The used car market has fallen by £600m (30.7%) in the final quarter of 2004 compared to quarter three, and 5% against the same period of 2003, according to used car database, Cardata.co.uk. There were almost 100,000 less cars advertised for sale in the private to private market due to the Christmas 'cool off' period, dropping the market value from £1.8bn to £1.2bn.

More than 85% of the 224,000 cars advertised were priced in the £1,000 to £10,000 bracket. The average price of a vehicle for the whole private market stood at £5,347. Private used car sales results:

Cardata.co.uk collates data on every used vehicle privately advertised in regional and national classifieds, including asking prices, vehicle specifications and location, matching buyers and sellers with their ideal vehicle.