ARTICLE: Resale Value - The Silent Killer

[ajay99]

Some models have good resale some dont
Some cars value increase suddenly due to certain reasons like lesser nos.
For eg: HERALD were available for Rs.5000 about 5-6 years ago,now good Heralds fetch 30000-40000.

Single OWner Mint Condition Maruthi 800(1983-85) Japan were available for around 20000 abt 2 years back now people are asking Rs.60000 upwards for EXCELLENT WELL KEPT cars.

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by ajay99

Some models have good resale some dont
Some cars value increase suddenly due to certain reasons like lesser nos.
For eg: HERALD were available for Rs.5000 about 5-6 years ago,now good Heralds fetch 30000-40000.

Single OWner Mint Condition Maruthi 800(1983-85) Japan were available for around 20000 abt 2 years back now people are asking Rs.60000 upwards for EXCELLENT WELL KEPT cars.

Ajay - What you are referring to here is Vintage value and not resale value. There is a big difference between the two.

[vasudeva]

I also have a small query on my car. Because of discounts on unsold 2006 cars, I got a 2006 Corolla. Production year was 2006 but registration date was 8 March 2007. Which year can I truthfully say for resale: 2006 or 2007.

[hrman]

Vasudeva,
For resale, its always year of manufacturing which is mentioned on the RC and the purchase invoice.

[RajaTaurus]

Informative piece of an article...
When I started my car hunt and zoomed in to Lancer Cedia, all those whom I consulted personally, almost yelled at me "Lancer..??? High Maintenance and NIL resale value... Don't go for it...!!!"
I was wondering really what they meant by NIL re-sale value and here I undnerstood why. Some of the factors deciding resale value... like Taxiable was new info for me.
About "maintenance costs", I was told by some friend as a example, if there is a dent on a Honda City, it is very easy and cheap to repair it, coz the gauge of the sheet is much lower than that of a Mitsubishi which is thicker and double-skinned. They said, in many cases, the complete part of the sheeting must be changed for Lancer, while Hondas and Marutis can be repaired by any tinkering fellow. Thats one good piece of info for me.

Anyways, Cedias are like Mercs and BBW's..Buy 'em to own 'em.
Sure for not less than 5 years. I have learnt that most of the old Lancer owners are first or maximum third or fourth owners... Not more. For me, one good reason for considering it as a good and reliable machine.

[sureshpisharodi]

Excellent article.

Thanks Ajmat

[Nitin]

I just came to terms with the reality of resale value.
Still in the process of working things out.

In a nutshell this is the story-
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...tml#post654632

[Jeep]

@outlaw

In the resale market, it is always the date of manufacture that is considered and not the date of regn. That's why dealers offer huge discounts in December.

If your car's month of manufacture is Dec 07, then you won't be able to sell it as a 2008 model (however you can always say that it is Dec 07!)

Originally Posted by Outlaw

They are different dates Dr. The date of registration is the point from which the life starts. Date of manufacture will be on the chassis & the RC book too. The RC book bears the registration date, which is typed explicitly by the authorities as against the default printed date of manufacture. But what's on the number plate??? Ofcourse the registration date....! Bottom Line: Date of Registration.

[raneeshvijayan]

Well written Ajmat,

You have covered almost everything, thank you for that note. I would totaly agree to you most of the people don't realise how they are loosing money because of re-sale value, there is a great car which is suffering the decease of 'bad image' and its Fiat Palio.

Last year I booked a Santro XL and was waiting for the delivery, fortunately the dealer delayed the order ( I had paid an advance of 15k) and I happened to see a Fiat palio just 21,000 kms done, fully loaded, single owner. That owner told me u just drive and see, that was the first time I drove a Palio...he told his selling price and I did a quick comparison on what I get from a 4 Lac brand new Santro and nearly 1/3 priced palio.

The next thing I did was to cancel my booking, bought that Palio same day !!!

Yes, I had to spend out a few thousands for servicing etc.....but before I made the deal I kep Rs.10k aside just for maintenance ( I took the price of the car as (seller price)+10k and my car is running cool.

If I sell my car after using 2 years I may loose 20-30k, that it, and I am happy about my decision of buying a used car.

Cheers

RV

[biju_kp]

I am a new member.
This article is very informative.
Thank you very much. This is indeed an excellent group.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I also have a small query on my car. Because of discounts on unsold 2006 cars, I got a 2006 Corolla. Production year was 2006 but registration date was 8 March 2007. Which year can I truthfully say for resale: 2006 or 2007.

Truthfully put, it is a 2006 car & you can advertise it as a 2007 Regd car instead of saying it is a 2007 model. Make it clear to the buyer that you have taken the car off the showroom only in Mar 2007.

[madan80]

What about IT professional Car - hardly driven, and always relatively new because them fellows are always going "onsite"

[rockingstart]

Indeed a nice a article Ajmat. the make and model of the car are equally important, In a city like Delhi Maruti Suzuki brand enjoys max resale value. Also smaller cars fetch better value than the bigger cars.

[hollywoodhogan]

Originally Posted by dr.ashoka

date of manufacturing is what matters for resale value of any vehicle.this is mentioned both in the invoice of the car and also the rc book.

date of manufacture is what matters first because you can buy a nov 2004 car get a t/r and have it registered in jan 2005. but the rc book will say year of manuf: 2004 and this is what counts for resale.

try this, get 2 identical cars both registered in say in jan 2005 with one of the cars with manuf date as dec 2004 and the other as manuf date as jan 2005. which one will fetch higher value? duh! its a no brainer.

[Maverick1977]

My take is that it’s always better to buy a used vehicle unless you fall in one of the below mentioned categories:
1) Your usage is really very heavy and involves a lot of travel on the highways. Better to buy a brand new vehicle as you might not know an existing problem in the used vehicle.
2) Diesel Car - If you land up buying an abused diesel car, it might give you much more heartburn than buying a similar petrol version of the same. The very purpose of saving money on fuel will be offset by the cost of maintaining the same.
3) No time for maintenance - If you are seriously hard pressed for time then no use going in for a used car.
4) Company funding (Leasing) - Many companies give their employees an upper limit of buying a car for themselves. If this is the case then buy a new car and drive it well
5) Chauffeur Driven - If you are buying a car which you are never going to drive then its best to buy a new car else the driver will come up with all sorts of reasons because its a used vehicle (my dad's personal experience)
6) Style Matters - It’s really difficult to flaunt a used car, unless it’s been modified to the hilt. Try telling your friend that you have bought a used car & the probability of him being really curious to see it will be low.
7) Long term keeps - There are many of us who would like to keep their cars for at least 5 - 8 years. It’s always prudent to go for a new car in such cases as depreciation will not take a major toll on you. Also you will always know what’s going on inside your car as you would have been with it right from day1.
8) Business Purpose - People buying a car solely for business purpose (read private tourist) should go in for a new car. Simply putting, a new car (especially a new model) will always attract new as well as your existing customers.

Glad if some one can add anything to this.