Residual values

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Sun 17 Aug 2003 11:03
Residual values - Daedalus
Does anyone know of a good website where I can check on the anticipated residual values of cars?

The Mondewoe has let us down again, recon gearbox and clutch (again), bill this time is about £600. I am fed up with the thing totally, I have worked out that its cost us an average of £235 per month over the last 4 odd years, including buying it. Its not worth a grand now. I could have had a nice new car on Personal Lease for not much more than this!

So going back to the top I am considering what to do next lease or buy (on loan) but I need to know what the things going to sell for in 3 years time to compare between the two.

Thanks


Bill
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Sun 17 Aug 2003 11:27
Residual values - DavidHM
Look at www.tins.co.uk They do personal leasing and although their deals aren't always competitive, they are upfront about their minimum guaranteed future values.

Obviously they're a balance between keeping the monthly payments low and leaving enough equity in so the customer has enough for next time round/covering their backs, so they tend to reflect trade-in or auction values much more than private sale, but they tend to be useful for comparing the relative depreciation between cars. Occasionally they'll come up with something completely insane though, like £2k for a three year old Fabia 2.0...

The other thing is to check values on AutoTrader of actual three year olds. It's not always a perfect method because cars that have a high resale value now, because of a new design three years ago, will be at a different stage in their life cycle in three years time, but again it'll give you some idea.

Also look at www.smartermotoring.com which gives you cash with a balloon payment of 30-60%, decreasing by 10% for each year you take it up to four years. £235 a month gets you £11200 over three years or £12600 over four.

FWIW, assuming reliability is your priority, I'd go for a new or pre-reg Nissan Primera (because of the huge discounts), otherwise potentially a Toyota Avensis (with the right deal) or Mazda6 as the slightly more sporty choice.
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Sun 17 Aug 2003 12:09
Residual values - Daedalus
David,

Thanks for that, funnily enough you have chosen the three cars I am looking at. The Primeras are astonishingly cheap.

Bill
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Sun 17 Aug 2003 17:43
Residual values - teabelly
lex freechoice ( www.lexfreechoice.co.uk/ ) and best4cars (www.best4cars.co.uk/) seem to have a good range between them. The latter seems cheaper as they were offering a 1.6 renault megane (£9800 worth) at £199 a month over 3 years. I think you can add maintenance too so it shouldn't cost you anything beyond your monthly payment.
teabelly
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