Optimum time to sell

[stament]

Just curious is there generally an average time in years say 4 to 5 years when its best to sell a car. Seems reading on here that cars maintain their value pretty well, but was just wondering is there a point when the value starts to drop as buyers perhaps foresee increased maintenance costs or cars being too old?

This is a generic question so ignore new models coming out, etc, just purely interested to know when it makes sense to sell and buy a new car. In England the market is totally different, you can get a decent 8 yr old car for 1.5k. I had a ford focus 7 or 8 year old when I bought it for 1.5k with just over 40k miles on it, best car I ever owned and no issues with it whatsover. Sold it cheap to a mate and his Thai wife wrote it off the second time she drove it!

[IMHO]

Most depreciation happens within the first 5 or so years... after that, depreciation happens much more slowly.

There's really no sweet spot, unless the car has become unreliable / costly to maintain.

Many insurance companies won't offer 1st class insurance for vehicles > 7 years old, so for some that might be the time to move on. For others, it's when the car is out of warranty, or just when there's a new model they want, and then there's the people who just keep on hanging onto them, until death do they part

[stament]

Thanks for the advice, very informative as usual. I wasnt aware of the first class insurance issue so definitely something to bear in mind, thanks for that. Having said that insurance is so cheap over here to the UK, guess thats largely due to the labour cost involved.

[keeniau96]

Correct re most insurance companies not 1st class insuring older car/trucks. But I had little problem finding 1st class insurance for my 12 yr old Ford Ranger. Several good companies made offers, I settled for AXA which offers very good service here and is one of the largest in the world.

[DavisH]

Thanks for the advice, very informative as usual. I wasnt aware of the first class insurance issue so definitely something to bear in mind, thanks for that. Having said that insurance is so cheap over here to the UK, guess thats largely due to the labour cost involved.

I had first class on my honda for 10 years, but just this year they would not give it. Got 2+ on it now. Not all companies would cover that long, but some do. Buy you need to maintain the first class for all that time. For me it was well worth it as I could fix all the self inflicted damage at little cost. Excess was low.

[ignis]

Many Thais keeps them for 10 years. when I was looking found many, 1 owner 10 year old cars For Sale, also have a number of friends that change there cars every 10 years..

at present most makes appear to have lost 50% in 2 to 3 year.. bit different a few years ago when a 1 to 2 year old car was near the same price as brand new..

[DavisH]

Many Thais keeps them for 10 years. when I was looking found many, 1 owner 10 year old cars For Sale, also have a number of friends that change there cars every 10 years..

at present most makes appear to have lost 50% in 2 to 3 year.. bit different a few years ago when a 1 to 2 year old car was near the same price as brand new..

10 y.o cars are fine as long as they are regularly maintained. Good examples are not so easy to find in LoS. Keep a car in top shape and it will be easy to sell at this age.

Buying and selling every 3 years is a killer in the current car market. Buy an up-to-date model, like the mazda 3, and they will stay good for 10 years at least. It will become dated, but not as quick as a vios which still runs a 10 y.o engine. I don't see the point in selling an almost new car and losing several hundred thousand baht every 3-5 years.

[DinoSabanovic]

What is the price for Mirage top model, paid 500.000 thb new, now 4 years old ? Lower than 300.000? I think that is to low by my opinion.

[DavisH]

What is the price for Mirage top model, paid 500.000 thb new, now 4 years old ? Lower than 300.000? I think that is to low by my opinion.

The market will be flooded with eco cars in another 2 years. It will be worth much less then. Better to sell it before that time if you can.

[Colabamumbai]

After 4 years a new car will need things replaced and you will have some costs. Tires and whatever.

[asdecas]

While it's still a runner.

[MeHere]

The "tax incentive" given by Yingluck's government several years back raped the second hand car market... Everyone bought a new car and returned them or had them repossessed when they got their money.

[empireboy]

I think it varies from brand to brand and even model to model within a given brand.

A well maintained (books up-to-date by reputable service centres) car will pretty much always command a premium (buying or selling).

[Shermanator]

It depends on whether you bought your new car cash or on finance and on what brand you are selling. The best resale value has the Toyota 4WD Vigo. I am not familiar with the new version, but used Vigos sell like hot cakes in Bkk. They export them. As soon as your car is older than 5 years, you are down to a pretty stable low that decreases slowly year by year, hence - given that you don't want to drive an old car - I advise you to sell it somewhere between year 3 and 5. Other cars, especially Ford (they suck) lose value at lightning speed once you have driven your first mile. Chevrolet is the worst - expensive and shoddy and bad resale value.

[Equalizer]

I bought the top of the range Jazz 4 years ago and paid around 730.000 out of the show room. Just part exchanged it with 64.000km for the new Honda HRV and got 390.000 for it. I lost 46.58% in 4 years.

[kiwikeith]

Most depreciation happens within the first 5 or so years... after that, depreciation happens much more slowly.

There's really no sweet spot, unless the car has become unreliable / costly to maintain.

Many insurance companies won't offer 1st class insurance for vehicles > 7 years old, so for some that might be the time to move on. For others, it's when the car is out of warranty, or just when there's a new model they want, and then there's the people who just keep on hanging onto them, until death do they part

I brought second hand 2005 isuzu dmax immaculate 268k thai bht, AXA insurance normaly won't insure cars over 10, but the man tell me special for falung as we drive differently and look after cars, on their valuation he said I would get 300k back if written off.

I found hard to buy anything under 300 that is decent they seem to stick in that range from about 2007/6 down.

They inspect and photograph the car b4 insurance and gave me full coverage and roadside assist.

[ignis]

What is the price for Mirage top model, paid 500.000 thb new, now 4 years old ? Lower than 300.000? I think that is to low by my opinion.

239,000 for Top model it would appear, 2012 model..... 2013 model 249,000.. 2014 GLS LTD model is selling for 299,000.

http://www.taladrod.com

[maderaroja]

Most depreciation happens within the first 5 or so years... after that, depreciation happens much more slowly.

There's really no sweet spot, unless the car has become unreliable / costly to maintain.

Many insurance companies won't offer 1st class insurance for vehicles > 7 years old, so for some that might be the time to move on. For others, it's when the car is out of warranty, or just when there's a new model they want, and then there's the people who just keep on hanging onto them, until death do they part

I have first class insurance on my 10-year-old car.

[fish fingers]

You see alot of luxury cars come on the market either a year before warranty expiry(to say its still under one) or just after (to get shot of it before service).

[Shiver]

I've not been a car owner for about the last 2 years or so here, but was browsing the car auctions recently, and the prices do seem to be coming down just a little (not much), but the 'no sale' ratio at auction is very high, and they've run out of space to store them (Udon). If you want to sell a car then probably the easiest way is to part-exchange it with another. To me it appears to be as fluid a market as housing (meaning not very). If they are bank owned then they'll have a minimum book value to recover from a sale. I've yet to learn what they will do with them years later when they've depreciated significantly below their outstanding loan. We can get the deck chairs and a cold one out to watch that one.

[Pomthai]

As some have mentioned, depreciation seems slow at 5 years for a while then price can drop sharply again after 10 year. But you get some surprises. Our double cab 3.0 Dmax 4x4 was 11 years old with almost 450,000km and I got just under 260,000baht for it.

Also highly recommend AXA as an insurer here too.

[hans d]

Most depreciation happens within the first 5 or so years... after that, depreciation happens much more slowly.

There's really no sweet spot, unless the car has become unreliable / costly to maintain.

Many insurance companies won't offer 1st class insurance for vehicles > 7 years old, so for some that might be the time to move on. For others, it's when the car is out of warranty, or just when there's a new model they want, and then there's the people who just keep on hanging onto them, until death do they part

I have first class insurance on my 10-year-old car.

which company please?

[hans d]

Most depreciation happens within the first 5 or so years... after that, depreciation happens much more slowly.

There's really no sweet spot, unless the car has become unreliable / costly to maintain.

Many insurance companies won't offer 1st class insurance for vehicles > 7 years old, so for some that might be the time to move on. For others, it's when the car is out of warranty, or just when there's a new model they want, and then there's the people who just keep on hanging onto them, until death do they part

I have first class insurance on my 10-year-old car.

Which company please?

[hans d]

Most depreciation happens within the first 5 or so years... after that, depreciation happens much more slowly.

There's really no sweet spot, unless the car has become unreliable / costly to maintain.

Many insurance companies won't offer 1st class insurance for vehicles > 7 years old, so for some that might be the time to move on. For others, it's when the car is out of warranty, or just when there's a new model they want, and then there's the people who just keep on hanging onto them, until death do they part

I have first class insurance on my 10-year-old car.

Which company please?

[Anthony5]

Most depreciation happens within the first 5 or so years... after that, depreciation happens much more slowly.

There's really no sweet spot, unless the car has become unreliable / costly to maintain.

Many insurance companies won't offer 1st class insurance for vehicles > 7 years old, so for some that might be the time to move on. For others, it's when the car is out of warranty, or just when there's a new model they want, and then there's the people who just keep on hanging onto them, until death do they part

I have first class insurance on my 10-year-old car.

What IMHO want to say I think is that insurance companies will not accept new clients with a 10 year old car, but if your car was insured from new it will be continued after the 10th year as well.

[catman20]

it depends on the car here BMW MERC TOYOTA OR HONDA on whether they hold there price well

[ignis]

it depends on the car here BMW MERC TOYOTA OR HONDA on whether they hold there price well

BMW or BENZ they hold there price well ???

Loads For Sale, if you call losing 1 million baht in 2 years and 50 - 60,000 KM holding there prices well ? both on the '3' and '5' series,

OK takes about 3 years to lose 1 million on the C Class, but less the 2 years for the E Class.

not far from me is the NEW type Honda City 2014 SV model 16,000 KM for 499,000 baht... Brand new cost 700,000 baht !!

[stament]

The city you describe sounds attractively priced