Hello and welcome to the final edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market. Yes, I did say the final edition of this weekly video blog series. But before we reminisce a little, let’s take a look at some recent trends in the used market.

This past month brought pretty solid overall values as the depreciation was at -1.2%, the same level as January results. But there are differences. The industry is right in the middle of the typical tax season. As we have tracked and reported the used market there was an exceptionally active and strong November and December with a true focus on the models that generally fare better during the first of the year. January results had eight segments with depreciation less than -1.0%. The three best segments were car related and two of those were the Entry Level cars and the Compact Cars, both at -.5%. These are the lowest average price segments that generally get the most tax season type attention, regardless of the price of gas.

As we moved through February and into March the market results at the same -1.2% depreciation had nine segments at less than -1.0%. The difference is the popular lower priced segment cars, the Entry Level Cars and the Compact cars had above average segment depreciation of -1.38% AND -1.64% respectively. What we see in this is that the tax season buying strength started earlier than normal, as far back as November 2014 and thus might have peaked and turned earlier in the calendar this year.

The truck segments continue to get plenty of attention and at -1.0% overall for the month of February, they shine over the cars at -1.4% for the month. We see solid values in the Compact SUVs, the Mid-size SUVs and the Compact Crossovers. The Full-size Pickups continue to be in demand both new and used with only -0.6% depreciation during the past month. A segment we have been reporting solid levels of pricing now for a full year is the Full-size Vans, both cargo and passenger versions. The cargo vans were at only -0.4% this past month.

Another seasonal movement we have become accustomed to is the increase of gas prices right after the calendar year turns. Fortunately for this year the starting point is much lower by about $1.12, and the market reaction to this has been almost unnoticed.

As I mentioned earlier this is the final weekly video blog. Black Book will continue to offer insight into the market via the Black Book Market Insights report, with similar information you are accustomed to along with additional analytical data. Be sure to click on the link here to ensure delivery of this important weekly insight.

As for the video, I couldn’t have imagined almost seven years ago in the summer of 2008 when Black Book President Tom Cross suggested sharing our market insight with a video blog that it would have continued this long or have grown into the significant following of viewers. Even the comments and feedback were astounding at times.

We were fortunate enough to bring you market insight every week covering the automotive market since 2008 and also four full years of monthly specialty market videos. All totaled up that comes to 488 videos. Thank you very much for your time and interest in these videos. We trust they added something that helped your business be a little more successful. At various times we had industry guests appear from our offices and even while we were on the road, who shared their valuable insight. For those of you who sent various items to make guest appearances in the background, thank you. Sparty, some old orange Gator stuff, Hokies and Hurricanes and quite a few auction special event t shirts often brought some interesting comments. For me this has been challenging to meet consistent deadlines every week, and exciting to see an inside piece of the market data, all while getting to share it with you.

As there has always been something unique or different in the back ground each week, we must continue that for this final piece. I wonder what’s on the horizon.

As we sign off this final time, again I thank you for your viewing and interest into these market based video blogs, but even more so for your use of the Black Book products and services. It was a pleasure and an honor to communicate with you in this format.

Don’t forget that we will be looking for you on the auction lanes. Have a great week. It’s been a fantastic ride!