Used Car Stats Show It Continues To Be an Unstable Market

The recently released Kelley Blue Book Market Report for November 2009 has interesting info to convey about the used car market. Among the highlights:

• Gas is going to rise to $3.05 a gallon by January 2010
• Hybrid car values are down 10% [but I expect that number to be up quickly when gas spikes above $3].
• Values for trucks are considerably higher than they were at this time last year with the most pronounced gains coming from full-size SUVs (26.8%), full-size trucks (21.0%) and full-size crossovers (16.1%).
• More than half of car shoppers surveyed said they intend to keep their next vehicle for six years or longer. [That number is going to mean people keep their cars longer than their loans - bad for creditors and manufacturers, which means the automotive recession lives on.]
• The shortage at auction has even led some dealers to scour eBay and Craigslist in order to supplement their used-vehicle inventory via private party listings. [Make sure you know who your buyers are so you get top price.]
• Saturn continued its downward trajectory and suffered the largest shopper activity decline among the tracked brands, down 18 percent month-over-month. All Saturn vehicles contributed to this decline. [That's just sad. Saturn had such great potential until GM kicked it to the curb.]
• Four of the top five appreciating used cars had S in their names: Jaguar S Type, Volvo S40, Volvo S80, and Audi S4. [Not sure what it means, but it has to have some significance.]