assuming there is no limit on intial purchase price... which car will lose the least amt of value in three yrs?

not on a % basis but actual $ lost?

for example I see that an 03 e-class is worth nearly 100% of original purchase (according to the "black book"

any help?

Reply to
bill williams
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That's an easy question. The cheapest! I do not know anyone that would pay the original price on any used car. That book has to be all wet...

-Fred

Reply to
Fred W.

"Fred W." haute in die Tasten:

According to a report in a german magazine 2 years ago, a Mercedes SLK holds its value best, it loses about 15% in 2 years, while a BMW 750iL loses 54% in two years. Disclaimer: this is valid for Germany and may have slightly changed after the preview pics of the new SLK kave been released.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Kemper

Why are we bothering with this forum when we already have alt.auto.mercedes?

According to my newsreader setup this "...autoS..." is newly created.

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

except percent depreciation was not the question... The OP specifically said, not percentage, actual $$'s.

15% of an SLK is certainly more than whatever a 3 series (or a 1 series when they are released) depreciates in actual monetary value.

-Fred W

Reply to
Fred W.

And that is a very silly thing because then you want the cheapest car, as you said earlier. A Fiat Seicento or Panda will depreciate less than almost any Merc (on and after lauch the SLK did NOT depreciate, at least not in the UK).

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

Actually the higher end performance models like an M3 or an M5 depreciate the slowest. In the case of the M3, the depreciation was negative during the 1st two years.

Convertibles also sem to have lower depreciation. Where you lose money is in non factory added options.

Reply to
salligator

A cheap used car that has already depreciated into the "beater" price range (i.e. the minimum price in your area for anything that runs without needing expensive repair). Three years later, you'll probably be able to sell it for about the same price you bought it for. Even if it has a failure that makes it uneconomical to repair, its entire cost that you'll be writing off is likely to be less than one year's depreciation on a new or more expensive car.

Among new cars, cheap cars like Toyota Echos and Honda Civics (low trim versions) are likely to lose less in actual dollars than more expensive cars. A $50000 car losing only 30% will lose more than the entire initial cost of a $12000 car.

Reply to
Timothy J. Lee

This varies by market, and the introduction of a new model is an artificial, short-term influence on depreciation only. In its domestic and European markets an M3 with a range of common options will typically lose £3-4,000 ($6-7000) in the first six months, whereas a 320d ES with only metallic paint will lose maybe £1,500 at most.

Wherever the full range of BMW engines is offered, it is a certainty that the cars with bigger engines (330i, 325i, 330d) depreciate faster (measured as a % of the new price) than the smaller ones. This has almost always been the case.

An M3 with sat-nav, an odd colour scheme and the full complement of electrical goodies will typically be worth about the same as a "stripped" M3 within a couple of years. Certainly, sat-nav and other electrical options become almost worthless as soon as the car rolls out of the showroom. This happens even in countries where the importer strictly limits optional extras (like the US) to keep

2nd-hand prices buoyant.
Reply to
Andrew Thomas

Think you're over simplifying things - the diesels in the UK and I'd say in much of Europe - hold their value better than petrol engined ones.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Did it really? Only if you paid list, which almost no one did. And now that you CAN get a brand-new one for list, you can bet that the "depreciation" is quite large for those (many) who paid over-list when it first came out.

Reply to
dizzy

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