Recent first-hand attendance gave Black Book a different perspective on what’s going on in the wholesale market and prompted managing editor Ricky Beggs to ask, “Does the dealer parking lot tell the whole story?”

Beggs used a portion of his weekly video report, “Beggs on the Used Car Market,” to provide an answer.

“This past week had our editors at quite a few auctions, tracking and reporting the market. This attendance included a variety of markets, from auto to RV and even multiple HD Truck auctions,” Beggs began.

“This physical attendance also gives us a chance to talk directly to the auction managers, the auctioneers and the dealers who might be buyers or sellers, and get the real insight into the whys behind the sales and the no-sales,” he continued.

“Pulling into the parking lots of the auctions, and it being hard to find an open spot anywhere close to the auction entrance, says there will be a crowd, but it doesn’t mean they will all be bidding aggressively,” Beggs surmised.

“On the other hand, one editor returned to the office from a recent auction and said he was initially worried that the auction would not be very good and the market values would be off. He was afraid it would almost be a wasted day for the sellers due to the almost empty dealer parking lot,” Beggs shared. “But once the auction started, it was apparent that the right dealers were present and their check books were wide open.”

Black Book editors mentioned an interesting result appeared this past week as there were almost 2,000 more average condition values adjusted, a figure higher than prices modified for clean condition units.

Of the average condition adjustments, Black Book indicated 39 percent of these adjustments were increases, while just 24 percent of clean condition adjustments resulted in a price increase.

“Over the last year there have been several weeks with a fairly large discrepancy in the number of clean versus average condition changes,” Beggs surmised.

“This was especially true from mid-August until the end of September where we changed as many as 1,800 more clean condition values than average,” he stressed.

“This past week was the first time where the average condition was the predominate adjustment,” Beggs added.

Black Book discovered cars improved slightly this past week and prices were pretty consistent across the segment types in the change amount.

Editors pointed out premium sporty cars made a strong week-over-week improvement, declining $58 this past week as compared to $116 during the prior week.

Before premium sporty cars made their price improvement, Black Book said the only car segment to decline more was prestige luxury cars, which were off $94 a week ago after dropping $91 a week earlier.

Looking at trucks, Black Book determined the average change for all segments improved for the past three weeks. This past week the decline came in at $27.

Compact pickup trucks posted the second consecutive week of having a positive change as the segment gained $6.

Only two segments declined more this past week than the prior week. Editors noted those segments were cargo and passenger versions of full-size vans.

“With all of the numbers we have just highlighted, the market values and the auction activity are pretty solid for the time of the year,” Beggs stressed.

“The real focus right now seems to be on finishing the year with a strong retail effort,” he continued. “There is plenty of pent-up demand, retail lending is available and the wholesale market will have plenty of opportunity to jump start the tax season market once the calendar turns the page to a new year.

"Please allow me the opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season,” Beggs concluded.

Beggs’ videos can be viewed here.