depreciation

[scruffy]

3 out of 10's not bad for the brand

http://aolsvc.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/103629/article.html

 

[John Peerce]

Damn, the C55 is in that list, i was hoping to pick one up after huge depreciation in three years time ! (I bought my C43, MY 1999, with 58k miles, in 2002 at 37% of it new price , i was hoping to repeat the same trick with the C55).

 

[C240Sport97]

Edmunds is for the US market where petrol is less than 50% of what is costs here, and where there is a small company car market, both of which help residual values. They also love V8s out there.

 

[scruffy]

still, given the population size, don't think thats a bad result for the marque in general although appreciate the markets different here.

 

[Shude]

The MB cabs and coupés still hold their value better than practically any other cars on the market in the UK, cabrios slightly more so.

 

[Swiss Toni]

The MB cabs and coupés still hold their value better than practically any other cars on the market in the UK, cabrios slightly more so.

Merc Cabs (inc SLK & SL) and Estates are always strong. Coupes vary. Big Coupes are bad news (if you are buying new and selling within 3 yrs!).

For private buyers - go to a Merc Finance Auction, buy cheap (last car of the day anyone? - No reason why it should be any worse than the first, it is just that the dealers will have spent their cash and gone home...). Get it serviced by a good indep agent (Andy Gayle for example) and sell privately.

I compare this to "Making love to the Taxmans wife" - There is trepidation, but you feel good after you've "had" the system.

 

[Swiss Toni]

Oh.

Ignore US depreciation figures. They are very different to UK ones.

 

[John Peerce]

I seem to recall that Porsche has the best residual value of all cars (67% of its value after three years with average mileage). I am sure there is a UK magazine (might be Autocar) that has the deprecation values for every car in its listings, and the Porsche 911 and Boxter always comes out best

 

[Shude]

the Porsche 911 and Boxter always comes out best

One year it was definitely one of the CLK Cabrios, don't remember which model but probably the CLK320 cab, as you say nearly 70% of it's value after 3 years. Most cars lose 70% of their value in that time normally!

I bought a w202 C230k for £11.5k at exactly 3 years old and the original sales receipt said £32k so you can see the saloons really fall fast when compared to the coupes/cabs and estates.

 

[PJH]

No BMWs in the list !

 

[Benzowner]

No BMWs in the list !

Interesting!

I seem to recall back in the late eighties or early nineties when BMW brought out the 850 coupe I think, it had a list price of somewhere around £95000 and I think it was What Car had it depreciating by £55000 in three years . I recall the depreciation alone per annum was a lot more than most people were earning.

 

[Apial]

No BMWs in the list !

So who makes the MINI Cooper? Forget the %, the Cooper wins by a mile if you look at the actual cost of depreciation.

 

[Shude]

I seem to recall back in the late eighties or early nineties when BMW brought out the 850 coupe I think, it had a list price of somewhere around £95000 and I think it was What Car had it depreciating by £55000 in three years . I recall the depreciation alone per annum was a lot more than most people were earning.

Compare the 850 to an SL500 of the same age/condition, SL is worth about twice what the 850 is worth.

 

[Shude]

So who makes the MINI Cooper? Forget the %, the Cooper wins by a mile if you look at the actual cost of depreciation.

Compare that to smarts! My dad was looking at some smarts a while ago and in some cases a one year old smart was only literally a hundred or two less than a brand new one!

 

[Subyland]

One of the best car for residual value in the UK is a 48 years old British design: The Land Rover Defender...even the G wagen isn't there yet !

 

[garystu1965]

These depreciation percentages are a load of tosh.
If you buy a car from a dealer say for £22,000 and sell it back the next day you'll be lucky to get £19,000 for it. I've been hammered on depreciation on every car I've bought. One car I bought for £15,000, did 14,000 miles in a year and struggled to get £8,000 for it 15 months later. Yet they say that car holds 55% in 3 years. What nonsense. The price you get for a car at sale time depends on what the trade pay for it. Not Glasses guide, Parkers, What Car Price Guide. It depends on all sorts of things. New models, strength of pound, market trends etc etc. If you buy a car you'll lose loads of money on it when you sell it....period.

 

[PJH]

Originally Posted by PJH
No BMWs in the list !

So who makes the MINI Cooper? Forget the %, the Cooper wins by a mile if you look at the actual cost of depreciation.

Oh Yes, Sorry Apial, perhaps I should have said 'Proper BMWs'.
I just don't think of MINIs as Proper BMWs any more than a Chrysler is a MB.
(oh heck - now I've upset Scotth)

 

[JumJum]

Used to be Boxster was king as said above 67%, but the dealers didn't give you that and you had to put on £5k to spec up which you didn't get back.

The best MB used to be the big six cylinder diesel estates they used to run at 65% after 3 years and what car now reckon the new one will be even better . But again you generally have to spec a merc up a bit too.

I had a BMW330 cab for just under a year put 11K miles on bought for £34k odd traded for £31K to the same dealer.

As said above cabs are excellent, often makes more sense to buy the cab for a few grand extra over the coupe even if you hardly ever put the hood down.

Same as buying a big diesel estate often better than the saloon evenif you hardly carry big loads

 

[Swiss Toni]

These depreciation percentages are a load of tosh.
If you buy a car from a dealer say for £22,000 and sell it back the next day you'll be lucky to get £19,000 for it. I've been hammered on depreciation on every car I've bought. One car I bought for £15,000, did 14,000 miles in a year and struggled to get £8,000 for it 15 months later. Yet they say that car holds 55% in 3 years. What nonsense. The price you get for a car at sale time depends on what the trade pay for it. Not Glasses guide, Parkers, What Car Price Guide. It depends on all sorts of things. New models, strength of pound, market trends etc etc. If you buy a car you'll lose loads of money on it when you sell it....period.

Buy a 3 year old Merc from Auction, sell privately 6 months later for the same price you paid. OK you need to change your car every 6 months and you need to be flexible in your motoring choice, but running a Merc for free can be sooooooooooo rewarding!

 

[neilrr]

Swiss Toni,
Is there a web site giving details of these Merc Finance auctions? How do I find out where they are?