To describe the plight of the minivan, TrueCar’s Eric Lyman invoked the late, great king of one-liners.

“To say that minivans have been the ‘Rodney Dangerfield’ segment of the auto market for many years, in terms of not getting the respect they deserve, is an understatement,” he said in a news release accompanying his company’s TrueSavings report, which spotlights several solid new-car specials on minivans for retail consumers.

“With the arrival of Chrysler’s clever new Pacifica, resilient demand for Toyota’s Sienna and the Honda Odyssey, and unmatched utility in terms of hauling kids and cargo it’s time to give minivans a fresh look,” said Lyman, TrueCar’s vice president of industry insights, 

And perhaps a “fresh look” is warranted in the wholesale auction lanes, as well. It seems dealers are seeing some good deals on used minivans there, as well. 

According to the latest Kontos Kommentary report from ADESA chief economist Tom Kontos, minivans had the largest month-over-month price drop of any segment in ADESA’s data set.

Their wholesale prices for May were down 7.7 percent from April. 

(Granted, they were up 4.5 percent year-over-year).

Between June 3 and June 10, minivan wholesale prices fell 0.65 percent, according to Black Book. This marked the third-highest decline among the 13 truck segments tracked in the weekly Black Book Market Insights report.

Speaking again to the new-car retail side of the new-vehicle market, TrueCar senior industry analyst Cari Crane said in the report: “SUVs and crossovers have overshadowed minivans for a long time, but there’s definitely some new appeal for a lot of car buyers.

“This class of vehicle is hard to beat for family road trips, but attractive prices and reasonably good fuel economy also make them an excellent choice,” Crane said.

For instance, savings on a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT Plus are coming in at $6,320 off MSRP (based on market average price vs. MSRP).  

The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica currently has a 36-month no-interest finance offer and the automaker is offering up to $1,500 in customer cash, TrueCar said, citing the OEM.

There's also a $269 per month/36-month month lease offer with $2,999 down on the Pacifica, TrueCar said. 

Likewise, dealers may be able to find “attractive prices” on minivans when they hit the auction lanes.