Retained Value

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Sun 29 Apr 2007 15:15
Retained Value - y2k+4
How accurate are these retained value percentages we read about in magazines like What Car? and such? for example, it claims that my Focus will retain about £6000 of it's original list price of £15,000 at three years, but when you look on things like autotrader, it's difficult to see 4 year mk1 TDCi's with low-ish mileage for that kind of price...

Also they claim Golf's at 3 years, 36,000 miles would have 60% of their £15,000 new value retained, which is about £9000, but again I don't see this reflected in autotrader.

So is it just because that many are dealer-sold, and I'll get much lower trade-in value that the retained figure reflects, or is it really, it's a bit of an innaccurate prediction, that's trying to predict future demand and can't?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 29 Apr 2007 15:33
Retained Value - NARU
Its also complicated because they often work from a percentage figure, but that doesn't take account of discounts and deals around. So a Mondeo or Focus appears to have horrible depreciation, but very few people experience that because they rarely pay list price.

The other factor is that some cars routinely have a few thousand pounds of extras fitted. And if you don't have those fitted (eg. leather/auto gearbox), you won't achieve the 'average' depreciation. But the starting figures don't seem to include the cost of the extras.

Some of the leasing companies have their own retained value figures - after all, if they can predict better than the guides, they can fine tune their lease prices.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 29 Apr 2007 22:48
Retained Value - bristolmotorspeedway {P}
>>.... that doesn't take account of discounts and deals around.....
....the starting figures don't seem to include the cost of the extras....

All of which leaves certain manufacturers (often of a Germanic persuasion) well placed to achieve misleadingly good retained value figures.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 29 Apr 2007 23:31
Retained Value - boxsterboy
The simple fact is that you more you spend on a car, the more there is to depreciate. Clever marketing by the Germans makes people focus on the % drop rather than the £ drop.

E.g. A £18,000 Mondeo might be worth 35% of its (full list) value in 3 years. A £28,000 3-series might be worth 50% of its list value in 3 years. But if you pay, say £6,000 less than list for the Mondeo, and £2,000 less than list on the BMW, you will have lost £5,700 on the Mondeo and £12,000 on the BMW. And yet What Car will laud the BMWs residual values
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide