The used car market recovered strongly from the April downturn as average values improved by nearly 9% across the board in May, according to BCA’s latest Pulse Report.

Fleet values reached a new high point, averaging nearly £8,000 as BCA sold a slightly richer mix of cars during the month.

Month-on-month values improved in all three main market-sectors in a complete reverse of the figures from last month.

Fleet/lease values improved by 3.8% month-on-month, part-exchange values saw a modest rise of £35, equivalent to an improvement of 1.2%, while values increased by over £2,500 in the nearly-new sector – an increase resulting from changing model-mix in a low volume sector.

Across the board, values improved from £5,599 to £6,098, reversing two months of declines and returning to an average value broadly on a par with those seen between November 2011 and February of this year.

Used cars averaged 95.4% of CAP Clean in May, up by nearly a point compared to April, while average age and mileage dropped slightly over the month, down to 62.5 months and 59,600 miles.

Year-on-year, May 2012 is a substantial 5.3% ahead of 2011, while average age and mileage have climbed by 0.6% and 1.7% respectively in the same period.