When it comes to vehicle condition, “average” may suit many used-car shoppers just fine — and it appears that dealers have taken notice.

Black Book has found that demand for average condition vehicles has climbed in the auction lanes as compared to clean condition vehicles.

In fact, Black Book’s Ricky Beggs said in the analysis that last week was “the strongest example” of a recent trend indicating such demand for the average condition units.

“There have been reporting periods where slightly more average condition vehicles than clean were adjusted and generally with more increasing adjustments on the average condition units. This past week was the strongest example of this,” he noted.

Specifically, the number of average condition vehicles adjusted per day last week was higher than 216, with 60 percent of these value adjustments being positive.

Comparatively, 53 percent of clean condition vehicle value adjustments were upward moves.

“Maybe the perception among buyers is that you get just as much car with an average condition unit while paying less overall,” said Beggs. “Average condition vehicles have grown in demand over the last several weeks, particularly among tax-season shoppers looking for stronger value.”

Price Changes on Retail Lots

Diving deeper into the retail side of the used-car market, asking prices for franchised dealers were averaging $11,716 in early April, according to CNW Research, which said this marked a 1.82-percent uptick from April 2012 and a 0.76-percent drop from March.

Used-car transaction prices for these dealers were at $11,042, up 0.77 percent from a year ago and down 0.63 percent from last month.

As for independents, CNW said their asking prices hit $10,143, down 0.71 percent year-over-year and off 1.29 percent month-over-month. Independent transaction prices were at $9,529, which was a 0.49-percent softening from April 2012 and a 1.15-percent dip from March.

“For franchised new-car dealers, April’s opening days were reason for some optimism,” said CNW president Art Spinella.

“While retail asking prices were off about 0.76 percent versus March, they were solidly ahead of last year by nearly 2 percent. Even actual transaction prices (excluding add-ons such as extended warranties), the core transaction price was up three quarters of a percent.”

After touching on the declines for independents, he added: “The month-over-month figures are somewhat skewed because March saw an unusually big gain versus February. For franchised dealers, transaction prices were up more than $500.

“The slip in April was barely $60 per unit, and, in fact, beating the transaction prices registered in both January and February. The same can be said for independent dealers,” Spinella continued.
 

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.