SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

The six fastest-turning used-vehicle brands for franchised dealers in the first quarter were all from Japanese automakers, who have an overall lead over their Big 3 and fellow import brand counterparts in terms of days-to-turn in the pre-owned market.

But despite this, says Edmunds.com, the biggest improvements in used-car turn rates for franchised dealers over the last five years have been among the domestic and Korean brands.

Overall, the used-car market had an average turn rate of 42 days in Q1, according to Edmunds’ Used Market Quarterly Report. This is up from 40 days in the fourth quarter and 41 days in Q1 of 2013.

Honda was the fastest-turning used-car brand in Q1, followed by Subaru, Lexus, Toyota, Nissan and Acura. Also meeting or beating the industry average and making the top 10 were Hyundai, BMW, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.

The quickest brand to sell among Big 3 automakers was Jeep, followed by Ford and GMC.

By segment, the vehicle type with the lowest days-to-sell was the compact truck, followed by mid-range luxury SUVs and compact cars. Conversely, the segments that took the longest to sell were large crossover SUVs, large cars and vans, respectively.

“Large CUV prices are on the decline from last quarter and last year, so it is not surprising DTT is high,” the Edmunds commentary accompanying the data indicated. “Compact truck DTT is the lowest in the industry, as supply is low on both new and used.”

Best-Sellers in Used Market

So, which used vehicles flew off dealer lots in droves during Q1?

According to the Edmunds report, the Honda Accord and Honda Civic were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, as the most-purchased used vehicles by shoppers at franchised dealerships.

They were followed by the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ford F-150 and Toyota Camry, respectively. The Toyota Corolla was sixth, with the Honda CR-V in seventh. Rounding out the top 10 were the Ford Escape, Nissan Altima and Ford Focus.

Edmunds also shared the most-researched used vehicles in Q1 (franchised dealers or otherwise), and the list was strikingly similar at the top, with the Accord in first and the Civic in second.

Edmunds suggested that their “continued dominance of top researched and purchases underscores their position as top vehicles in retained value.”

In one key difference, the BMW 3-Series was third on this chart. The Silverado still made the list, coming in at No. 9.

“While the Silverado 1500 is usually among the top purchases, it is not always among top-researched vehicles, as it is this quarter,” the analysis said.

Fourth was the F-150 and the Camry was fifth, same as the most-purchased list. The CR-V was sixth, the Jeep Grand Cherokee was seventh and the Volkswagen Jetta was eighth. The Escape was 10th.