Ford F-150 Was Most Searched Used Vehicle This Year In 31 Of 50 States

The website Bumper released a report that was not altogether surprising. The Ford F-150, the best-selling vehicle in America for more than 40 years is also the most searched used vehicle in 2020.

The used car market has remained resilient during the pandemic, even while the new car market has suffered drastically. Although, as I reported, Ford had a nice bounce back in the third quarter. And certainly the fourth quarter looks good too for the Blue Oval with the launch of the 14th-generation F-150 and also early deliveries of the Mustang Mach-E.

Bumper’s report said: “The pandemic has turned the used-car industry into a seller’s market as more people turn away from public transportation or look to move outside urban areas. In June alone, franchised car dealers sold 2.1 million used vehicles, a 22% increase from the previous year and the most sales recorded since 2007.”

During this used-car boom, Bumper analyzed which makes and models more people are searching for using VIN Number Search —often the final check of a used car’s service history and auto specifications before deciding on a vehicle purchase.

Bumper examined more than 134,000 vehicle searches across all 50 states and the District of Columbia from April 1 through Sept. 15—during the height of the coronavirus lockdowns, reopenings and return to school—to see what trends emerged.

Ford Brand Leads The Way
According to Bumper, Ford vehicles were the top brand searched in 31 states, followed by Chevrolet (15 states), Honda (3) and Toyota (1). Ford and Chevrolet tied for the top spot in one state, Pennsylvania.
The map above almost looks like an electoral college breakdown, including having Pennsylvania too close to call between Chevy and Ford.

Most cars searched are between 6 and 10 years old, or between 11 and 15 years (23% each); used cars 1 to 5 years old account for 21% of the used-car searches; 32% of cars were aged 16 years or more.

Top 10 Most Popular Vehicle Searches Nationwide
The Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup trucks were the #1 and #2 most-popular make and model searched, followed by five Japanese sedans: Honda Accord (#3), Honda Civic (#4), Toyota Camry (#5), Nissan Altima (#6) and Toyota Corolla (#7). The top 10 are rounded out by the Ford Mustang (#8), the only sports car in the top 10, followed by two SUVs: Jeep Grand Cherokee (#9) and the Ford Explorer (#10).

The vehicle with the average lowest age on the top 10 list is Nissan Altima (9 years old); the average oldest are Honda Accord and Ford Mustang (15 years each).

The list below doesn’t really yield too many surprises, although two of Ford’s stalwart nameplates are of interest, with the Mustang occupying the eighth spot. It was interesting that only two SUVs and no crossovers appeared on this list.
With Ford and other auto manufacturers getting out of the sedan market, sedans still occupied a lot of interest in this search.

What is not surprising at all is that pickup trucks occupy the top two spots, but it’s curious the Ram is not in the top 10.

Pickup trucks are the most popular used-car search
In 18 states, Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 are the #1 and #2 most-searched vehicles, respectively: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

• In only two states is the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 the top-searched truck ahead of the Ford F-150: Alabama and Minnesota.
• Only in four states do the top three most-popular model searches NOT include a pickup truck model: California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

Midsize and compact sedans are most popular in 11 states, dominated by Honda vehicles: Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Oregon (Honda Accord); Maine (Toyota Corolla); Vermont (Toyota Camry); Georgia (Nissan Sentra); California, Hawaii and Virginia (Honda Civic). Honda Civic and Accord tied as the most-searched models in New Jersey.

SUVs were the top search in only three states: South Dakota (Buick Enclave), New Hampshire and Utah (Honda CR-V).

For this study Bumper examined 134,366 VIN searches from April 1, 2020, through Sept. 15, 2020, to determine most popular vehicle searches by state.

Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter, at his special Ford F-150 coverage on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can read the most of Jimmy's stories by searching Torque News Ford for daily Ford vehicle report.