The price of used vehicles could rise as new regulations on Japanese imports come into force, ruling out cars seven years or older.
The move by the Government comes as new figures show New Zealanders are driving older cars.
More than 80,000 used cars were brought into the country last year and the average age of those imports is 8.6 years - making it the oldest fleet on record of used cars on New Zealand roads.
"The used car market is about 10 times greater than the new car market," importer Rod Milner said.
But the Motor Trade Association says a newer car is generally safer.
"Older cars of our fleet in general are less safe," marketing general manager Ian Stronach said.
And there is concern older vehicles could be damaging the environment as well as creating gasses that are harmful to people's health.
The concerns have prompted the Government to put new measures in place. Japan tightened its policy on vehicle emissions in 2005 and that is partly why so many older cars were imported into New Zealand.
However a recent law change has seen New Zealand standards brought into line with Japan and that means no vehicles made before 2005 can be imported.
Many importers opposed the change, which industry experts say could force car prices up and out of people's reach.
"The pool of available vehicles has got a lot smaller and will continue to get smaller," Stronach said.
Milner believes people will simply keep their cars much much longer.
