Three things actually moved in the Irish used car market in April 2026 — and only one of them is what most people are talking about. Diesel residuals continued their slow collapse (the spread to petrol equivalents is now wider than at any point since 2020). EV listings are up another 14% as Irish dealers shift the wave of three-year-old PCP returns. And the median asking price has crept up 2.4% on March, but only because higher-end stock is dominating the supply. Here's what's actually happening, and what it means if you're buying or selling this month.
This is the kind of month where the data is more interesting than the headline. A 2.4% rise in median price sounds like a market still climbing. It isn't. Strip out the mix shift — fewer cheap diesels, more €35k+ EVs and SUVs — and like-for-like pricing is essentially flat, with diesel actively falling. If you're reading the topline number and thinking the Irish used market is heating up, you're reading it wrong.
Headline numbers for April 2026
Let's start with what the data tool is showing across roughly 38,000 active dealer-listed cars on the island this month:
| Metric | April 2026 | vs March 2026 | vs April 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median asking price | €27,500 | +2.4% | +1.1% |
| Active listings (dealer) | ~38,200 | +3.6% | +9.2% |
| Median days-on-market | 34 days | −4 days | −7 days |
| Used EV share of listings | 11.8% | +1.3 pts | +4.6 pts |
| Diesel share of listings | 41.2% | −1.1 pts | −5.4 pts |
Days-on-market down to 34 is the figure dealers should care about most. That's the fastest turn we've measured since last summer's spike, and it's being driven almost entirely by petrol hybrids and sub-€20k petrol family cars — not by anything sexy. The 2025 PCP-return wave is now hitting forecourts in earnest, and the cars in genuinely high demand are turning in 18 to 22 days.
Top movers — fuel type winners and losers in April
Here's the fuel-type scoreboard for April. "Price move" is asking-price change on like-for-like spec, age and mileage — not raw averages.
| Fuel type | Listings change | Price move (like-for-like) | Median DoM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol hybrid | +6.1% | +0.8% | 22 days |
| Petrol | +2.4% | +0.2% | 31 days |
| Used EV | +14.0% | −1.6% | 41 days |
| PHEV | −0.9% | −0.4% | 47 days |
| Diesel | −1.1% | −2.3% | 38 days |
Petrol hybrid is the clear winner — buyers want the running cost of a hybrid without the charging anxiety of a full EV, and supply isn't keeping up. PHEVs are quietly the worst-positioned segment in the market right now: they fall between two stools, and dealer feedback is consistent across Dublin, Cork and Galway that they sit longer and discount harder than anything else on the lot.
The diesel decline — why, and how fast
Diesel asking prices fell another 2.3% on a like-for-like basis this month. That's the seventh consecutive monthly drop, and the 60-month residual picture is now firmly negative against petrol equivalents — what the residuals chart actually shows is a spread that's widened from roughly 4% in early 2024 to about 11% today on three-year-old equivalents. A 2023 1.6 diesel saloon and a 2023 1.5 petrol equivalent that were practically interchangeable two years ago are now €2,800–€3,400 apart, and the diesel is the one that's slipping.
Three forces are driving it. First, the urban-access narrative — even though Ireland hasn't introduced a Low-Emission Zone, buyers are pricing in the possibility. Second, NCT failure rates on older diesels (DPF, EGR, AdBlue faults) are dragging perceived risk up. Third, Revenue's BIK regime continues to push business buyers toward petrol hybrid and EV, which strips out the strongest historical bid for nearly-new diesel.
For more on how this fits into the broader fuel mix, our petrol vs diesel vs hybrid vs electric guide lays out the running-cost maths in detail.
Where used EV pricing is going
EVs are the most-discussed segment, so let's be precise. Used EV listings are up 14% month-on-month — a wave of 2023 PCP returns hitting at once. Like-for-like asking prices fell 1.6% in April, and the gap between a three-year-old EV and the equivalent diesel has now widened to roughly 11% (it was 7% in November). On something like a used Volkswagen ID.3 vs a used Passat 2.0 TDI of similar age and mileage, you're looking at a €4,000 to €5,500 swing in the EV's favour.
Where this gets interesting: the cheapest used EVs are finally crossing into impulse territory. There are now well over 200 EVs listed under €18,000 on the island, something that simply didn't exist twelve months ago. Median days-on-market for sub-€20k EVs in Dublin and Cork is now 28 days — faster than the equivalent diesels.
If you've never owned an electric car, our used EV buying guide for Ireland walks through battery health checks, range, charging at home, and the SEAI grant rules that still apply.
Brand-by-brand: who's holding value, who's not
This is where the noise is loudest and the data is most useful. Here's how the major brands moved on like-for-like pricing in April:
- Toyota — still the strongest residuals on the island. A 2022 Corolla hybrid is asking within 6% of where it sat last spring. Demand vastly exceeds supply on hybrids in Galway, Limerick and Wexford.
- Hyundai & Kia — quietly excellent. Tucson and Sportage hybrids are turning in under 25 days. Kona Electric residuals have actually firmed up this month.
- Volkswagen — split. Petrol and hybrid Golfs holding firm; ID.3 and ID.4 residuals soft and softening.
- BMW — weakening across the board. Three-year-old 3 Series and 5 Series diesels are sitting longer and asking less than at any point in the past 18 months. Petrol and PHEV variants are flat.
- Tesla — used Model 3 residuals dropped another 3.1% this month. The combination of new-car price cuts and a flood of off-fleet returns means Model 3s are now the most-discounted nameplate on the platform.
- Ford — Focus and Kuga both stable. Diesel Mondeos still selling, but only at sharp prices.
- Skoda — Octavia hybrid is the sleeper hit of April. Strong demand, very tight supply.
You can run any specific make or model through our car valuation tool for live like-for-like comparisons against the current market.
County hotspots — where listings are growing, where they're scarce
Geographic supply is more lopsided than people realise. Dublin accounts for roughly 34% of all dealer listings on the platform, and is the only county where supply growth is outpacing demand growth — buyers there have genuine leverage on anything sitting over 45 days. Cork is balanced, Limerick and Galway are tight on family hybrids, and Donegal is the standout — supply is genuinely scarce, particularly on 4WD and SUV stock, and asking prices there are running 3–5% above the national median for equivalent cars.
Wexford is the quiet success story for sellers — the south-east is turning hybrid stock faster than anywhere outside Dublin. If you're a private seller in Wexford with a 2021–2023 Corolla or Yaris hybrid, you have unusually strong pricing power this month.
What this means if you're buying in May
If you're buying this month, here's the move. The market is fragmenting — there are clear deals and clear traps, and the average is hiding both.
- If you can charge at home, buy a used EV. The 11% gap below diesel is the biggest it has been, and the next wave of stock arrives in May. You will not regret waiting two weeks; you might regret waiting two months if supply tightens and pricing firms.
- If you can't charge at home, buy a petrol hybrid. Toyota, Hyundai or Kia. Don't overthink it. Days-on-market are short, so move fast on anything well-priced.
- Avoid older diesel unless the price reflects the risk. Anything pre-2019 should be screened on DPF/EGR history. The headline price might look tempting; the running-cost arithmetic rarely is.
- PHEVs are negotiable. Forty-seven days on market is dealer pain. If you genuinely want one, you have leverage.
Browse what's currently live on used cars across Ireland, or filter by county and fuel type to see exactly what's moving in your area.
What this means if you're selling
Pricing strategy this month is less about chasing the market up and more about not getting stranded.
- Petrol hybrid sellers: price at the median for your spec, not below. Demand is real, supply is short, and discounting is leaving money on the table.
- Diesel sellers: if you're going to sell, sell now. Every month you wait costs roughly 0.4–0.6% on a like-for-like basis. Don't anchor on what the car was worth in January.
- EV sellers: price competitively against the wave of new arrivals. Battery health certificates are now the single biggest conversion lever — get one done.
- SUV/4WD outside Dublin: if you're in Donegal, Mayo or Cavan, you can ask above the national median for clean stock. Dublin sellers don't have that luxury.
If you're a dealer or a private seller and you want to anchor your price to the live market rather than to last month's gut feel, the Autoza market stats dashboard updates daily and lets you filter by county, fuel and age.
Forecast for May and June 2026
A forecast is a forecast — these are projections, not promises — but here's the call.
Median asking price likely flat to +0.5% in May, then potentially down 0.5% to 1% in June as the second wave of EV stock fully lands. Days-on-market should hold near 34, possibly creeping to 36 if listings keep growing faster than demand. Diesel keeps sliding — pencil in another 1.5% to 2% drop on like-for-like by end of June. Petrol hybrid stays the tightest segment in the market.
The wildcard is Budget signalling. If autumn budget hints leak about further EV incentives or BIK changes, expect EV residuals to wobble and petrol hybrid demand to spike further. Watch the headlines from late May.
The numbers in this piece will be a few weeks old by the time you read it next month. Our live market data tool updates daily off real Irish dealer listings — county, brand, fuel, age, mileage — so you can pressure-test any of this against the market as it stands today rather than as it stood when this report was written. For the longer-arc context on where prices have been and where they're heading, the 2026 used car prices outlook ties this month's data into the broader trend.
