GAINESVILLE, GA – Overall the movement of the used-car market is continuing to look up, according to Ricky Beggs, VP and managing editor at Black Book. Even though the market was slower than expected in picking up after the turn of the calendar into 2010, increased demand and a lack of supply of used vehicles overpowered a lack of consumer confidence, tight consumer credit, continued increasing unemployment, and an overall struggling economy.

“All ten of the car segment types we track declined in value once again, but we still had improvement in the amount of the adjustments,” reported Beggs. “Only two segments, Near Luxury Cars and Premium Sporty cars, had a greater depreciation level than the previous week. Overall the average -$56 change was an indication of an improved market trend.”

For the truck market and the 14 segment types, Black Book reports we are closer to the $0 baseline than we have been for 20 weeks. This goes all the way back to the week ending September 18, 2009. The average change this week was only down -$6.

Six of the 14 segment types had positive changes over the last week, while only two had larger depreciation level movements than the previous week. Those were not large drops at -$16 and -$11 for Compact Pickups and Mid-size Pickups respectively, noted Beggs.

“Overall, the percentages of adjustments that were increases improved again this past week growing from 25 percent to 40 percent of the models adjusted. The overall adjustment amount for the week was just over -$26 on average on an average of 760 vehicles adjusted each day. Last week, the average change was -$80,” said Beggs.

The unprecedented recall and halting of the sale of 2.3 million Toyota products has been a focus for Black Book. “Even though Toyota announced plans for a fix, not knowing how smoothly the recall will go still has everyone scrambling for answers. With rental companies pulling both in service vehicles and units ready for remarketing that were part of the recall, the limited supply became even more limited. The NAAA, focusing on safety for auction employees and attending dealers, has recommended that member auctions pull all affected vehicles until repaired,” said Beggs.

Black Book survey personnel have been instructed to put extra attention toward any Toyota brand products running through the auction lanes. The editors are all looking for these models while comparing their auction interest and actual sale price to the most recent published values.

“We have been pleasantly surprised right now to have seen no major adverse effect at the auctions on the interest and sale price of Toyota products since the recall and the no sale policy was announced,” said Beggs. “This past week only the Solara convertible models, not in the recall, have warranted any value adjustments. Those adjustments ranged from -$100 to -$300 depending on the trim and model year.”

2005 to 2010 selected Camry sedans have been adjusted slightly as well. Some of the RAV4, Highlander, 4Runner, Tacoma, Sequoia, and Tundra models have also moved down in value.

“These adjustments I would term as normal market movement,” said Beggs. “Some competitor models, not involved in a recall, had similar adjustments. We also recognize that auction activity, while currently limited, might differ slightly from potential dealer trade-ins on these affected models.”