SAN CARLOS, Calif. -

For dealers working with budget-conscious shoppers, car technology company Carlypso — which runs the used sales website carlypso.com — has a few suggestions for the best pre-owned deals this spring.

But the company didn’t look to the used dealership lots to find the best offers; analysts turned to the lanes instead.

Citing the wholesale markets as the best indicators behind which cars are “hot” with consumers, Carlypso undertook a study that examined transactions from over 333,526 wholesale vehicle transactions from December 1, 2014 to April 15, 2015.

In looking at which vehicles and segments took the biggest hits in auction price this spring, Carlypso pointed out luxury brands and electric vehicles were at the bottom of the barrel for tax season.

“The Nissan Leaf and other electric cars (including many other year trim combinations) fared vary poorly,” Carlypso analysts said. “Excess supply and diminishing demand caused a 10-percent price drop in just four months on late-model Nissan Leafs. Lease turn-ins make up the majority of volume.”

And though these price declines may be a sign of high supply and low demand for these segments, these units might end up being attractive options for used buyers looking for a deal.

For example, although wholesale prices for 2012 Nissan Leaf SL were up 2 percent from December to the end of March, they fell by 9.45 percent during the same period to finish at an average of $10,894.

And the 2012 BMW 528i dropped from an average of $29,587 to $26,939 over the course of tax season.

“BMW 3 and 5 series both fared poorly. With lots of off-lease inventory, the base model 528i and 328i suffered large residual losses,” Carlypso reported. “Owners might have suffered almost $2,600 drop in value over just four months on the BMW 528i.”

Carlypso also offered the following examples as deals for spring:

  • The 2012 Lexus ES350 base model is going for an average of $21,447, down from $23,207 in December.
  • The 2011 BMW 328i is going for $18,953 in the lanes, down from $20,170.
  • The 2013 Nissan Rogue SV is selling for an average of $16,786, down from $17,672.
  • Lastly, the 2013 Honda Civic LX is going for an average of $13,307 in the lanes, down 3.03 percent from December rates.

Carlypso analysts pointed out the ES350 and Civic both experienced accelerated depreciation this spring, even though they are traditionally stronger cars in the lanes when it comes to price retention.

For dealers with customers in the market for BMWs or other lightly used electric and luxury cars, it might be time to push a used purchase since BMW and Nissan most likely won’t be offering new incentive packages that will compete with used sales this spring.