Wholesale prices for used fleet vehicles have remained stable through mid-October with demand exceeding inventory, said Bill Cieslak, vehicle operations manager for PHH Vehicle Management Services, a fleet management company in Hunt Valley. “This has been a very stable market in terms of resale values for 3-year-old fleet vehicles,” he said. This has especially been the case with intermediate-size sedans, such as 1996 through 1998 Taurus, Lumina, and Intrepid models. “Obviously, price is consistent with quality, but we find our inventories are very lean in these vehicles right now and there are plenty of buyers in the fleet/lease lanes to purchase these products,” said Cieslak. However, as Thanksgiving approaches, seasonal demand for used vehicles will slacken as dealers’ new-vehicle inventories fill and the weather turns colder in snow belt regions causing fewer dealers to attend auctions. Resale values have also been strong for four-door subcompact fleet vehicles, which are primarily being purchased by dealers selling to the sub-Prime retail market. In addition, demand is strong for minivans, although it has tapered downward for large SUVs. The strongest wholesale market is the West Coast. “In fact, the market there is usually stronger than what most guide books tend to document,” he said. Cieslak forecasts that wholesale demand for out-of-service fleet vehicles will be strong next spring; however, this is based on the assumption that interest rates and fuel prices will remain stable. So far, the elevated price of gasoline has not impacted resale values for less fuel-efficient vehicles or those equipped with larger displacement engines, he said. Where higher fuel prices have affected fleet remarketing is with higher costs being charged by car haulers to transport units to auction or move them to different markets.