2012 Focus is NOT holding value

[ViperThreat]

Obviously trade-in value is going to be a rip-off. They have to make their cut.

That being said, newer cars arent holding value for squat. I check craigslist for fun daily, and every time i am blown away at the prices on these newer "used" cars.

[HuskerFocus]

Originally Posted by F35-JSF

GENERAL PRICES

2.0 S

Blue Book® Sugg Ret Value $13,600 - $13,800

Original Retail Price (MSRP) $17,160

Original Invoice Price N/A
GENERAL PRICES

Thats still a 6000 dollar hit for the base version of the S

Saw this article while looking for the projected resale value.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/12-be...ue-cars-2012#2

12 BEST RESALE VALUE CARS, 2012

CARS UNDER $20,000: FORD FOCUS SE HATCHBACK

Sticker price: $19,095 Invoice price: $17,903 TrueCar national average price: $18,375 3-year resale value: 63%, 5-year: 45% City mpg: 26, Hwy: 36

Part of what clinched the Best New Car award in its class for the Focus was its stellar resale values. Good looks, plenty of standardequipmentandtons of cargo space in the hatchback don't hurt either.

Yea, I didn't think about the discounts she got on the car originally too ... so the hit is there. My fault.

We gotta be careful what numbers we're throwing out now too ... Re-sale vs Trade in.

I hope that article is right ...

[unclebrud]

Originally Posted by AzulDulceFocus

I don't know about that. I went to the Ford dealership and intended to trade in my "12 Focus for the new "13 Escape, and they were only going to give me $13,000 for my car, and my car is in excellent condition. On the other hand, I bought mine for $23,400 (minus rebates and incentives). Outragous, thats over a $10,000 difference. I said, "I don't think so"!! I'm perfectly happy with my Focus but I did like the extra utility of the new Escape which is why I contemplated getting it. Oh well, maybe something will come around in the future, but now I intend to just stay with my "12 Focus until I pay it off, and then see what I do after that depending how the car holds until then.

Exactly...ran into the same thing when trying to trade on a GTI ($6500 hit there). The answer was also no....

There seems to be a large delta between kbb/edmunds and the real world. A magazine can crow all they want about resale of a given car, but that doesn't match our experiences. I doubt that we'll be seeing 63% value after 3 years, even if we sell privately. While I hope that will be the case, there are too many of these cars in the rental fleets already, substantial rebates, etc.

Sadly, though they are good cars, they are still commodity cars...

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by MyThIc3LiTe

Cars like the LMP1 Ford GT are investments, hell the modern Ford GT is an investment. 69 Boss 302. Ferrari GTO. Such cars that are rare and will fetch massive dollars at auctions either now or in a few decades.

And even that's questionable due to inflation. Those "massive dollars" decades from now may (and probably will) have less purchasing power than the "non-massive" dollars today.

[MyThIc3LiTe]

Originally Posted by flyboyike

And even that's questionable due to inflation. Those "massive dollars" decades from now may (and probably will) have less purchasing power than the "non-massive" dollars today.

The last Le Mans class Ford GT sold for 11 million at RM. That fact that it was a Gulf GT increased the value more.

A 1963 Ferrari GTO 250 sold for 35 million, The car that Moss drove.

Chris Evans bought a 250 GTO for 18 million.

These are the only cars that qualify as investments. They get rare and they were desirable to begin with.

1969 Boss 429s run from 180k all the way to 550k, sometimes on cars that aren't even restored.

Cars can be a great investment if you get something that is both rare and desirable. Even 250k Lambos are not collectors cars. They won't appreciate in value.

[RonMaiden]

Cars gaining crazy resale amounts are in most cases just luck or accident and most cars you see today sold as collectibles or in limited quantities are all bought up and put away thus lessening the chances they be worth more than they were when bought new.

[mac.mogul]

I've never understood people who focus so fiercely on resale value of a car. What is the point? You are losing money no matter what you do.

[dan03833]

Originally Posted by JesseE1981

This car seems to keep dropping $1000 every month I check it on KBB.com. My SE Hatchback, had a value of $14,900 last month...now it's down to $13,977 for trade-in value. Two months ago is was in the $15,500 range. My car only has 12,600 miles on it.
I am definitely ditching this thing next summer....it'll still have a full 12,000 miles of factory warranty on it too.
I've never owned a vehicle whose value seems to be tanking this fast.

Dude, if you were puchasing a mass produced American front wheet drive car with a 4 cylindar engine with expectations of it holding value... you bought the wrong car!

[MyThIc3LiTe]

Originally Posted by mac.mogul

I've never understood people who focus so fiercely on resale value of a car. What is the point? You are losing money no matter what you do.

People who buy cars based off how much they can get for them in 4 years are quite frankly, idiots.

They can go ahead and waste the money and realize how pointless it is.

I can't help but laugh when friends and family and even salesmen focus on resale value.

I don't give a damn what I can get for it in 4 years, I care how good of a purchase it is at the time. Case in point, my cousin bought a 2008 Civic. He loves it, even I like it; it has ran well since then and never given a headache. I think its better than the current gen Civics as well. The bonus is that his resale value given its a Civic will be higher, but he doesn't care.

The 2012 Civic has a higher resale value simply because it is a Civic but that doesn't mean its suddenly a better buy.

If you pay with cash or finance like I did - deal with it. You are going to be shitting value the second you turn it on.

If you lease and flip cars every 3-4 years then resale value means nothing to you anyways.

[Joeywhat]

Is this everyone's first new car or something? First time ever trying to trade in a vehicle at a dealer?

OF COURSE the value is low when you take it to someone who retails cars, and expect to get retail prices for it. They have to make money, and they want to make as much money as possible. That means you get less then retail, so they can then sell it at retail.

This is not a new concept. Dealers have been offering less then what the car is really worth since there's been dealers. That's how that works, best get used to it now. If you want to sell your car for more sell it privately.