Here is this week's Used Car Market Report with the latest data from Black Book. What a week it has been for the Editorial team at Black Book! From viewing auctions online and the editors actual attendance, we were hands on with at least twelve auctions, to go along with the sixty-three physical auctions the Black Book survey personnel attended and reported the actual market activity from. Throw in the numerous electronic data feeds and we have a great feel for the market activity.

We…

According to Black Book® data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2008-2012 overall dipped slightly during May, the beginning of a summer season that typically sees higher depreciation compared with spring levels. Average segment prices saw -0.4% depreciation in May compared with the previous month (+0.9% in April). Domestic cars changed -0.5%; import cars changed -0.9%; domestic trucks gained +0.5%; and import trucks changed -0.4%. Average pre-recession depreciation is…

Help grads get rid of their car.



According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are on track to spend over $4.7 billion in cash, gift cards, clothing and electronics for graduates this year. They're also facing a still-tough job market. Today’s crop of new B.A.s are staring at roughly 8.5 percent unemployment and 16.8 percent underemployment, according to the…

Here is this week's Use Car Market Report with the latest data from Black Book. Last week was a semi-short week as we all had the chance to remember and honor those who have served in the military. No matter where a holiday falls there is some effect on the rhythm of the auctions and buying and selling needs of the wholesale markets.

Overall the changes to the values were more stable with no extremes in the level of change. Even though there were comments within the Black Book survey…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, says its customers continue to escape their car leases at a near-record pace. According to data from April listings, car lease drivers in April planned to escape their lease contracts 15.3 months into their lease, slightly off the record pace set back in January of 13.9 months.

Based on lease contracts with an average term of 36 months, the current pace of exit continues to expedite in pace. Prior to 2014, the average person…

The majority of consumers shopping for a new car lease are frustrated with the disconnect between advertised automotive deals and the cars they end up looking at inside the dealership. These findings were part of a joint online study between Swapalease.com and Wantalease.com from April 10 – April 24, 2014, presented to more than 1,000 drivers across North America. Complete results of the study may be found by clicking…

Here is this week's Used Car Market Report with the latest data from Black Book. It has been an extremely busy week for the Editors at Black Book attending physical auctions and watching other auctions online, while also analyzing thousands of records from remarketing data feeds from all across the country, We even had the opportunity to get hands on insight into a couple of significantly refreshed models that are soon to be hitting the new car market through the franchised dealers. Getting…

No doubt, Tesla has become a highly successful car brand with a growing roster of fans. The company recently introduced a new, guaranteed "buy back" program that offers to buy back a Model S between 36 – 39 months at a guaranteed residual.



On the surface this is positioned as a lease program. But it's really not a lease because you have to finance and pay taxes on the full vehicle.



Why can't you just lease a Tesla? Government regulations mean the $7,500 Plug-In Electric…

Despite growing supply challenges, profitable portfolio growth opportunities remain for automotive lenders according to a new white paper from Black Book Lender Solutions. The new white paper: “Finding Portfolio Growth Amidst Changing Supply Levels” may be downloaded by clicking here.



Increasing supply has become more of a focus in the automotive industry causing concern over accelerated…

Yes, there are car shoppers in 2014 that still look for a cassette deck in a vehicle. Swapalease.com analyzed more than 20,000 vehicle searches on its popular car lease marketplace to find items and features people still seek in a car or truck. Some items were popular decades ago, while others have traditionally been only for select tastes.



T-Tops: If you’re old enough to be a fan of “Smokey And The Bandit,” you’ll realize why T-Tops are still a fan favorite for some. These car…

According to Black Book data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2008-2012 overall increased in price during April, capping a strong spring selling season. Average segment prices saw +0.9% retention in value compared with the previous month (-0.3% depreciation in March). Domestic cars gained +2.7%; import cars gained +0.2%; domestic trucks gained +2.2%; and import trucks gained +0.5%. Average pre-recession depreciation is historically between -1% and -2% monthly, and Black…

Welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with the latest valuation data from Black Book. Now that we have reached the fifth month of the year, unless you are in Dutch John, Utah, or some other location of 8,000 feet of elevation or higher, we are probably through with the winter type weather, finally. We may also be past the peak of spring used car activity and overall strength…

Black Book, a division of Hearst Business Media Corporation that provides new- and used-vehicle valuation services, custom data licensing solutions, as well as lender origination and risk analysis, has partnered with Chicago-based Cars.com to become the company’s official vehicle valuation service.



“Cars.com is a leader in providing consumers with the resources they need during the buying and selling process,” said Black Book’s Jared Kalfus, vice president of data licensing. “We…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports lease credit approvals during the month of March were at 69.6%, up from last month’s yearly low of 66.7%. The 69.6% approvals mark is also the level of the last three months, indicating a credit approvals landscape that continues to hover near the “healthy” mark of 70%.



The credit approvals rate over the last twelve months stands at 71.7%. Prior to March, the approvals rate had continuously dropped from early fall…

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with used car pricing data from Ricky Beggs and Black Book. Just when most all parts of the country thought winter was gone and pollen from the budding trees was the dominate particles in the air, we hopefully had the final blast of winter weather that swept across the Midwest and actually left Detroit enough of the white fluffy flakes to set an all-time record level of snow for the winter season.



As the Black…

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market with used car valuation data trends from Black Book and Ricky Beggs. We trust the market has been good to each and every one of you as a buyer, a seller or a player in the lending side of the business. As I stood on the lanes this week I truly appreciate the comments that were made about the market strength, how some vehicles are identified and listed within the guides, and even the effects that actual VIN decoding…

According to Black Book® data, used vehicles model years 2008-2012 overall depreciated -0.3% in March, showing continued strength in seasonal retention compared to the -1.1% rate in February. Domestic cars gained in value by +0.7%; import cars depreciated -0.6%; domestic trucks gained in value by +0.6%; and import trucks depreciated -0.8%. Average pre-recession depreciation is historically between -1% and -2% monthly, and Black Book expects overall 2014 depreciation of -13.5%.



March…

How much influence does ‘change’ have on today’s car shopper? In the past, financial motivations drove the behavior of car shoppers, but our desire to simply change is viewed as the main reason we shop for a car today, according to a new study from the car-leasing marketplace Swapalease.com.

 

According to results of an online survey presented to more than 1,000 drivers across…

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with the latest vehicle valuation data from Ricky Beggs and Black Book. We trust you have had a good week on the retail lots, in the auction lanes and airwaves and within the finance offices.



For those of you who have commented over the past several weeks that you expect the market to soften, you will…

With reports of the “sellers are happy” and “it’s a sellers’ market”, the results of the weekly market changes were bound to show continued strength. The only question remaining was just how strong it would actually be after a full week of auction activity. Welcome back to this week’s Used Car Market Report with insights from Ricky Beggs from Black Book.



As I reviewed the various comments…