An interesting little article fro Business Week:

 

Accord has some of the highest resale out their and its a family sedan,and if you keep a car for 5 years or longer resale should not be an issue.

 

The 350Z lost about 30% of its value in the first year already... I don't see how it will retain 50% in 5 years.

 

Cars do not keep droping at the same rate, as time passes by, it drops in price slower and slower.

 

There is no way a 2003 350z (touring) will command 15-16k in 2009. More around 10-12k.

 

hmmm Jan 19th 2004? Interesting date on the article.

 

They might just be ahead in their production cycle. I am reading the March issues of most of my subscirptions as we speak.


That's not whatt they are saying, my friend. They are saying a 2004 (read: not the first model year), will be worth 15k-16k in 2009 (5 years down the road, not 6).

Don't be so quick to deny it unless you have some evidence. I don't know what evidence those Martians have, but they are right more than half the time which is good enough for me. Besides, I will keep my Z for the rest of my days. This is my first car (read: the first one I actually negotiated and paid for entirely).

Dan

 

Somebody go get a 5 year lease on a Z and see what residual they quote you. That would be more accurate than Kelly Blue Book.

50% after five years seems a bit high.

Cheever

 

or maybe... they can see into the future! imagine all the money they could win betting on the nfc and afc championships!!

 

Having sold Nissans for several years now, I can say with surety that the 350Z will not command the resale numbers this article is proposing. How sweet for myself and all you if this were true, right?

One person nailed when they said that after 5 years of ownership, resale value shouldn't be your focus anymore. Kelly Blue Book formulates resale values based on new car prices but they're only a benchmark since real buyers will determine local market value prices.

 

the fact that you've sold nissans gives you some credibility, but can you explain your basis for making this claim?

they're obviously a benchmark but there's a reason why kbb gives a better projected depreciation for one car vs another. i wonder how (exactly) they derive these figures.

 

It depends. My 48 month "lease" has a residual value closer to 40%, so that indicates that KBB might be wrong, but it is not uncommon for banks to mis-state residual value in the first few model years. Time will tell.

Note: I put "lease" in quotes because I never really treat a car as a lease even though I technically lease them. Basically, I keep a high enough insurance policy to qualify under any lease, and I prefer to pay the slight premium in total vehicle cost incase there are any catastrophic problems during the lease term, such as accident or several mechanical failures. If that's the case I can just give the car back and wash my hands of it. I realize there's no equity building in this approach, but you should build equity in real estate, not new automobiles.

 

That has to be a misprint. I remember seeing a previous article stating the Mini would retain 51% of its value after 3 years.

 

It might not be a misprint. I think the resale value might be overstated by a math error.

I just checked the kbb value of my car, a 2003 base with 9300 miles in perfect condition in all ways:

$28,300 - Retail

That's well over sticker. I don't think I own a McLaren F1, so I'm sure it didn't appreciate in value. Some food for thought.

 

theres the thread that has 29000 for a year old touring as a good price... Im excited about that. if thats true; my car lost about 20% in the first year. thats actually extremely good.

even if youd bought the Z with no downpayment for 34000 12 months ago; you could easily be right side up on your loan already. and thats assuming a 5 or 6 year loan!!!

my mom was still upside down on her mercedes 3 years after purchasing it.

 

I have no idea what the 350's resale will be, but I can tell you
my experience with 300zx. I owned it for 9 years.
The MSRP was $27000 and the price that I paid was $24000.
I sold it for $12000. So, the residual was 40+% from MSRP, but
it's 50% from the price that I paid. Of course, it's in the excellent condition and discontinued for several years, which may add the value.

 

I sold a 97 Accord EX 5SPD w/56,000 miles to a Honda Used Car Manager for 49% of the purchase price after 4 years. Of course, the key is perfect condition and mine was in that condition. Resale prices do matter if you wreck your car, it gets stolen, etc. Low resale means low reimbursement from your Insurance, if the above happens.

 

In 5 years, I'll have less than 40,000 miles on my Touring 5AT and it will be in excellent condition unless it gets wrecked or stolen. I have no problem believing it will be worth 50% or more in 5 years.

 

I sold my (loaded) 1997 Maxima SE 5 speed privately last summer for a shade over 50% of what it was new (about $33,000 CDN new), not including taxes. It had only 21000 km (that's just about 12,000 miles) on the clock, never saw winter and was immaculate. "Typical" clean 1997 Maximas at around 120,000km (75,000 miles) were everywhere at $8000-$11000 CDN. I did VERY well given the age (over 6.5 years from delivery date) and the abundance of used Maximas on the market. If there's a glut of 03 and 04 350z's around in 2008/2009, I'd suspect 30% of original value at "typical" mileage would be correct.

Bob

 

That's what she gets for purchasing a status symbol

Your empirical evidence is illogical. You are stating that a maxima, a SEDAN, albiet a Nissan, that is 6.5 years old normally commands 33% of original MSRP.

How does that justify your suspicion that a 4/5 year old 350Z will command 30% of MSRP? Evidence has shown that sports cars are driven less miles per year relative to sedans, and crash rates are high among sports cars with 300 hp. In addition, I would suspect that the 2004 Z sales will be less than Maxima sales in 1997, however I have not researched that.

I think that you'll find yourself quite wrong if you believe KBB was off by 21%. I agree there might be a 2-4% swing in any direction, but for KBB to be off by 21% with an estimate in their field of expertise is just absurd.

Dan