Poll : The right time to sell a new car

[jaganm]

Originally Posted by rags

My personal opinion would be to sell the car after a minimum of 5 years if you are not a heavy car user doing 2 to 3000 kms per month. Modern cars are built to last atleast 2 lakh kms ofcourse excluding our tata cars which are getting engine problems before 1 lakh kms.

Indica's do have a higher rate of problems, but do keep in mind that they are flogged significantly more than your average hatch and the owners are more likely to scrimp on maintenance.

[ST7677]

IMO a lot depends on how attached you are to your cars, which brand you own, how much you have invested in it post purchase and how much loss you are willing to take... There is no simple answer to this.

[vasudeva]

I have also been grappling with this question with my Sep 03 Corsa (36K on the odo). But have so far not planning to sell. Why?. Because the loan has been repaid, and I now have to bear only the depreciation amount. EMI is 0 now. So buying a new car now (with only 37K on the odo) involves both EMI and depreciation. Perhaps after 2 years when Toyota/Honda launch a new car with an automatic. As it is, my Opel Corsa now runs only 150-200 kms per month.

When to resell is a complex process, and each has a different opinion. But definitely regular maintenance not only keeps the car good for you, but also for the buyer and gets a higher price. So obvious. But when a car requires more frequent trips to the garage, then it is definitely time to let go.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I have also been grappling with this question with my Sep 03 Corsa (36K on the odo).

And another factor would be that the money you would be getting for it in the market would be peanuts. So it's better to keep the car as a second car/spare car rather than sell it off & bear the heavy loss of low resale value.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by iraghava

And another factor would be that the money you would be getting for it in the market would be peanuts. So it's better to keep the car as a second car/spare car rather than sell it off & bear the heavy loss of low resale value.

Of course that is what I have thought also!. My wife uses the car, it runs fine (for now), and she drives it for say 150-200 kms per month. Say in 2 years, it goes from 37K to 43K on the odo. Still no need for any tyre investments of 10K for me. The market is not giving me much value now or later, so I would prefer to extract it myself. Say right now the market gives me 1.25lakhs and I sell. Then I have to buy a new car for my wife which depreciates from day 1. Further, the new car market does not presently have any decent cars for my wife (reliable automatic below 4000mm. City being good, reliable, and FE, but slightly bigger for my wife to move it). In 2 years, the Corsa say goes down to a bottom of say 75K. That is only a loss of 50K in 2 yrs. It is not if the Corsa is now a dud, only that it now runs less well. So, with no EMI now and only depreciation to contend with, I have more flexibility. Of course, this logic makes more sense only for slow selling used cars.

[GTO]

I use my cars pretty much till they fall apart, so its anywhere between 6 - 7 years for me. Thats typically the time frame by when the car would have completed 1.5 lakh kms.

[mithun]

Originally Posted by GTO

I use my cars pretty much till they fall apart, so its anywhere between 6 - 7 years for me. Thats typically the time frame by when the car would have completed 1.5 lakh kms.

The same applies to me also !

[speed_devil]

I voted for 5 years or about 50k kms. After that the service and maintenance costs start rising and it makes more sense to sell the car and go in for a new one. Having said that i still have a 7 year old car and don't plan on selling it soon.

[Tech]

Well I voted for 3 yrs too as at that time the resale value would be the highest and considering that new models keep coming in so it becomes worthwhile to move up and capitalize on the amount you have already spent and gain maximum. Difference in EMI will not be too much considering you do not move up 2 segments. 5 yrs is also ok going by a different thinking but 3 yrs is better to save some money and utilize the money you have already spent.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Depends on the 'ability' to get a newer car! Period!

[ashish22]

i would'nt want to keep a car more than 3 years but there are some cars which brings so much of an emotional attachment that its really hard to let go of them. Cars like OHC vtec, octavia RS, mahindra classic jeeps etc.

I've a type 1 OHC 1.5 but still i insist on keeping it, i really cant imagine of selling it. Whereas on the other hand i dont have any sort of attachment towards my santro and i wont think twice before selling it. So i guess it all depends on what kind of feelings you have for your car

It also depends on the motive of buying a vehicle. A businessman might buy a car and sell it for availing depreciation benefits whereas a serviceman might buy a car to keep it for a longer period of time and thus extracting stability and longitivity.

It also majorly depends on the disposable income one has.

[BUSA]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Depends on the 'ability' to get a newer car! Period!

Spot on crazy driver if some one has the money, he would change cars when he likes, where as we can change when we can afford to.

[shatrughna]

I have so far sold all my previous cars around 50k-60K kms, which I have been able to clock well under 3 years. Been fortunate to get a good reale value too.

Reason to sell around 2-3 years is the mileage, dependability, expiry of warranty and much better newer models with much better features and need for speed ( linked with affordability).

[Eddy]

Have a 5 yr loan on my car. So no way I am selling it before that.

[amtak]

Things that I would consider are:

1) Nos of Years and the Kilometers driven
2) Availability of the same model in the market (if the model is defunct the resale value if bound to fall, better to keep it as a back up vehicle)
3) Cost of Spares and the condition of vehicle!

Am I missing something?