Used car prices will rise

USED car prices will spike in the coming months as supply disruptions from the Japanese tsunami reach Australian shores.

Toyota Australia says it was told recently there would be a delay on vehicles destined for sale here.

"There's been a delay on 10,000 cars for Australia and we're expecting there may be ongoing delays as production continues to return to full scale," says Toyota spokeswoman Laura Hill.

Other Japanese makers concede there may be "minor delays" during July and August as existing vehicle stock runs out and they start to rely on supplies of new vehicles from Japan.

Glass's Guide national sales and marketing manager Nick Adamis says this will be enough to push up prices of near-new used cars. "They've already started to rise," he says.

"It's not enough to put a figure on yet, but we're certainly seeing increased demand for used cars. It will hit after July this year. Traditionally it's been a soft month when carmakers have run-out stock. This year there won't be stock to run out, so used car prices will go up."

Adamis anticipates rises of $1500, as in the US and Japan.

"It will come down to how much stock they can get and in what model mix," he says. Brands not affected by disruptions would "do very well after July", Adamis believes.

Kia and Hyundai are expected to benefit, along with the locally built Holden Commodore and Cruze and Ford Territory and Falcon. Holden's Jonathan Rose says the company has had no supply constraints and isn't anticipating any.

Kia spokesman Kevin Hepworth says the South Korean duo have no reliance on Japanese components. "We're pretty much inoculated," he says. "We've been very fortunate in what is a terrible situation for Japan."

However, European makers are largely unaffected. Mercedes-Benz is the only maker to confirm supply problems.

"There's a couple of specific paint colours we can't get access to for the next couple of months," says Mercedes-Benz spokesman Jerry Stamoulis. "But that's as bad as it gets."