Values of used petrol cars are at a four-year high but diesel still dominates the used market with values showing no signs of declining, according to new data from Autorola.

The average price of petrol vehicles sold on its online remarketing portal, between 2014 and 2017, rose to £8,333 in Q1 2017, £1,203 higher than the four-year low of £7,130 recorded in Q4 2014.

“Average petrol prices reached their highest point in Q1 2017, which shows a resurgence in demand and increase in used prices that we have experienced since Q1 2015,” explained Jon Mitchell, Autorola UK’s group sales director.

“However, buyers seem unperturbed by the recent bad publicity around diesels with average prices rising consistently since 2015. Diesel is still firmly the fuel of choice for the 2,000 active buyers on our portal,” he added.

Autorola’s survey shows average diesel prices rising from £10,029 in 2014 to £11,493 in 2017, an increase of £1,464. The four-year price high was £11,945 in Q4 2015 against a low of £10,029 in Q1 2014.

Unsurprisingly, diesel cars continue to cover more miles on average than petrol. Average diesel mileage over the 39 months of the survey was 25,357 compared with 20,348 for petrol. Typically, cars sold on the Autorola portal are dealer part exchanges and franchised dealer used stock, which means mileages are generally slightly lower than average.

Autorola’s data also shows that the average age of both diesel and petrol vehicles have fallen. The average age of diesels was 27 months in Q1 2017, comparing to the previous low of 29 months first seen in Q2 2014. The average age of petrols sold in Q1 2017 was 30 months, bettering the previous low average of 33 months in Q3 2016.