Cox Automotive’s August Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index (published September 8) put the overall seasonally adjusted index at 208.2—down 0.9% month over month and up 0.4% year over year. Useful context. Not a number you should hand a used-car manager as “your” value.
The segment split is sharper. The Electric Vehicle (EV) Index was up 4.5% year over year (and down 4.7% from July). The Non-EV Index was down 0.9% year over year and down 0.6% from July. Compact cars also showed relative resilience while pickups and SUVs continued to trend down. If you sell an EV into a desk that is thinking about truck depreciation—or the reverse—you are negotiating against the wrong tape.
Rental-fleet wholesale adds another wrinkle: rental vehicle prices were 3.4% higher year over year in August, with average mileage down 10.4% against last August. Cleaner miles still matter. They are not a substitute for shopping multiple buyers.
Wholesale indexes move by mix, mileage, and seasonality. Your VIN is one car in one East Texas zip with its own condition story. A single dealer may already be long on similar ICE SUVs, short on compact cars, or cautious on older EVs after recent monthly declines. That desk’s number is a local inventory decision, not the national average.
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 the segment before you accept a number. Ask whether the desk is comparing you to EV, non-EV, compact, truck, or rental-origin comps—and ask for the cash/trade allowance on its own line.
Prep for appraisal. Photos, service records, two keys, and honest notes on tires and bodywork reduce the gap between a phone quote and a driveway number.
Match the path to the goal. Selling with a loan, trading, or selling outright are different conversations—see selling a vehicle with an outstanding loan, trade-in vs selling outright, and how competing dealer offers work. East Texas sellers can start on selling your car in East Texas.
Takeaway: August wholesale values still favored EVs year over year while non-EVs slipped below year-ago levels. Shop competing offers so local dealers price your segment—not a blended index screenshot.