Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index for August 2026 (published September 8) put the seasonally adjusted wholesale reading at 208.2—down 0.9% from July and up 0.4% from August 2025. On a non-adjusted basis, wholesale prices were down 0.5% month over month and up 0.2% year over year.
That is a soft August print, not a collapse. The more useful line for a Texas seller is which cars held value.
Jeremy Robb, Cox Automotive’s chief economist, said younger age cohorts depreciated more, while older and more affordable units showed much less depreciation. The 9-year-old and 10-year-old cohorts held about six percentage points higher than their long-term averages. Manheim also noted used retail sales picking up through August and retail days’ supply falling to 44 days at month-end—down two days from July.
In plain English: the market still wants affordable used transportation. A clean older car is not the same desk conversation as a newer unit that just took a bigger wholesale haircut.
A single trade or wholesale-style quote is one buyer’s view of one car against that store’s inventory. If that desk is long on newer mid-age units and short on older affordable inventory, your number may reflect their problem—not what another local dealer would pay to put your car on the lot.
PriceForMyTrade helps sellers get competing offers from local dealerships. Competition is handled manually—dealers contact you directly. First responses are often the same day; timing is not guaranteed. Offers are confirmed after a physical appraisal. Dealers can buy outright; you do not have to purchase another vehicle. Submitting a request takes about 30 seconds. That is not an instant valuation, and it is not a promise that an offer arrives in 30 seconds. The service is free to the seller.
Name age, miles, and condition before you talk price. Ask whether the desk is comparing you to a tired high-mile unit or to a clean, documented car in the same year band.
Do not let a soft month for newer wholesale talk you out of shopping an older, well-kept car—or the reverse. August’s tape moved differently by age cohort.
Prep the appraisal. Service records, two keys, honest photos, and notes on tires and bodywork shrink the gap between a phone quote and a driveway number.
Selling with a loan, trading, or selling outright are different conversations—see /sell-car-with-loan-payoff, /trade-in-vs-selling-outright, and /how-competing-offers-work. East Texas sellers can start on /sell-my-car-east-texas.
Takeaway: August wholesale eased overall, but older affordable used cars held up better than newer cohorts. Get competing offers so local dealers price your age and condition—not a blended index.