of older, cheaper vehicles."
Tony Everett, dealer services manager of the Motor Trade Association, says without final details of the emissions policy it was difficult to estimate the impact.
The Association had calculated a 40 per cent increase in the lot price of cars based on earlier Government calculations.
Turners Auctions has about 8 per cent of the used car market and chief executive Graham Roberts said prices had increased in the past year by about 9 per cent. The company's live online auctions had been a factor and the greater proportion of newer vehicles had also contributed.
Turners would announce details of a what is understood to be a new trade-in scheme to help motorists get out of older cars next week. The company was also considering introducing emissions testing at its auction sites.
