With used-car prices continuing their rise, competition for prime preowned vehicles has turned cutthroat. Into the fray steps eBay Motors with a new app for the Apple iPhone, designed for shoppers intent on hunting deals while they’re on the go.  According to Joe Spina, a senior analyst at Edmunds, 14.6 percent of year-old used cars are currently bringing higher prices than a new model of the same car. He added that vehicles three years old are selling at 75 to 80 percent of the cost of the same model new.  Such shoppers may find the app from eBay Motors a useful tool, offering up-to-the-minute reports on competing bids. But the app’s agenda goes beyond any single car auction. “We hope people will launch it even when they don’t have a purchase in mind, just to spend time with us,” said Steve Yankovich, vice president of mobile at eBay, in a telephone interview.  “I can play golf and be in the game to be the winning bidder,” Mr. Yankovich said. The app sends notices when users are outbid, and will alert a bidder when an item being watched is near the end of its auction.  To encourage motorheads to return to the app, it opens with a slide show of $100,000-plus cars currently up for bid. Through preferences, a user also can set it to show the make, model and year of a vehicle of the user’s choice upon start-up.  Of course, shoppers can also look for cars by make, model and year, and then filter results by condition, price and location.  Parts purchases are also simplified. A user can construct a virtual garage to house a vehicle and, after entering its VIN, restrict all subsequent parts searches to fit that particular model.  The app also includes free vehicle reports from AutoCheck, a service provided by Experian, the credit-score service, which — provided the vehicle was built after 1985 — reflects owner and accident histories.  Mr. Yankovich said that the app would continue to add more features, including motorcycle listings in the virtual garage feature and features related to ownership, “like maybe maintenance,” he said.  Particularly for shoppers interested in used small cars, the app’s up-to-the-minute bid tracking may prove useful as prices continue to rise. “We keep breaking historical highs,” said Jonathan Banks, executive auto analyst for the National Automobile Dealers Association used car pricing guide, when reached by telephone. “Year over year, May to May, those small car prices are up 30 percent,” he said.  According to Mr. Banks, prices have yet to peak, but should soon, “because used car prices are getting close to new.”  Mr. Spinna agrees. “There are plenty of two and three year old vehicles that are expensive enough that consumers need to determine their threshold — how much more are they willing to pay for a new car,” he said.
The app lets bidders track the status of auctions as well as tailor parts purchases for vehicles they already own.