GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

The last week of summer brought significant price declines for both cars and trucks at auction, perhaps a sign of what’s to come in the new season.

With gas prices continuing to drop, now sitting at a national average of $3.55, the highest declines this week were seen in the entry-level car segment. This vehicle category saw a drop in prices of 1.15 percent last week, according to Ricky Beggs, editorial director and senior vice president at Black Book.

He also reported in his latest “Beggs on the Used Car Market” video report that the full-size cars followed right behind with a price drop of 1.11 percent.

Interestingly, only once in the past three months has another segment declined by more than 1.0 percent in a single period, Beggs reported.

The trend may be due in part to the fact that during this past week, gas prices were $0.33 lower than the rates seen during the last week of summer in 2012.

For cars, the overall average segment change was a drop of $84 last week, a rate which Beggs said marked “the greatest change since exactly one year ago when the change level was -$87.”

On the other end of the spectrum, the segments that saw the best retention rates last week were the compact cars (down $62) and the entry midsize cars (down $65).

For the trucks, the average segment change decline increased for the third week in a row; this time around, the average segment change was a drop of $60.

That said, there were a few truck segments that experienced strong price retention last week. Up front was the full-size pickups, with a small drop of only $14.

On the other hand, the  full-size cargo vans fell by $124, and the full-size passenger wagons saw a decline of $117.

Wrapping up his commentary, Beggs said the car and truck price declines reported are “seasonal adjustments normally expected for this time of the year.”

To view the latest “Beggs on the Used Car Market” video report, see below: