Conventional wisdom is that cars are bad investments. Drive one off the lot, and it starts losing value the minute its wheels touch the road. That makes what’s happening with the 2026 Toyota Rav4 downright weird.

Some used vehicles are listing for $3,000 to $6,000 above brand-new dealership prices, according to new data from the online automotive marketplace CarGurus. The months-old cars are aging like fine wine.

The crossover SUV—one of the top-selling in the US—went all-hybrid last year, after Toyota announced it would drop the gas-powered model from its lineup. That’s likely why we’re catching a glimpse of an economic Upside Down. Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus, says the situation reminds him of the pandemic-era chip shortage, when a supply crunch for new cars also drove up used prices, and buyers flipped them months later for a profit.

“Hybrid demand is so strong, the Rav4 is still in that 2021 world,” he says. Toyota can’t make new models fast enough.

The leaves are changing, and America’s hot hybrid summer has become a toasty hybrid autumn, for new cars and for old ones. Toyota reported this month that its hybrid sales are up 29 percent in the third quarter of 2026; Kia said its sales more than doubled. Nearly one in six new US cars sold is a hybrid, according to Cox Automotive data.

“The American market has a reputation for gas guzzlers, but we're starting to shake that reputation because of how much we like hybrids,” Roberts says.

Source link