GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

Although the wholesale market this past week was close to echoing the same trends spotted the week before, Black Book’s Ricky Beggs noticed a few things that made last week stand out.

The total value adjustment (a downward movement of $82) and the proportion of adjustments that were increases (21 percent) and decreases (79 percent) stayed constant from the previous week, but Beggs noted that “the difference was with the average adjustment increases, which were less this past week at $113, as compared to the previous week of $146.”

Additionally, he pointed out in the latest "Beggs on the Used Car Market" video report:  “This past week we had the smallest number of adjusted vehicles in the past 12 weeks at only 1,140 per day throughout the week.”

All-in-all, it appeared the wholesale market saw a lot of “mixed results.”

“Each day as the editors returned from the auctions or signed off after viewing an auction online, it was a feeling of mixed results. Some lanes and segment types did really well, while others were less than aggressive,” Beggs explained.

“One survey person from Texas reported that ‘trucks and SUVs were slowing down’, while another in the Midwest said ‘trucks are up a bit,’” he continued. “Maybe a continuation of vacations and the extreme hot weather has slowed retail and thus caused many dealers to ‘be a little slower to replace inventory,’ according to another survey person.

“The one most consistent comment from the auction reports was that we were in a typical ‘last week of the month’ type market activity,” Beggs added.

Breaking it down by segment, car values as a whole were down $33, marking the heftiest weekly decline in more than seven months.

Just one car category (near luxury cars, up $3) was up in value. This is the third straight time only one car segment has moved upward, Beggs noted.

The heaviest decliner was the prestige luxury car segment (down $81). The other three car segments whose decline eclipsed the average drop-off for cars were the entry midsize (down $52), upper midsize (down $43) and entry level car (down $41) segments.

For trucks, values dipped $43, but this was the most moderate decrease in five weeks, Beggs noted.

The full-size crossover segment had the most pronounced drop-off (down $118), followed by midsize crossovers (down $101).

“Continuing our look at the truck segment, even with the decline being the smallest since the week ending July 1, all 14 truck segments declined for the second consecutive week,” he stressed.

That said, 10 of the 14 had smaller declines than the previous week, Beggs added.

For instance, the declines for both midsize crossovers and luxury SUVs were $34 less steep than they were the prior week. No other car or truck segment had greater improvement.

Additionally, the softening in full-size pickups slowed $33.

Meanwhile, the week-over-week declines grew steeper in four segments: cargo minivans, full-size crossovers, passenger minivans and compact SUVs.

Collector Cars

Moving on, in a separate report — "Beggs on the Specialty Markets" — part of the analysis delved into the CPI collectible car market.

The market has been rather steady, and the major auctions held recently have generated hearty attendance and sales, Beggs said.

“Muscle cars — including GTOs, Chevelles, Chargers and Fairlanes — are all essentially unchanged from last month. European sports cars, like MGs, Triumphs, Alfa Romeos and Fiats, are up a little bit, about a quarter of a percent,” he pointed out.

“Classic full-size American pickups trucks — and don’t we all get a kick out of these — are up almost a half of a percent,” Beggs added. “The Chevy El Camino and the Ford Ranchero are included in this segment for those who need some light hauling capabilities but don’t want to drive a big truck every day.”