Used car market in Ireland, here’s what you need to know right now

If you’ve been keeping half an eye on the used car market in Ireland lately, you might have noticed something interesting: things have calmed down considerably. After a few wild years of pandemic-driven price spikes, supply chain chaos, and Brexit upheaval, the market in 2026 has settled into something that actually resembles normal. And right in the middle of all this calm sits a genuinely exciting opportunity — particularly if you’ve ever been curious about going electric.

Let’s break down where things stand, what’s driving the changes, and how you can make the most of it.

Cast your mind back to 2020–2022, and you’ll remember used car prices that seemed to defy gravity. A combination of microchip shortages, new car delays, Brexit-related import disruption and pandemic demand conspired to push average used car prices up by around 85% compared to pre-pandemic levels. It was a seller’s paradise and a buyer’s nightmare.

2023 and 2024 brought some relief as supply chains recovered and new car wait times shortened. By the end of 2025, the market had steadied considerably, and heading into 2026, the consensus from analysts at DoneDeal — Ireland’s largest used car marketplace — is that a “more normal pattern” is here to stay, at least for now.

Here’s the headline that would have seemed impossible just a couple of years ago: used electric cars in Ireland are now priced lower than equivalent diesel cars. According to DoneDeal’s March 2026 Price Index, when you compare like-for-like on age, mileage, and model, second-hand EVs are sitting around 11% below comparable diesel vehicles. That’s a dramatic reversal from 2022, when EVs commanded a clear price premium.

A typical three-year-old electric car now carries a median asking price of around €28,825. The equivalent diesel? About €35,893. That’s a gap of over €7,000 in favour of the electric option. Petrol cars remain the cheapest upfront at around €22,900 for a three-year-old model — but the running cost story tells a different tale. An average Irish driver covering 17,000km per year can expect to pay roughly €780 annually to charge an EV at home, compared to around €2,200 for petrol and €2,000 for diesel. The maths starts to look very different over a few years of ownership.

What caused EVs to become so much cheaper on the used market? Essentially, carmakers themselves pulled the rug. When manufacturers began cutting the prices of new EVs significantly, the resale values of existing used EVs dropped in response. Early adopters upgrading to newer models flooded the used market with supply. The result was a sharp correction that felt uncomfortable for sellers but created a genuine opportunity for buyers.

The good news is that this correction appears to have stabilised. Used EV prices were broadly flat year-on-year by the end of 2025, suggesting the floor has been found. The market has “come through a full cycle,” as DoneDeal put it — and buyers who purchase now are unlikely to suffer the same steep depreciation hit that early EV owners experienced.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence that the market has stabilised is how quickly used EVs are selling. Just 5.9% of used electric cars on Irish forecourts remain unsold after 90 days, compared to 15.9% for petrol and diesel vehicles. Buyers have clearly spotted the value.

That confidence is also reflected in Ireland’s used EV sales figures: 15,425 used electric vehicles changed hands in 2025, up 31% on the year before. The momentum is real.

→ Ask for a battery State of Health (SOH) report — a healthy 3–5 year old EV should show 90–95% capacity remaining.
→ Many Irish dealers now provide AVILOO FLASH tests, a certified battery health check.
→ Run a Cartell or Motorcheck to check on Irish history; for UK imports, add a UK HPI check.
→ Factor in home charger installation — SEAI grants are available, and night-rate electricity can cut your charging costs significantly.
→ Check whether the battery warranty has been extended — some manufacturers now cover up to 160,000km or 7–8 years.

While the mid-to-upper end of the used car market has calmed down nicely, there’s one corner where buyers are still feeling squeezed: the budget end. Cars priced below €6,000 rose in price by 7.6% year-on-year, driven by a persistent shortage of affordable stock. Brexit has played a significant role here — imports from the UK, which once dominated Ireland’s used car supply, have fallen sharply since 2019. Japan has stepped in to fill part of the gap and now accounts for roughly half of all used car imports into Ireland, though these tend to skew towards the mid-market rather than the very cheapest end.

If you need a reliable runaround for under €6,000, expect to work harder for it and do your homework carefully on history and condition.

Ireland’s used car market in 2026 is genuinely one of the more interesting and buyer-friendly it has been in years, particularly if you’re open to going electric. The combination of stabilised prices, a significant discount versus diesel, lower running costs, and improved charging infrastructure means that a used EV has never made more sense for most Irish drivers. If you’ve been sitting on the fence, now might just be the moment to plug in.