There is another thread about new Lexus and Toyota models that has just run too long. Accordingly, I wanted to spin off that conversation with a new thread. There was discussion about buying Lexus versus Lincoln. One of the things that I realized is that, more or less, Toyota/Honda vehicles are priced by the market, both new and used, as if the car will last 150,000 miles while American vehicles are generally priced as if the vehicles will last 100,000 miles. Meaning that at 50,000MI, a Honda/Toyota will still be worth about 2/3 of the original price while an American vehicle will be worth about half. This is merely a very rough rule of thumb, but something I've noticed. Even new, the US vehicles can't be sold unless Detroit rebates it's way to a sale, so the "out the door" price is much less than the "out the door" price of a Toy/Hon. Even though the sticker prices are similar. Again, this seems to reflect that the market assumes the Toy/Hon will go
150,000 miles before major trouble vs merely 100,000 for the US vehicle. My point is that buying similar sized-categorized vehicles from Toy/Hon vs US is no longer an apples to apples comparison. (I realize that many vehicles go 200,000 to 300,000 miles...maybe more....of both American and Japanese build. But my point is that THE MARKET prices Toy/Hon vehicles to last about 50% longer).- posted
18 years ago