Cars depreciate!
Monday
Apr 19, 2010
I’m in the market for a new(er) car these days but with the slew of Ondoyed vehicles, you can’t be too sure which ones in the second-hand market safe(r) to buy. I might violate my personal finance rule of never buying a brand new car since the depreciation alone in the first year is devastating.
I just find it funny that many cars posted online don’t seem to bear the rightful price for the vehicle. Why is it that an 18-year old two-door Civic still sells for Php 160k to 200k. I’ve seen ’93 Corollas still sell for 150k while their fair depreciated value would only be around 80k, perhaps 100k tops if it’s still well-maintained and bears low-mileage for its age.
Some would cite the number of modifications they’ve done to the car as the reason for the high pricing. Sure, modifications do cost money. An engine swap alone can set one back as much as 60k. However, modified cars, unless they’re modded by experts and if the owner keeps meticulous records, are migraines waiting to happen than prize catches.
You might be lucky if you find someone selling his modded car that’s only been used for “pang-porma” but chances are, the owner would probably have redlined it once or twice. As far as my experience goes, it’s always better to go with an all-stock car.
Still, it’s a challenge to find a second-hand car that’s been pretty well-maintained by the previous owner. I just can’t believe the prices that many sellers still set for their cars. I refuse to believe that cars have stopped depreciating since three years ago. Cars depreciate, you know.
Comments
J. Angelo
April 21st, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Problem with brand new cars is that _some_ dealers might have had their stocks flooded, too (I’m not blaming anyone, but I’ve read it was a possibility.