Used cars are getting cheaper. Here's a breakdown of how prices have moved from Scions to Jeeps.

• Pre-owned car prices sank 4% in August to the lowest since last September, according to Manheim data.

• Waning demand will make for "an absolute vortex of deflation" at used car lots, one expert tweeted.

• But while prices are broadly falling, some manufacturers' cars are still proving to be solid investments.

Nick Huber has been eyeing a used SUV to trade in for his 2017 minivan. This week, he tweeted that the SUV's price has fallen to $40,000 from $75,000 in just six months.

For Huber and anyone else who's been putting off buying a used car, the market is looking sunnier.

Pre-owned vehicles were among the biggest sources of pandemic-era inflation as semiconductor shortages halted the production of new vehicles and pushing used car prices in line with — or even above — the cost of a brand-new vehicle.

That phenomenon is now going the way of Zoom happy hours, near-empty flights, and wiping down groceries. Used vehicle prices tumbled 4% in August alone, according to the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index. The print shows prices at the lowest level since September and places the index roughly 11% below its January peak.

The measure tracks a bucket of used vehicles on a mileage, mix, and seasonally adjusted basis, giving a holistic look at the used-car market.

The broad index only captures a birds-eye view of the market. Used-car prices vary dramatically, and as the market cools off, certain models are outperforming while others' values are in freefall.

The winners and losers of the highly irregular used-car market

Used Wagoneer models — Jeep's luxury sub-brand — are tumbling the fastest, with values down roughly 2% in just the last month, according to CarGurus. The models' relative youth likely contributed to the drop, as Wagoneer SUVs have only been in production since 2021. Yet the swift decline signals the flipping culture that dominated the used-car market in 2021 is no longer viable.

Scion, meanwhile, can't blame its plummeting values on its new entry to the market. The Toyota sub-brand was discontinued in 2016, and its used cars are faring about as well in the current market. Used Scions' values slid 1.9% over the past month, second only to Wagoneer and tripling the average decline across the entire market.