Bestselling Cars Keep Hitting Price Records

The prices of the nation’s bestselling cars have stayed well ahead of overall inflation for months. But that changed in September. The average transaction price for the 10 bestselling passenger vehicles grew 2.7% compared to September 2025, doubling August’s 1.3% year-over-year gain and hitting a new Affordability Tracker record. The average doesn’t tell the entire story as the majority of the gains were due to the four Toyota models on the list.

The average cost of many other cars and the four bestselling light-duty trucks dropped compared to a year ago, but they did tick up compared to August as the model-year turnover for 2027 models begins.

The Results

The average transaction price for the bestselling passenger vehicles hit a new record at $36,418, up .7% from August and the fifth month over $36,000. And while the $253 increases might not seem large on its own, it comes a month after essentially no gains (-$3). And while the Toyota RAV4, Camry, Tacoma and Corolla all saw huge increases versus last year, they actually transacted less than they did a month ago.

The inverse was true for the Honda CR-V, Ford Explorer and Hyundai Tucson, which transacted higher than last month but less than they did a year ago. The nearly $700 gain in prices for the Explorer versus August is likely due to more 2027 models hitting lots, carrying a 1% higher MSRP on the base models.

The model-year turnover will likely bump prices higher as we get closer to the end of the year, and for bestsellers, more incentives aren’t likely on the way.

Truck pricing is down slightly from last year, off .6% or $365 to fall at $55,912. And unlike the 10 bestselling passenger cars, trucks are actually significantly less than they’ve been in years. The highest price we tracked over the past three years was $57,251 in April 2024. That’s some good news as prices at the pump aren’t so pleasant. While all four models we track saw prices increase month over month, the Ram 1500 saw the biggest gain at 1.3% and a large 4.8% gain versus last year. It’s also the only truck with a significant number of 2027 models listed on dealer websites. Chevy and GMC have zero as both will see a significant redesign for 2027.

Discounts

Incentives are a tale of two worlds as the nation’s most popular passenger cars are seeing incentive dollars reduced, even if slightly, month over month and year over year. And while truck incentives didn’t move much from August, they’re up a significant 32% versus last September, now at $5,084 per vehicle.

In fact, the last three months have seen the highest incentives for trucks since March 2025’s $4,684. Both the Ram 1500 and Sierra 1500 are experiencing incentive drops as the year winds down. The Sierra is at its lost amount of incentive spend since February, with Ram’s incentives retreating for the past three months.

In terms of car incentives, there are no discernable trends. The Chevy Equinox is almost through its 2027 model-year turnover and incentives have spiked 50% compared to August, likely as they cleared old models from lots. No Toyota model is carrying more than $156 in incentives, with the highest spend coming from the Ford Explorer, Nissan Rogue and Hyundai Tucson.

How It Works

CDK selected the top 10 bestselling passenger vehicles* of 2025 sold at franchised dealerships (so no Tesla Model Y) according to automaker end-of-year sales results. Each month we take the average sale price and then subtract the average incentive amount (both dealer and automaker incentives) for the month and that leads to the average price paid, or transaction price, before taxes. All three are listed in our graphics.

The top 10 bestsellers in 2025 were:

1. Toyota RAV4
2. Honda CR-V
3. Toyota Camry
4. Toyota Tacoma*
5. Chevy Equinox
6. Toyota Corolla
7. Honda Civic
8. Hyundai Tucson
9. Ford Explorer
10. Nissan Rogue

We’ve also taken the top four bestselling light-duty pickup trucks in the country to show the difference in one of the most popular segments and one that customers generally don’t cross-shop with passenger vehicles. These include:

• Ford F-150
• Chevrolet Silverado
• GMC Sierra
• Ram 1500

There are over 250 distinct models for sale in the U.S. These 14** made up 26% of all cars sold in the U.S. in 2025.

*While the Tacoma is a truck, because of its massive popularity, it seemed appropriate to include it as consumer trends are skewing toward rugged options across the board.

**Passenger cars listed included their hybrid counterparts, some sport trims, etc. Trucks were done similarly. Only electric versions were excluded. For example, the Chevy Equinox EV and the Ford F-150 Lightning aren’t included. But Toyota Corolla Hybrids and Ford F-150 Raptors are included.