CPI: Used Cars and Trucks

## What this measures

The price level of used cars and trucks bought by urban consumers, as measured in the Consumer Price Index. It is an index (1982-84 = 100), seasonally adjusted, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

## Why it matters

Used vehicles were the clearest single source of the 2021 inflation surge and are still one of the most volatile goods in the CPI. Their price shapes household budgets, auto lending and the value of fleets on company balance sheets.

## How to read it

Compare the 12-month change, not the level. Moves in wholesale auction prices usually reach this index a few months later, so a turn here tends to confirm what dealers already saw.

## What it does not say

It is a retail consumer price, not the wholesale price dealers pay. It says nothing about volumes sold or financing costs.

## Source

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, series CUSR0000SETA02 (public domain). Palanor pulls it from the FRED API nightly.