Used supply is tight. Are you sick of hearing that yet?
Well, you may be in luck, as Canadian Black Book editorial director Josh Bailey voiced some promising predictions for supply and used prices for the near future.
Supply is expected to loosen this coming year, and as a result, prices are likely to start dropping.
In fact, they already have.
This past September, according to the ADESA Canada Used Vehicle Price Index, wholesale prices fell by an average of 0.4 percent. And in October, the Index fell by another 0.2 percent.
But Bailey says soon the price drops will move beyond seasonality and as predicted may end up looking a bit more like the prerecession market.
The Truck Anomaly
In looking back over the past year at used-price trends for 4-year-old vehicles, Bailey pointed out one phenomenon that is bucking industry trends right and left: full-size pickup price movement.
When a vehicle ages, it is supposed to depreciate, right? Well, there are exceptions.
Going back to January, 4-year old full size pickups were holding about 44 percent of their value.
As of mid-October, the segment was holding 44.7 percent of its value. This is slightly higher than the January rate, and at some points this year, the segment saw prices rise up almost 2 percentage points from rates seen at the beginning of the year.
This rate is also higher than the general equity average of 43.9 percent MSRP of 4-year-old vehicles, as of mid-October.
“This is quite unusual, since normally, vehicles are still a depreciating asset, even though when we look year-over-year coming out of the recession, things have been picking up as a whole,” said Bailey. “But throughout The course of the year, you expect things to go down, and that has not been the case with the full-size trucks.”
Bailey said this trend defies most analysts’ ability to explain. Similar to trends seen in the U.S., gas prices are dropping, but at the beginning of the year they were climbing — and so were truck prices.
“So there was a disconnect between what most people would expect to see with rising gas prices and larger vehicle prices,” Bailey said.
There has also just been an increase in general interest in trucks when you observe Canadian new-vehicle sales.
“Trucks are tremendous in growth and that is spilling over into the used-car market,” Bailey added.
Competition in the Luxury Market
Another aspect of the wholesale market that has been making waves this year: luxury vehicles.
Their story has been a bit different than the trucks this year, with luxury cars seeing some of the largest price declines in the market.
Bailey said the premium luxury segment, sporting vehicles such as the BMW 7 Series and Audi A8, saw some of the steepest drop offs in price in the lanes.
But Canadian Black Book also noticed the entry luxury cars and the small luxury SUVs saw some comparatively sharp declines, as well.
Bailey said this decline is mostly due to the competitive landscape for luxury manufacturers in Canada.
“When we look at the competitive landscape in Canada, the apparent battle for No. 1 position in the luxury market is really creating some downward pressure on pricing on the new side, and that spills over into the used-car market,” Bailey said. “It is unrealistic to believe you could sell a 1-year-old vehicle for more than what you could spend for a new vehicle.”
Strong incentive spends in the luxury market are cascading down to the used side, pushing high-end vehicle prices down at auction.
The Skinny on Supply
Prices have been rising this year, but analysts predict this may be the last 12 months the industry will experience an overall annual price spike as supply is expected to expand in 2015.
As of mid-October, the general average equity rate for 4-year-old vehicles was sitting at 43.9 percent of MSRP.
This is up 1.6 percent from 2013; and compared to 2012, this rate is up 3.2 percent.
“We’ve seen pretty steady increases for the past of couple of years,” Bailey said.
For the rest of the year, Canadian Black Book predicts there will still be a demand for used cars that cannot be met by the current supply.
Bailey also pointed out the vehicles that are coming off lease are equity-heavy, a trend that impacts supply, as well.
“I think some people have underestimated the fact that even with the vehicles that are coming off lease, since we are looking at 4-year-old vehicles now, even in 2010 there was a level of pessimism in the residual forecasts that were set. That then translates to a lot of equity in the cars coming off lease now,” he said. “The effect of that is both customers and the dealers who are taking them back, they are both buying those vehicles up and stemming from them hitting any open market. That’s been a compounding factor in this aspect.”
Though prices remain higher than levels seen in 2013, over the last couple of months, the industry has definitely seen rates decline.
In fact, rates dropped nearly 1 percent from October to November, which Bailey pointed out is a fairly steep decline.
“It’s not unheard of, but certainly this time of year dealers tend to be a little more reluctant to bring extra inventory into stock because of as soon as Halloween is over we are into Christmas, and people’s minds tend to drift away from big spends and toward shopping for Christmas. It’s a typical drop,” Bailey said.
Canadian Black Book predicts there will be some increase in supply next year, although once again, there will most likely be some positive equity in the vehicles coming off lease, which likely will contribute to the trend “of those cars getting scooped before they enter the open market,” Bailey said.
That said, in 2011, leasing rates were coming up, so more off lease product is expected to flow back into the market this coming year.
“It will be a little better than this year in terms of supply situation, but I don’t believe there is a great deal of room to grow the used car market, given the new-car market incentive situation,” Bailey said.
Though there are certain segments here and there that will experience growth, Bailey asserts the market is going to hit a plateau unless there is a willingness to move away from strong cash offerings and other incentives on the new-car side of the market.
“For 2015, we expect things to be similar to this year, and it won’t show the strong growth that we have seen for the last couple of years,” Bailey said. “For the end of this year, things will roll along at a steady pace.”
Since it has been such a strong year for new-car sales, Bailey predicts manufacturers will capitalize on that momentum during the holiday season and will continue to ramp up incentive spending.
“So, I think this time could be a great time to buy a new car, which in turn means there are a significant amount of trade-ins coming in, so it might be a good time to buy a used car, too,” Bailey said.
And though 2015 has the potential to be a “transition year,” showing little price or supply movement up or down, Bailey concluded: “We do think that coming into 2017 and 2018, we are going to get back into a situation where there is not so much grappling for the first car that comes down the auction lane.”
Dealertrack Canada, part of Dealertrack Technologies, announced this week it is introducing Inventory+ to the Canadian market.
The tool utilizes the company’s Tradetracker, AAX and eCarList offerings and provides new mobile capability.
"For years, Dealertrack has delivered proven inventory solutions that help dealerships increase the efficiency and profitability of used car operations,” said Michael McCarthy, general manager, Dealertrack Canada. “Inventory+ is going to be a game-changer for Canadian dealers. This new inventory management solution brings all the powerful capabilities of our previous offerings together, along with new innovations, to help drive optimal and measureable results for our dealer and dealer group clients.”
The company asserts the new tool covers the entire life cycle of the vehicle inventory process from appraising and stocking all the way through to dealer results management.
The “cornerstone” of the new tool, according to the company, is the new Appraisal Workflow functionality, which works to speed up the appraisal process by increasing workflow efficiency.
Through the Appraisal Workflow system, dealers can input and manage key information, including legal disclosures, photographs, reconditioning information, ACV Tracker, book-out data and values of vehicles in their inventory.
Through the new Inventory+, dealers can also create a metric — Profits-Per-Day — which can help them manage both turn and gross profits.
Dealertrack will be showcasing Inventory+ at the NADA Convention and Expo 2015 at Booth 2219S.
Fall appraisal trends are so far mirroring summer results, with the ever-popular Ford F-150 out in front last month, according to DealerTrack's TradeTracker report.
The Ford F-150 is also No. 1 for year-to-date trends, similar to what was seen in 2013.
The Toyota Corolla was the No. 2 most appraised vehicle in Canada in September.
The top three were rounded out by the Dodge Caravan, taking the place of the Honda Civic sedan, which moved down to fourth place. Year-to-date, though, the Honda Civic easily takes the third spot.
Another Ford model, the Escape, rounded out the top five. Year-to-date, this position has been held by the Dodge Grand Caravan.
These reports are provided monthly to Auto Remarketing Canada and are a result of Dealertrack Technologies' TradeTracker solution, which is an online, trade-in evaluation tool that allows dealerships to create instant, accurate appraisals and gain insight into their used-car business.
The report also breaks down the vehicles by market, as follows:
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the F-150.
- The top import vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Corolla.
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Ford Escape.
- The top import vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the Mazda3.
The report also narrows down the top vehicles being looked at by trade-in owners.
Within this group, the top domestic vehicle looked at by domestic owners was once again the F-150.
For import owners, the top import vehicle looked at was the Corolla.
And when it comes to domestics, import owners looked at the Escape the most in September.
Lastly, the top import vehicle looked at by domestic owners was the Toyota Rav4. This spot has been consistently held by the Toyota Corolla, who holds the year-to-date trend.
The TradeTracker reports also include a Brand of the Month section, which highlights appraisal trends by an individual brand each month.
The brand highlighted in September was Kia.
The top three vehicles looked at by trade-in customers at Kia dealerships were the Sorento, Soul and Rio, respectively.
The top three off-make vehicles appraised by Ford dealers were the Mazda3, Ford Focus and Dodge Grand Caravan, respectively.
Though dealers are seeing little easing of used-car prices so far this year, analysts say the outlook is starting to look a bit better for those buying in the lanes and on the lots.
According to the latest RVI Risk Outlook report, as used-car supply increases over the next five years, used-car prices, on a nominal level, are predicted to drop by 4 percent from current levels by 2017.
Though used-car prices are expected to increase slightly overall through 2014, supply expansion isn't expected to begin having an impact on used rates until next year.
In fact, ALG predicts that between last month and July 2018, used supply will increase by 178,000 units. For more analysis from ALG, see the Auto Remarketing Canada story here.
“Used-car prices are expected to increase slightly through 2014. Beginning in 2015, used-car prices will decline through 2017 on a year-over-year basis,” the RVI Risk Outlook report stated. “Increasing used-car supply in the market is the primary reason for these projected price declines.”
Price drops are expanded to become more noticeable in 2016, “primarily due to an expected increase in used-car supply through 2019,” RVI analysts predict.
And though prices are expected to increase overall this year, pre-owned rates started falling a bit this summer.
According to RVI data, nominal used-car prices in Canada saw a 1.2-percent monthly drop in June. That said, prices were still up 5.7 percent year-over-year.
After adjusting for MSRP, used prices were down 0.5 percent on a monthly basis and showed a year-over-year increase of 4.3 percent.
The segment with the largest price decline in June was the luxury midsize sedan segment, which saw prices fall by 24.2 percent from May. And the luxury full-size sedan saw the largest year-over-year price decline, falling by 23.9 percent.
The midsize sedans also saw prices drop significantly, falling by 7.6 percent on a monthly basis.
On the other hand, the pickup truck and non-luxury SUV segments were saw significant price increases in June, rising by 8 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, from May.
RVI pointed out that the drop in used-car prices for June was less due to expanding supply and more a result of the strengething currency exchange rate. The Canadian loonie was up to $0.923 when compared to the U.S. dollar in June.
But this trend isn’t expected to continue.
The Canadian dollar has weakened against the U.S. dollar overall, and the exchange rate is expected to remain around 93 cents (U.S./Canada) through 2019.
RVI reported this is due mostly to improved economic conditions in the U.S.
“While this has a positive impact on used-car prices in Canada, it is going against strong increases in used-car supply,” the report stated, pointing out currency exchange level trends won’t be heavy enough to move against downward pressure from expanding supply.
Canadian dealers have heard rumors of expanding used supply for a few years now, but the process has been slow.
According to the latest Canada Industry Report from ALG, more used units are set to begin flowing in — but again, it will not happen overnight.
ALG predicts that between this month and July 2018, used supply will increase by 178,000 units.
“We can say with high confidence that increasing supply will be exerting a gradual negative pressure on values, though there are other opposing forces which will partially offset this trend. Movements by segment are even more challenging, as demonstrated by segments that exhibit a divergence from the overall trend,” the report stated.
Of course, expanding supply of used vehicles “dramatically impacts their potential resale value,” ALG analysts pointed out.
As such, during the same four-year period, ALG predicts vehicles returning to the market in 2018 will average 41 percent retention, down quite a bit from 47 percent retention seen in the first half of 2014.
That said, not all segments will see supply expand.
As the new-car and used-car market are intrinsically linked, segments that have experience declining sales for the past few years will continue to be in scarce supply.
For example, ALG picked out the full-size car and full-size utility segments.
ALG expects used supply for both these segments to drop by over 20 percent over the next four years.
According to the report, in the short term, used market supply is forecasted to remain unchanged as a whole, and therefore will have no impact on residuals this month and through August.
Through July and August, overall segment retention rates will range between a drop of 0.4 percent to a slight rise of 0.5 percent.
The minivan segment will see the largest negative impact, with retention predicted to drop by 0.4 percent, while the premium full-size utility segment is expected to rise by 0.5 percent.
Looking into the future, ALG took a step into the past, as well, to predict long-term used-car supply expansion.
In 2009, new-vehicle sales and leasing dropped off to just over 1.46 million vehicles sold.
ALG pointed out new-car sales continued to lag over the next to years, pushing up slightly to 1.68 million vehicles sold in 2012.
“The repercussions of these historically low sales years from 2009-2011 continue to affect both supply and prices of used vehicles today. In fact, the bottoming out of the used-vehicle supply (aged 7 years or less) last year aligned with the sharp reduction in lease and overall sales volumes back in 2009,” ALG analysts said.
As leased vehicles and new cars generally make it back into the market around the four- to seven-year return period, low sales in 2009 continue to impact used supply today.
“The current growth in new-vehicle sales along with higher lease penetrations will eventually solve the used-vehicle inventory constraints — though it will occur gradually with full recovery not forecasted until 2017,” ALG analysts predict.
And, of course, this trend will serve to push prices down at auction, putting less pressure on dealers’ pockets while stocking their used lots.
“With used values riding high in the current market, it can be difficult to envision a market that is significantly lower in just four years’ time, particularly with demand continuing to strengthen. But the used supply picture is key to understanding the downward pressures that will be exerted on prices over the next few years,” the report concluded.
The leader of the pack among popular vehicles in Canada this year continued its winning streak as summer got underway.
This past June, the Ford F-150 once again topped the charts as the most appraised vehicle in Canada, according to the TradeTracker Used Vehicle Market Report.
The only month this year the pickup hasn’t held the No. 1 spot was back in May, when the Honda Civic topped the list.
These reports are provided monthly to Auto Remarketing Canada and are a result of Dealertrack Technologies' Trade Tracker solution, which is an online, trade-in evaluation tool that allows dealerships to create instant, accurate appraisals and gain insight into their used-car business.
Coming in as the No. 2 most appraised vehicle in Canada in June was the Mazda3, followed by the Ford Escape in third.
Year-to-date, the Toyota Corolla holds the No. 2 spot, followed by the Honda Civic sedan.
Rounding out the top five in June were the Honda Civic sedan and the Toyota Corolla, respectively.
The report also breaks down the vehicles by market, as follows:
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the F-150
- The top import vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Corolla.
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Escape.
- The top import vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the Mazda3.
The report also narrows down the top vehicles being looked at by trade-in owners.
Within this group, the top domestic vehicle looked at by domestic owners was once again the F-150.
For import owners, the top import vehicle looked at was the Corolla.
And when it comes to domestics, import owners looked at the Escape the most in April.
Lastly, the one outlier was the top import vehicle looked at by domestic owners: the Hyundai Elantra.
The TradeTracker reports also include a Brand of the Month section, which highlights appraisal trends by an individual brand each month.
The brand highlighted in June was Chevrolet.
The top three vehicles looked at by trade-in customers at Hyundai dealerships were the Cruze, Equinox and Trax.
The year-to-date trends for Chevy dealers follow the same lineup.
NewCarSellOff.com may not be a brand new site — first launched in 2012 — but it’s back with a new look and a few new tools to benefit dealers, says Rick Balkan, chief executive officer and president of the third-party site.
Balkan said that many of the site additions, such as reviews, fuel economy ratings and more, have been launched in an effort to ensure the site includes more than just car listings, and instead becomes a “one-stop-shop” for those in the market for a new vehicle.
Balkan touts over 30 years in the business and says when he was working for an import/export vehicle company before launching the site, the biggest dealer complaint he encountered was “aged inventory draining dealership profitability.”
“Many new-car dealers would look at their aged inventory and say, ‘I would give these away at cost;’ they were that eager to make room on their lots and get rid of units that weren’t selling,” said Balkan.
Therein lies the inspiration for NewCarSellOff.com, which helps to allow dealers to get rid of aging inventory as well as allow consumers to see the majority of the cars on the site at bottom-line prices.
Though not all vehicles on the site have been reduced to bottom line price, the site promoes the cheapest ones.
For example, if 100 dealers are selling Dodge Caravans, the cheapest vehicle will rise to the top of the search, based on the shoppers’ search criteria.
“We encourage dealers to put all their inventory on the site, but we promote the cheapest ones, and the rest provide additional choices for consumers,” said Balkan. “We encourage dealers to use aged inventory as a price leader to attract buyers to the site.”
And currently, roughly around 300 dealers across Western Canada and Ontario utilize the site’s services.
“We rank our vehicles on the biggest discount, so the best discounted vehicles will show up first. And we do it based on the markdowns from MSRP, so consumers can see what kind of deal they are getting,” Balkan said.
How Used Vehicles are Rated
Though the site was designed to clear aging new inventory off dealers lots, Balkan said they quickly added used-car capabilities, as well, in an effort to offer consumers new-versus-used comparisons.
The move was also made in response to dealer requests. Now, the site features used vehicles 7 years and younger, as well.
Used-car ratings are based on a five-star system, said Balkan — stars will light up if the vehicles meet the requirements for the following: accident reports, mechanical reconditions, cosmetic repairs, low mileage and warranty.
For the accident report portion of the rating, the website utilizes a partnership with CarProof.
“This communication with CarProof has been great for us, because it allows the consumer right off the bat to see if the car has ever been in an accident,” Balkan said.
The “low mileage” star will light up is the vehicle has 15,000 kilometers or less on its odometer.
And Balkan pointed out that the way these used cars get ranked on the site is a bit different from other third-party sites.
“Typically in a traditional third-party style search, you are going to see that the person that pays the most will get premier placement on a website. We have done it a little differently. We don’t want that dealership to pay to get that position, we want the best vehicles to rise to the top,” said Balkan. “So for used vehicles, you can’t pay for premier positions on our site, but let the best vehicle rise to the top.”
Benefits for Dealers
Balkan also outlined a few benefits for dealers using the site.
First off, dealer customers can utilize the site’s vehicle loading tool, available on Android and iPhone devices.
"When they get set up with us, we have a DMS (dealership management system) feed that comes into our system, then we will populate the vehicle loading tool with their inventory so they can walk out to the car lot and identify with VIN scan, stock number, or the number that is located on the vehicle loading tool. Then they are able to take pictures, upload them to our site, adjust pricing, and enhance description of the vehicle,” said Balkan, noting the tool makes vehicle posting a one-step process.
The site also has back-end tools to help dealerships price vehicles and have designed algorithms to help dealers price on factors such as days-in-inventory and age.
“We can price their inventory as we bring it on to the site and then constantly change the price as it ages and as the dealer desires. We can specifically set pricing rules based on as specific to trim, engine, transmission and days-in-inventory,” Balkan said.
Dealers have the option of pushing the hardest inventory out first by pricing it aggressively, and keeping the profit in vehicles with more bells and whistles, such as four-wheel drive, or a more expensive trim.
And the site helps with consumer-facing price questions, as well, as it features a bi-weekly payment calculator, which allows shoppers to gauge bi-weekly payments and affordability before engaging with a dealer.
The site also generates videos from dealers still photography images for up to 500 vehicles — and these pricing videos will automatically update as the vehicle rate changes, as well.
“We pride ourselves on the fact that dealers can set it and forget it, in a lot of cases,” said Balkan.
Another tool the site touts is automated rebates and updates.
“At the beginning of the month after contacting dealers, we compile all the rebates for the vehicle, and the dealers can choose to automatically have these rebated distributed among their vehicle instead of going in and changing,” said Balkan.
The site also touches on social media, as well, as it has the ability to populate the dealers top 20 deals on the site to their Facebook pages as well as their “specials” tab on the dealership websites.
“One of the most commonly searched spots is the specials tab. What we wanted to do is create a tool that would allow consumers to see real inventory that belongs to that dealership that they are motivated to sell,” Balkan said.
For more information, see www.NewCarSellOff.com.
Though relief from high prices at auction is almost visible on the horizon, according to industry predictions, dealers are still having to shell out for quality used vehicles in the lanes, at least for the short term.
According to RVI’s Q1 report, in March, used-car prices at auction rose by 2.8 percent from February and a significant 9.5 percent from March of 2013.
After adjusting for MSRP, the jump was still high, with a 1.1 percent spike from February and a 3.8 percent year-over-year increase.
And dealers are in for a few more months of such increases, as RVI officials said, “Used-car prices are expected to increase for the near future.”
When compared to March of 2013, sub-compacts, compacts and minivans saw the biggest price increases at auction during Q1.
Minivans led the pack with a year-over-year price increase of 17.3 percent.
Sub-compacts followed with an increase of 12.7 percent year-over-year, and compact prices rose by 10.3 percent.
These high numbers might be here to stay for quite a while, as RVI isn’t predicting prices to drop until 2016.
“Beginning in 2016, used-car prices will decline through 2019, falling below current levels,” the company said.
According to RVI, these price drops will be due largely to “increases in the supply of used vehicles and more competition among car manufacturers,” both of which will serve to put downward pressure on used-vehicle prices.
Used-vehicle supply is expected to start increasing this year and continue rising through 2019.
According to RVI’s Used Vehicle Stock Index, supply is currently up 1.2 percent from 2013 rates, and used supply will expand 2.9 percent in 2015 versus this year.
In the March TradeTracker Used Vehicle Market Report, the Ford F-150 once again topped the list as the most appraised vehicle in Canada.
The truck has come out on top every month this year so far, and of course, holds the title of the most appraised vehicle year-to-date. The pickup truck was also the most appraised vehicle in Canada for 2013.
Next up was the Toyota Corolla, which ousted the F-150 from its spot a few months last year, and remains the second-most-appraised vehicle in Canada year-to-date.
The popular Honda Civic came in at No. 3, followed by the Mazda 3 and Honda CR-V, respectively.
These reports are provided monthly to Auto Remarketing Canada and are a result of Dealertrack Technologies' Trade Tracker solution, which is an online, trade-in evaluation tool that allows dealerships to create instant, accurate appraisals and gain insight into their used-car business.
The report also breaks down the vehicles by market, as follows:
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the F-150.
- The top import vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Corolla.
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Ford Escape.
- The top import vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the Mazda 3.
The report also narrows down the top vehicles being looked at by trade-in owners.
Within this group, the top domestic vehicle looked at by domestic owners was once again the Ford F-150.
For import owners, the top import vehicle looked at was the Corolla.
And when it comes to domestics, import owners looked at the Escape the most in March.
Lastly, the top import vehicle looked at by domestic owners was the Corolla.
The TradeTracker reports also include a Brand of the Month section, which highlights appraisal trends by an individual brand each month.
The brand highlighted in March was Toyota.
Not surprisingly, the top three vehicles looked at by trade-in customers at Toyota dealerships started with the Corolla, followed by the Rav 4 and Highlander.
The new year is starting out much the same as 2013, with the Ford F-150 being particularly popular in the Canadian market. After coming in as the most appraised vehicle in Canada for full-year 2013, it nabbed the same title this past January.
According to the February TradeTracker Used Vehicle Market Report, the F-150 not only topped the list as the most appraised vehicle in Canada overall during the first month of the year, but also came in as the top domestic vehicle appraised by domestic dealers.
The Mazda 3 inched up into the No. 2 spot for most appraisals in January, with the Honda Civic Sedan bumping down to No. 3.
Rounding out the top five for most appraised vehicles in January were the Dodge Grand Caravan and the Toyota Corolla.
These reports are provided monthly to Auto Remarketing Canada and are a result of Dealertrack Technologies' Trade Tracker solution, which is an online, trade-in evaluation tool that allows dealerships to create instant, accurate appraisals and gain insight into their used-car business.
The report also breaks down the vehicles by market, as follows:
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the F-150.
- The top import vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Honda Civic Sedan.
- The top domestic vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Dodge Grand Caravan.
- The top import vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the Mazda 3.
The report also narrows down the top vehicles being looked at by trade-in owners.
Within this group, the top domestic vehicle looked at by domestic owners was once again the Ford F-150.
For import owners, the top import vehicle looked at was the Toyota RAV4.
And when it comes to domestics, import owners looked at the Ford Escape the most in January.
Lastly, the top import vehicle looked at by domestic owners was the Hyundai Elantra.
The TradeTracker reports also include a Brand of the Month section, which highlights appraisal trends by an individual brand each month.
The brand highlighted this time around was Volkswagen.
The top three vehicles looked at by trade-in customers at Volkswagen dealerships were the Jetta, Tiguan and Passat.
