There's no shortage of stock at the auction halls - some sites are even using public car park areas for storing pre-sale cars. These include an abundance of three-year low-mileage cars as well as the usual high-mileage models coming through from the big fleet vendors.

Not only is there an overflow, but the cherry pickers are having a field day with plenty to choose from at sensible money. However, the price paid by the rest of the market is in large numbers of unwanted high-mileage cars.

In recent months the D sector has been a weak area for trade and retail. Actually, these cars represent good value for money, especially when their cost new is compared with a 12-month-old example. Meanwhile, C sector has continued to hold up well, with prices for medium specified cars looking high against D sector cars.

With this in mind some trade buyers are now turning from C to D as they realise what good value the cars are on the forecourt.