Remarketing giant BCA's chief operating officer Simon Henstock has refuted claims by residual value expert Glass's that fleets' reluctance to sell at below-guide prices and "continually resubmitting vehicles for sale" in an attempt to achieve higher results could be causing distortions in the used vehicle market.

Resubmitting vehicles and the refusal to sell vehicles below "unrealistic" guide prices is creating a host of problems, Rupert Pontin, director of valuations at Glass's, has claimed, adding that some industry price guides are "consistently overvaluing the market".

"Lately, we are going through a phase where we see the same cars and vans presented at auction time and again - and our feedback says that failure to reach book values is the reason," Pontin said. "Large numbers of vehicles are remaining unsold," he added, saying that the delay in reselling is costing fleets money.

Pontin claimed the trend is making it harder for values providers to understand what is happening in the used market. "A particular car or van may look like it's doing quite well but then it becomes apparent that this was due to fleets holding onto stock in an attempt to reach unrealistic guide prices," he said. "Eventually, these cars have to be 'dumped' onto the market and you see a sudden fall in values as oversupply occurs."

But BCA's Henstock, who is also vice-chairman of the National Association of Motor Auctions, claimed "we are simply not seeing the large numbers of unsold vehicles that have been talked about or rising numbers of overvalued re-entries".

"In my capacity as vice-chairman of NAMA I am frequently in discussion with other operators across the remarketing sector, and feedback on performance has been consistent in recent weeks," he said. "Prices have improved as inventory has dropped, and conversion rates have risen, with first-time sales - which are critical to churn - also improving."