New Compact Car w/ Best Resale value in 4-6 years?

[Sherpa23F]

How many miles?

44k. It's been serviced regularly by the Honda dealership and the only major expense has been a new set of tires.

[TooFitToQuit]

Fit. If you're lucky, you can find a slightly used model for marginally less and avoid sales tax.

[dodger21]

Fit. If you're lucky, you can find a slightly used model for marginally less and avoid sales tax.

How can you avoid a sales tax?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[kosb]

Everybody predicted that Prius c will be a huge seller. And with gas prices crossing $5 in Cali, I'd say Prius will have the best resale value. Although for some strange reason, I have seen only one Prius c and one Prius v, and I have a 50 mile commute to New York 5 days a week. Where are these cars?

[v8 killer]

anything that is not american will hold a dcent value.. Although ford focus seem to hold thier value decent

[Jrod511]

Fit or Corolla. Makes no sense to buy one 2 - 3 years old; the higher interest rate on a used car totally negates any savings. Corollas hold their value like crazy, I mean REALLY crazy. And it will sell instantly when you are ready to as well.

I'm surprised how the current Fit holds it's value so strongly when the first generation (only available here for 2 years) really didn't; but it far outshines anything else in its class.

Not sure why people are LOL'ing at resale value. That's one of the largest factors in determining your overall cost of ownership.

[BRealistic]

Not sure why people are LOL'ing at resale value. That's one of the largest factors in determining your overall cost of ownership.

Use can be a good deal for the right price.
I picked up a low mileage auto reg cab 2wd work truck spec 02 Tundra in late 03 for $12k.
I got $13k in trade in early 2005 off of a below invoice before all discount and rebates price (my rx8).
But I did fix it up a bit- cheap used Tundra alloys with oem 4x4 tires, used and modified to fit hard bed cover, tow hitch, touched up the paint.... (but I had maybe $500 in all upgrades).
So used can be a good deal if you find the right vehicle for the right price.

I heard recently that new cars are kept on average for ten years now- which seems hard to believe, and also negates much of the short term resale value concerns.
More than likely we have some that buy new and keep until junk, and some that buy new and trade every 2 to 4 years. The average is 10 of all that, but I don't think there are that many that actually go 10.

[adrew]

Everybody predicted that Prius c will be a huge seller. And with gas prices crossing $5 in Cali, I'd say Prius will have the best resale value. Although for some strange reason, I have seen only one Prius c and one Prius v, and I have a 50 mile commute to New York 5 days a week. Where are these cars?

The low-end trims start around $19k -- but the only ones on the lots around here seem to be the loaded $23-25k models. They are decent cars but essentially just a hybrid Yaris with some additional gadgets like nav and auto climate control. It doesn't seem worth an extra $9-10k over a Yaris to me.

I suspect most people see the price on the Prius Cs on the lot and just decide to spend an extra grand on a regular Prius, which has lots more cargo room, much nicer interior materials and is significantly more refined.

My Yaris is averaging 38 MPG in mixed driving. If a new Prius C averages 60 MPG I would save about $400/year on gas compared to my Yaris. At a $9k premium for the hybrid I would never see a payback (breakeven point is about 22 years).

Yaris: 12,000 / 38 MPG = 315 gallons per year = $1130/year @ $3.59
Prius: 12,000 / 60 MPG = 200 gallons per year = $718/year @ $3.59

[Swallow Doretti]

How much of that is a result of the Hyundai Assurance Guaranteed Trade-In Value Program?

It looks like they have dialed it back a bit since launch, as it is now only offered on the Genesis coupe, Genesis and Equus.

Um...none? Hyundai Assurance only works if you buy another Hyundai, and doesn't affect lease rates through a bank.

Seriously, the folks I know at Mannheim have said Hyundais crossing the auction block have been doing very well, on par with Toyotas, Subarus, VWs and Hondas. It's even helped the previous generation of cars--a 2008 Sonata that was trading for about $11,000 in 2010 will still trade for $11,000 today, since the better reputation has lifted the values.

[adrew]

Um...none? Hyundai Assurance only works if you buy another Hyundai, and doesn't affect lease rates through a bank.

Seriously, the folks I know at Mannheim have said Hyundais crossing the auction block have been doing very well, on par with Toyotas, Subarus, VWs and Hondas. It's even helped the previous generation of cars--a 2008 Sonata that was trading for about $11,000 in 2010 will still trade for $11,000 today, since the better reputation has lifted the values.

I was just curious if it'd had an impact and if the higher guaranteed trade-in values had inflated the overall statistics.

The resale values are definitely improving. In 2010, I looked into dumping our 2007 Sonata which had about 48k miles on it at the time. I got appraisals in the $6900 range, which was rather disappointing since we had paid $16k for the thing three years earlier.

We decided to keep it for awhile -- but after it started aging rapidly and after several warranty claims I took it to CarMax in summer 2011 (had 57k miles on it at that point) and they offered $10k for it despite a bunch of parking lot dings and a chipped windshield (and a pinging engine, sloppy transmission, shot shocks, noisy A/C compressor, etc).

[DasBaldGuy]

Not sure either can be had for $17k but these 2 will hold value the best:

MINI Cooper
Golf TDI

[BRealistic]

Um...none? Hyundai Assurance only works if you buy another Hyundai, and doesn't affect lease rates through a bank.
.

Anything that helps improve resale value concerns will improve resale values- as owners are less willing to take lower trade values.

I remember back in the mid 90s when Saturn dealers would actually contact Saturn owners and tell them they would pay XXXX for their used Saturn. That really helped keep used Saturn values elevated back then as owners would not trade them in even at a non Saturn dealer for silly low amounts.

[gsprobe]

The obvious move is to get a two or three year old Ford or Chevy. The major depreciation is done.

Those are former rentals. Or have terrible resale due to market flooded by aforementioned former rentals.

That alone is part if the reason the Honda will have better resale. NO RENTAL FLEET CARS FOR HONDA.

[BRealistic]

Those are former rentals. Or have terrible resale due to market flooded by aforementioned former rentals.

That alone is part if the reason the Honda will have better resale. NO RENTAL FLEET CARS FOR HONDA.

http://www.hertzcarsales.com/used-ca...ke/honda/civic

[E30Cab]

Smart Fortwo Pure (base model)

-- DavidV

[urbanrocketeer]

The resale values are definitely improving. In 2010, I looked into dumping our 2007 Sonata which had about 48k miles on it at the time. I got appraisals in the $6900 range, which was rather disappointing since we had paid $16k for the thing three years earlier.

We decided to keep it for awhile -- but after it started aging rapidly and after several warranty claims I took it to CarMax in summer 2011 (had 57k miles on it at that point) and they offered $10k for it despite a bunch of parking lot dings and a chipped windshield (and a pinging engine, sloppy transmission, shot shocks, noisy A/C compressor, etc).

That was exactly my point in my earlier post: predicting resale values 4 to 6 years out is not as easy as it was ten years ago when Toyota and Honda ruled the roost. Now those two have plenty of company and there will probably be more if Ford's current plans pan out and GM succeeds. In fact, the only two companies I'd stay away from are Mitsubishi and Suzuki, everything else depends on what you like and the deal.

[feels_road]

Everybody predicted that Prius c will be a huge seller. And with gas prices crossing $5 in Cali, I'd say Prius will have the best resale value. Although for some strange reason, I have seen only one Prius c and one Prius v, and I have a 50 mile commute to New York 5 days a week. Where are these cars?

They aren't really a good deal, at all. They don't have Prius space nor "comfort" nor "interior quality" (if the Prius even has those). Unlike the regular and the V, the C really isn't a Prius - but some really cheap hybrid hatch. You can buy a lot more car for that money, and an entirely different class of car (general quality, interior, and combination of great handling and smooth highway driving) with just a very small amount of additional money.

Another alternative is a toyota corolla. The resale on those things is just amazing. It is a boring car but would be a perfect commuter.

It's one of the worst commuter car I would want to drive. Noisy, rough, poor temperature control, horrible place to be in, the worst car I have driven in the past 20 years on on-and off-ramps, not confidence-inspiring at highway speeds, i.e. horrible handling all-around, and doesn't get advertized mileage if you ever make even slight use of the engine.

[WhistlerYOW]

Um...none? Hyundai Assurance only works if you buy another Hyundai, and doesn't affect lease rates through a bank.

Seriously, the folks I know at Mannheim have said Hyundais crossing the auction block have been doing very well, on par with Toyotas, Subarus, VWs and Hondas. It's even helped the previous generation of cars--a 2008 Sonata that was trading for about $11,000 in 2010 will still trade for $11,000 today, since the better reputation has lifted the values.

You always bring up Hyundai "great" resale value and get all pissy when people disagree, yet I still haven't seen Hyundai here going for anything close to Honda resale values, unless you are comparing like a 2 year old sonata to a 4 year old civic.

[Jrod511]

Seriously, the folks I know at Mannheim have said Hyundais crossing the auction block have been doing very well, on par with Toyotas, Subarus, VWs and Hondas. It's even helped the previous generation of cars--a 2008 Sonata that was trading for about $11,000 in 2010 will still trade for $11,000 today, since the better reputation has lifted the values.

Then they must be lying to you.

The average transaction on a 2008 Sonata GLS 4 Cylinder is $6800. The average transaction on a 2008 Accord LX 4 cylinder is $9700. These are based off upper 80's for mileage. I don't know what data you are looking at, or if you are going by word of mouth, but I am literally looking at the Manheim data right now as I type this out.

[adrew]

Then they must be lying to you.

The average transaction on a 2008 Sonata GLS 4 Cylinder is $6800. The average transaction on a 2008 Accord LX 4 cylinder is $9700. These are based off upper 80's for mileage. I don't know what data you are looking at, or if you are going by word of mouth, but I am literally looking at the Manheim data right now as I type this out.

Woo hoo, I did good then (sold our '07 Sonata to CarMax for $10k last summer).

[BRealistic]

Woo hoo, I did good then (sold our '07 Sonata to CarMax for $10k last summer).

Carmax has such a vast dealer network, they probably have their own value database.
You also could have lucked out and sold it to them during a value bubble (strong sales on that model and they lacked inventory).

[urbanrocketeer]

Why do people have such a hard time believing there are cars beyond the Honda/Toyota stalwarts that have solid resale at this time?

In any case, when I worked for CarMax many moons ago they looked at the auctions and the black book as well as their own internal needs to come up with an offer.

What would be interesting is if someone on TCL with access to the auction sites would be kind enough to post up some current (say, 2009+ resale values) on Civic/Corolla/Elantra etc.