Demand for some sectors of the second-hand vehicle market have "fallen off a cliff", according to a leading valuer, while demand for needs-based vehicles ranging from "bubble hatches" to Toyota's LandCruiser workhorse remain red hot.

COVID-19 production and shipping delays have created unprecedented demand in the second-hand vehicle market.

But auctioneer and valuer Simon Cotter said with interest rates rising there was now a duality in the vehicle market, with demand for luxury vehicles crashing while workhorses and budget options continuing to sell close to or even above retail prices.

"Our sale last week was the first sale since the COVID outbreak where, with certain products, lack of interest really showed on the auction floor," he said.

"It's become extraordinarily product-specific.

Mr Cotter said practicality, rather than status, was now driving people's purchasing decisions.

"I think the status symbol of vehicles has stopped and people are buying needs-based vehicles," he said.

"Little cars, bubble hatches and things, you've got a uni student who needs a car. Those sorts of cars are very strong, we're almost achieving retail prices under the hammer.

"Yet you could put up an equivalent European car, a Volkswagen Polo for example, and you won't get a bid."

Still cruising to a profit

Mr Cotter spoke with the ABC last September about the explosion in value of LandCruisers in particular and said again that trend was not slowing.

"If anything they've gone up in value more," he said.

"For example we're selling 2022 GXL dual cabs with a basic tray and no fruit, so no bullbars et cetera, and people are paying $115,000-$120,000 to get those.

"Recommended retail is about $86,000 on road."

Mr Cotter said a golden time for many parts of the agriculture sector was contributing to demand for LandCruisers, along with the federal government's $150,000 instant asset write-off.

"It's an extraordinary situation that we're in," he said.

"The same applies to trucks. Kenworth has particular models [where there's] a two-year wait.

But Mr Cotter said it was an unsustainable trend he predicted would come to an abrupt end.

"It's a worry. I can still recall as an auctioneer and valuer in the 1990s with the Keating 'recession we had to have' we had this period of bizarre consumer demand and then it fell off a cliff," he said.

"Nothing happened for six months, and then the flood gates opened and we were that busy doing repossessions and auctioning homes where the banks had moved in.

"It was an awful period of time and I fear that we're going to be seeing that similar situation."