Australia’s best-selling used cars of 2024 revealed

Last year was a record year for new car deliveries in Australia, but over a million more used cars were sold in 2024.

In the second annual ‘Year That Was’ Automotive Insights Report (AIR) report, data compiled by AutoGrab and published by the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) shows 2,324,805 used vehicles were sold locally in 2024, marking a huge 12.1 per cent increase on 2023.

This was thanks to multiple months of growth in the used car market during the first half of the year, culminating in a record June, before several months of decline.

For reference, at 1,237,287 units, Australia’s new vehicle market was less than half the size of its used car market last year.

Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.

“The 2024 results highlight a dynamic used car market that showed strong growth through much of the year before slowing in the final quarter,” said AADA CEO James Voortman.

“While demand remains healthy, we are seeing signs of cooling, particularly in the latter months, as affordability pressures and economic factors come into play.

“Profit margins tightened, and days to sell increased by 15 per cent for listings between August and October, further indicating a slowdown in demand. 

“As we head further into 2025, we anticipate a more subdued market, with sales likely to stabilise rather than grow at the rapid pace we saw earlier in 2024

“This is good news for those in the market for a used car, with opportunities for a good deal.”

Best-selling used cars (up to 15 years old)

The Ford Ranger continued its dominance of the new vehicle market in the used segment, putting an even larger gap between it and the Toyota HiLux.

While in 2023 the two utes were separated by just 86 sales, the gap blew out to more than 10,000 sales in the Ranger’s favour last year, on account of a huge 25 per cent increase.

Despite small cars largely falling out of favour among new buyers, the sheer volume of older examples on the market means the Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 and Hyundai i30 continue as practical and affordable options for the used market.

All vehicles in the top 10 list saw year-on-year increases in sales, with the biggest uptick coming for the Volkswagen Golf (up 28.4 per cent) and the Toyota RAV4 (up 26.1 per cent).

It’s not all good news though. The Holden Commodore, the best-selling vehicle made in Australia, fell out of the top 10, ending the year down in 13th place.

There are a number of potential reasons behind this: the AutoGrab only records data on vehicles up to 15 years old, meaning Holden Commodores built prior to 2009 wouldn’t be counted.

This means early VEs, as well as the best-selling VT-VZ range aren’t counted.

Holden also ended local production of the VF Commodore in October 2017, and while it was followed by the Opel Insignia-based ZB, this sold in much smaller volumes.

However, the Commodore still outsold currently popular models such as the LandCruiser Prado and Isuzu D-Max.

Best-selling used cars by brand (up to 15 years old) 

It should be no surprise that Australia’s most popular carmaker for the past 22 years also leads the way in the used car market, with just shy of 400,000 Toyotas changing hands last year.

Leading home compatriot Mazda, both brands – as well as Ford, Hyundai and Mitsubishi – all found double-digit used vehicle sale growth in 2024.

As with the Commodore, Holden underwent a decline, the only brand to do so. Local operations wrapped up altogether in 2021, while every other brand on this list currently has new cars for sale.

Best-selling used cars by vehicle type

In a complete reverse of the new vehicle market, passenger cars (sedans, wagons, hatchbacks, coupes and convertibles) dominate used sales, however this may not be the case for long.

New car buyers are flocking to SUVs, and the same is happening on the used market, with this vehicle type seeing the greatest year-on-year increase in sales.

In 2025 we can expect used SUV sales to surpass passenger cars, though it looks like it’ll be a while before light commercial vehicles such as utes, vans and buses do.

Best-selling used cars by fuel type

Petrol power is as popular as ever, accounting for more than half of all used vehicle sales in 2024.

While unleaded-fuelled vehicle sales went up in 2024, it was the smallest growth among all fuel types – excluding LPG which shrunk year-on-year.

Electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) sales both increased by large amounts, however combined they accounted for just under 23,000 sales – far less than the circa-91,500 hybrids sold.

MORE: Used car sales slump continues, but will it last?
MORE: Australia’s used car sales results for 2023 revealed