Part exchange values averaged £3,036 for the fourth quarter of 2006, according to BCA’s latest report.

It was the first quarterly increase since the spring 2006, and only the second time on record that the £3,000 barrier had been broken. The rise of £246 over Q3 was equivalent to an 8.8% increase.

Year-on-year, Q4 was £90 ahead of 2005 while performance against CAP Clean averaged 92.4% - a fall of less than one point.

Both mileage and age decreased slightly against Q3 when part exchange product reaching the market had the highest combination of age and mileage since early 2004.

BCA said this supports the view that many younger, lower mileage part exchange vehicles were being retailed, rather than traded, mainly due to the overall shortage of stock in the marketplace in the back end of 2006.

Part-Exchange market

Meanwhile, dealers paid on average £6,565 for a three-year-old, 60,000 mile fleet & lease car in Q4 – a fall of £46 on Q3. However, average fleet & lease values hit record levels in 2006 as a whole - the average annual value of £6,575 for fleet & lease cars is the highest recorded since BCA Pulse began reporting. The 2006 figure is £353 or 5.6% ahead of 2005 (£6,222), and £498 (8.2%) higher than the 2004 average of £6,077.