Bidiq

09/07/2026

Three numbers from this week's financing data, no spin.

$777. The average monthly payment on a new-vehicle loan last quarter, a record for the third quarter running (Edmunds).

20.3%. That's the share of new-car loans running four figures a month now, matching the record set last winter.

7.0% average APR (down from 7.2% a year ago) — so rates aren't what's pushing payments up this time. Buyers are financing more and putting less down instead.

For a used-car manager, that maxed-out new-car shopper becomes a used-car customer sooner than the sales chart shows, and BidIQ scores 2,000+ vehicles in minutes, not hours, against your own store's sold data, so you already know what your lot can deliver at their number.

Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.

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The AI behind every bid.

08/31/2026

1,652 units on Tuesday's run list. 26 worth your money.

That's the whole problem with run-list prep. You're not evaluating 1,652 cars — you're hunting for 26, and you can't tell which 26 until you've looked at all of them.

So we put the sheet through BidIQ and timed it. Four minutes, fifty-seven seconds. Every unit sorted HOT BUY, WATCH or PASS, and you can open any one and see the four things that drove the call: gross potential, speed of sale, recon risk, market demand.

One G-Wagon came back at 86 against a hot-buy line of 75 — 14.7% ROI against a 4% floor, and a 2,776% return on recon dollars. Seven hundred in, nineteen thousand out.

Three units we bought this way have already sold: 13, 16 and 17 days, $13,144 in total gross.

Meanwhile the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index is flat year over year, so the market isn't covering anyone's bad buys right now. Built by dealers, for dealers.

Founding members — the first 25 dealers — get 14 days free at launch. Doors open November 1. Email-only to join, no card until your trial starts. Link in the comments.

Source: Cox Automotive · Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, August 19, 2026.
Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.
BidIQ. The AI behind every bid.

08/24/2026

Lane prices just did something August almost never does — they dropped.

Cox Automotive's mid-August Manheim read: 207.4, flat year over year and down 1.2% from July — in a month that usually ticks slightly up. Sales conversion is at 56.9%, down 4 points from last August. And Black Book's latest weekly shows values still sliding through August 15, with luxury cars down 0.90% — their steepest weekly drop since October 2025.

Meanwhile retail is holding: CarGurus has the average used listing around $29,100, still up 1.9% year over year.

Cheaper cars in the lanes, steady prices on the lot — that spread is where the margin lives. BidIQ's AI scores the whole run list into HOT BUY, WATCH, and PASS before the sale, so buyers walk in knowing exactly which units earn a bid.

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Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.

08/17/2026

The affordable used car is disappearing. iSeeCars says only 1 in 9 three-year-old used cars now comes in under $20,000 — back in 2019 it was more than half. The average three-year-old is $32,651, up 38.2% since 2019.

Cox Automotive's July numbers show why it matters on the lot: under-$15K units are down to 16.4% of used inventory and turning at 32 days' supply — two full weeks faster than the 46-day market average. Even the biggest dealer groups are feeling the squeeze, per Automotive News.

If you manage a used lot, budget metal is your fastest turner and your hardest buy. BidIQ scores every unit on the run list — HOT BUY, WATCH, or PASS — before the sale starts.

Join the free weekly Market Report: https://bidiqapp.com/newsletter
Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

Wholesale finally rolled over. 📉 July's Manheim read: values down 1.4% from June to an index of 210 — in a month that usually posts a gain. Still up 1.3% year over year, but real summer depreciation is here.

Retail barely moved: CarGurus has average listings near $29,100, down just 0.5% in 30 days and still up 2% on the year. That gap is a margin window — for buyers whose ceilings match August, not June.

BidIQ re-scores every run list at today's values — HOT BUY, WATCH, PASS — so you're bidding this week's market, not last month's.

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Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.

08/06/2026

Labor Day is 32 days out — and the inventory that sells that weekend gets bought at auction over the next two weeks.

What the July data says to stock: hybrids. They hit 15.9% of new retail sales in July (up 2.5 points in a year, per J.D. Power), and used hybrid sales are up 34.3% year over year per CarGurus. Payment-minded holiday shoppers want efficient commuter cars — have them on the line.

What to ease off: near-new. New-car incentives are up 22.2% year over year, and EV incentives average over $10,000 a unit. When new metal carries that much cash on the hood, 1–2-year-old used units get undercut at retail and the spread disappears.

BidIQ does this homework automatically — every unit on the run list graded HOT BUY, WATCH, or PASS before the sale, hours of research in minutes. Today it sniffed out a 2022 Tacoma SR5 (HOT BUY 89, 4% ROI, just under $30K) and a 2019 F-150 Raptor (HOT BUY 83, 17.2% ROI at $43,994 retail).

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Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.

08/03/2026

Money is finally getting cheaper — and the auction lanes haven't priced it in yet.

The Fed's average 60-month new-car rate hit 7.14% in May — down about half a point in a year and the lowest since late 2022. Bankrate's July 29 weekly read is 6.97% on 60-month new. On a $30,000 note that's about $20 a month back in your customer's pocket versus the 2024 peak.

Here's why that matters at the sale: rate relief brings payment-band buyers back to the showroom before wholesale values move. Cox's mid-July Manheim read has values up just 2% year over year with conversion at 55.1%. The buyers come back to budget metal first.

BidIQ's AI scores every unit on the run list — HOT BUY, WATCH, or PASS — before the sale starts, so you can widen ceilings right where that returning demand lands.

Join the free weekly Market Report: https://bidiqapp.com/newsletter
Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.

07/30/2026

Here's a number worth chewing on before your next sale: used-car loan rates actually eased this year — Edmunds has the Q2 average APR at 10.5%, down from 10.9% — but the average used payment still climbed 3% year over year to $576 a month, because buyers financed 4.6% more vehicle ($30,414 on average). A record 6.3% of used-car buyers are now over $1,000 a month.

Quick math for the lanes: at that average rate and term, every $1,000 added at the block costs the retail buyer about $19 a month. If your core customer tops out at $450 a month, that's roughly a $23K financed ceiling. With Cox's mid-July Manheim read showing wholesale values up 2% year over year, the payment bands decide which units retail fast — before you ever raise your hand.

BidIQ scores every unit on the run list against that market math — HOT BUY, WATCH, or PASS, sorted before the sale starts.

P.S. Our inspector finally has a name — meet KANE. Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions.

Join the free weekly Market Report: https://bidiqapp.com/newsletter
Informational only — always apply your own market judgment.