Patricia Small Quotes on Value (2 Quotes)

The full-size car segment is fairly staid, with no new model introductions, according to J.D. Power segmentation. Although retained value improved year-over-year in December, the segment still lags all others. One driver of the increase in retained value is that incentives were higher in December 2005 than December 2004. Higher gas prices may also make these vehicles more appealing to consumers needing more space but also looking for fuel economy.

While it's tempting to view the sports car segment increase in price as contradictory compared to its loss in retained value, it is important to understand that the retained value metric is only considering 3-year-old vehicles, while the used vehicle price metric includes all model years sold as used. As such, 1- and 2-year-old vehicles are going to significantly increase the average price.