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What does the BR think of this data? Realistic, reliable? I'm about to start looking at a replacement for the 8yr old Audi and at face value it looks like just what I need to help me decide between sticking with older prestige models that although the depreciation is much lower, run the risk of a big repair bill (as I've just had with the Audi) or putting my motoring budget more towards funding depreciation on a much newer used car but having the protection of a car still with a good chunk of warranty and lower probability of hefty repairs.
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Could you, as a halfway house, work out what you think you'd pay in depreciation and put it monthly into a bank account rather than paying the loan?
That would insure you against the shock of the big bill, and if you save money overall (as I suspect you will) you can use it for a holiday or a nicer car next time.
V
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Most depreciation figures look to me like a load of rubbish, because they work off retail prices.
However, I suspect that nobody ever pays retail for a Citroen, and only a few suckered private buyers pay RRP for Fords or Vauxhalls.
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NoWheels - up to a point. I think they're useful - if What Car tells me that a £15k Mondeo is going to be worth 37% of list in three years' time, I can work that out to be £5550 - and also that I'm only paying £11,200 for the car, so depreciation is actually about 50% over three years or £5650.
It's pound notes that matter, not percentages. It is utterly pointless when someone turns round and says that a Laguna loses a higher percentage of its value than a 3-Series (when the average price is probably 83% of list for their Laguna and 110% with options for their BMW). As a statistic, it's about as useful as the distance between the front and rear interior grab handles.
However if a punter finds out that his Proton Impian (£13k cough!) is going to be worth £3k in three years' time than whether it's expressed as a disastrous percentage or pound notes, the magazine is doing him a service.
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It needs to be treated with a healthy dose of sceptisism but can be useful.
I currently own two cars, a 94L deisel Cavalier, which has depreciated over the next couple of years by something very close to negligable.... zs are the rest of the running costs
and an Imprezza Turbo. This has depreciated by about £4k int eh last two years, thanks mostly to Subaru reducing the "new" price of the last of the bug eyed version by about £4k not long after I bought the car. This didn't show up in the depreciation guides at the time as it wasn't anticipated. Its up for sale, if anyones interested, cos I want another "low depreciation" Caterham 7 as a weekend toy.
Many things could influence what happens to a cars price at resale over three years, the guide can guide you, but no more than that.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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My twopenneth .....
The depreciation is calculated against list price which gives the missleading impression that Fords/Vauxhalls have fallen through the floor but the BMWs of this world have retained more of their value.
The figures are historic and tell you what was the best thing to do 3 years ago not now.
With
- many fewer modeo/vectra company cars about
- many more BMW company cars
- tax changes which have reduced the advantage of company cars
I can see depreciation of BMWs increasing and that of Mondeo/Vectra decreasing.
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"I can see depreciation of BMWs increasing and that of Mondeo/Vectra decreasing."
Two factors affect used prices: supply and demand.
In the past, BMW/Merc et al had lower 2nd hand supply and higher demand compared to Vauxhall/Ford. Supply has crossed-over for the Mondeo/3 Series size of car, but demand is still weighted towards BMW/Merc over Vaux/Ford thereby keeping prices up.
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