’12 Focus Depreciation – That Bad? Really? <DATA ANALYSIS INCLUDED>

[thejordan]

you can't go off of MSRP, you have to go off what someone actually paid. 40% doesn't sound right. a lot of the higher packages are overpriced anyway and shouldn't be considered imo.

[Rogerschro]

if it will make people feel better, keep the car 30+ years and it could be worth more than you paid for it as a classic! My $4000 67 Galaxie is worth $8000+ now! (granted, I have probably $15000 invested in it but........ LOL! I never consider depreciation on a car I buy. I look at what I want to drive and what I want to pay for it. Depreciation is a fluid sum on any car and one year might be better than another for any model depending on popularity and reliability issues and just plain fickleness of used car market. There is no guarantee of any good return on any model and a low depreciation number is meaningless if the cars sell for less than stated value, rather like MSRP, it is always at best a guess. Some areas are selling a certain car for a lot more than another area based only on local demand. That is how cars get sold, new or used.

[asting]

Originally Posted by Rogerschro

if it will make people feel better, keep the car 30+ years and it could be worth more than you paid for it as a classic! My $4000 67 Galaxie is worth $8000+ now! (granted, I have probably $15000 invested in it but........ LOL! I never consider depreciation on a car I buy. I look at what I want to drive and what I want to pay for it. Depreciation is a fluid sum on any car and one year might be better than another for any model depending on popularity and reliability issues and just plain fickleness of used car market. There is no guarantee of any good return on any model and a low depreciation number is meaningless if the cars sell for less than stated value, rather like MSRP, it is always at best a guess. Some areas are selling a certain car for a lot more than another area based only on local demand. That is how cars get sold, new or used.

You're completely neglecting to account for the change in relative value of a dollar. Your car is worth a tenth of what it was new.

[Rogerschro]

Originally Posted by asting

You're completely neglecting to account for the change in relative value of a dollar. Your car is worth a tenth of what it was new.

HA! True, true......

[RonMaiden]

Geographical locations make a difference too. I bought my STI for $32k with only 3800 miles on the odo and could've sold it for $3000 more easily once I brought it back to Colorado and the same will hold as the Subi ages since 2001 WRXs still command a bit of a high price in Colorado. My 4Runner was $33k when new in '99 and I can still get a little over $7000 (have had a couple offers) for it even with 177k miles on it but say down in Florida I probably wouldn't even see near $5000 for it.

[asting]

Originally Posted by RonMaiden

Geographical locations make a difference too. I bought my STI for $32k with only 3800 miles on the odo and could've sold it for $3000 more easily once I brought it back to Colorado and the same will hold as the Subi ages since 2001 WRXs still command a bit of a high price in Colorado. My 4Runner was $33k when new in '99 and I can still get a little over $7000 (have had a couple offers) for it even with 177k miles on it but say down in Florida I probably wouldn't even see near $5000 for it.

Regional differences definitely occur. The thing I think of most is body shape and salt. Southern regions that don't have salt will have more cars on the market that aren't rust buckets, which would command a premium in other regions.

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by Bombadil

I continue to be concerned with the depreciation on the new Focus. I spotted a 2012 Focus SEL today for $13,995. I think it had a fair number of miles on it, around 25,000. But my oh my, that's a lot of depreciation in one year. Makes me wonder what the seller got on trade-in, around $12,500???

If it's an early SEL, it maybe a 4/11 build, so that's really two years of depreciation.

[RonMaiden]

Originally Posted by asting

Regional differences definitely occur. The thing I think of most is body shape and salt. Southern regions that don't have salt will have more cars on the market that aren't rust buckets, which would command a premium in other regions.

Oh yeah,rust belt cars look so different than how they age out here in our very dry climate plus we don't salt our roads in Colorado but we do use sand and mag-chloride but the mag stuff is much easier to clean off the car vs actual salt which gets stuck in places on the frame and propogates rust.

[PratoN]

You guys think you're mad - think of how gap insurance companies must feel!

[raptor1956]

Originally Posted by Rogerschro

if it will make people feel better, keep the car 30+ years and it could be worth more than you paid for it as a classic! My $4000 67 Galaxie is worth $8000+ now! (granted, I have probably $15000 invested in it but........ LOL! I never consider depreciation on a car I buy. I look at what I want to drive and what I want to pay for it. Depreciation is a fluid sum on any car and one year might be better than another for any model depending on popularity and reliability issues and just plain fickleness of used car market. There is no guarantee of any good return on any model and a low depreciation number is meaningless if the cars sell for less than stated value, rather like MSRP, it is always at best a guess. Some areas are selling a certain car for a lot more than another area based only on local demand. That is how cars get sold, new or used.

I paid $1500 for a 1971 Mustang Mach I back in 1978 and sold it a year later for about $1000 because it was a maintenance pig. The body was great and looked amazing which is why I bought it. Had I kept it and fixed it up it could be worth 10X or more of what I paid for it.

Ya never know...


Brian