Average used car prices have remained stable at £8,711 in Q3 with prices up slightly at 0.03% or £2 in comparison to Q2.

According to figures from the Auto Trader Retail Price Index when compared with the previous month, used car prices were up 1.2% (£100 to £8,660) in August and up 2.9% (£254 to £8,914) in September.

The average price in September was up 2.0% (£179) when compared with September 2011, the first year-on-year increase since April 2011.

Average asking prices in Q3 2012, when compared with Q2 2012, increased by 3.0% in London (up £266 to £9,181) and the East Midlands (up £207 to £8,491) and by 2% in the south (up £157 to £9,338), in Scotland (up £144 to £9,627) and Northern Ireland (up £194 to £9,693).

Overall in Q3 used car prices remained stable at £8,711, following an increase of just 0.03% (£2) when compared with Q2 2012.

Tim Peake, Trader Media Group strategy director, said: "For dealers, knowing what their end consumers are willing to pay for a vehicle, before they decide to buy the vehicle is critical, hence the importance of understanding the retail price index.

"Dealers that simply use ‘trade plus’ pricing to determine the sell price, will result in their gross profit potential being severely compromised; you have to work back from what the consumer market is prepared to pay, and minus your costs / margins from this start point.

"Furthermore we can see different trends in wholesale and in retail prices which means dealers continually need to evaluate their prices more frequently."