LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

Perhaps not as difficult as finding that needle in the proverbial haystack, Black Book’s latest anecdotes from the lanes again described how dealers are having difficulties finding clean vehicles at the auction without completely depleting their floorplan funds.

Before getting into bidding activities, this week’s edition of Black Book Market Insights showed how prices aren’t softening like how dealers typically experience during the summer.

“The used-car market stays strong with mainstream car brand values depreciating at a low rate for this time of the year,” said Anil Goyal, executive vice president of operations at Black Book.

Volume-weighted, Black Book reported that overall car segment values decreased by 0.27 percent last week. In comparison, the values had decreased at a higher rate of 0.34 percent per week during the previous four weeks.

Among car segments, editors noticed sporty cars showed a seasonal lift in values last week, rising 0.24 percent or $37.

Again volume-weighted, Black Book determined overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — softened by 0.34 percent last week. In comparison, the values had declined at a lower rate of 0.26 percent per week during the previous four weeks.

Within truck segments, editors found that full-size vans and full-size luxury crossover/SUVs decreased the most last week, dipping by 0.66 or $101 and 0.62 percent or $204, respectively.

Be it a car or a truck, dealers are having trouble finding units that do not need a significant amount of reconditioning at a price that fits their particular store retail model. Here’s a sampling of what Black Book noticed at nearly 60 sales nationwide:

— From Indiana: “Business is good and dealers are holding onto their trade-ins. Nicer vehicles are scarce as are trucks.”

— From Wisconsin: “Active bidding and selling in most lanes even as dealers complain about high prices.”

— From Florida: “The older cars continue to struggle, but buyers are paying premium prices for cleaner and newer vehicles.”

— From Texas: “Our consignment has been low which has kept the values up. Bidding is quite good on most vehicles.”

— From Michigan: “Some trucks have seen a price rise during the last couple of weeks, which is unusual for our market in July.”