It is still easy to get a pick-up for $20k! Just learn how to negotiate like every red-blooded American!

I got my $40k 2012 F-150 for a mere $29k and it had the bells and whistles.. 4x4, 4-door, V-8, center console, step bars, everything. It held its value way even better than most cars on the road, even way better than Honda Civic!

If I bought a $30,000 EX-L Accord in 2012, it'd be worth only $12,000! I traded in my 2012 for $24,000! In fact, I buy the F-150 because it holds value very well. If I didn't get the $10,000 off MSRP, my depreciation would have been an extra $200 a month!

 

That is a pretty good point, Tom, although the price represents a 30% discount (which I did not get on my '78 F100). Of course ALL of the new cars like the Fiesta/Kia compared to '78 Chevette and the Fusion compared to '78 Cutlass have LOTS of significant features added like ABS, airbags, inherent crash protection, longer warranties (used to be 12/12), corrosion resistance, and far better gas mileage and performance.

Maybe I should look for a 2WD stripper pickup as my next DD...but I prefer an SUV. Any $32k deals on a new Expedition?

George

 

You play the game successfully, Wiggums. I negotiate with the best of 'em and just got a new $34.5k Grand Caravan R/T for $27k, a 2016 model in Feb 2016. Totally loaded with nav, 2 rows of heated leather seats, heated steering wheel, etc.

Definitely a good trade-in on your F150 but it started as a $40k truck; I'll bet I could have gotten the Accord for $26k and could sell it for $15-16k right now, but I won't look up the exact numbers.

Market timing and desirability have a lot to do with the resale, and if we were in the middle of another gas crisis, your trade-in value would be much lower. People were giving away full size SUV's and pickups during the summer of 2008. Like 50% losses from new in a year or two.

You get it and are doing well. I get it and am doing well. Good job on your deals and timing.

George

 

Shame the Expy has gone so far upmarket, it's tough to find one under $45K. The Explorer can be easily had for under $30K though.

 

If I look at what I've actually done over the last 30 years then I trade every 8 years on average (+/-1). It's not so much because I'm sick of it but that sinking feeling that something major is about to go wrong.

My 2012 has been payed off for a couple of years and the 6.2L/6speed feels and runs great. Will need brakes and rotors soon but I have those just waiting for me to find the time.

 

As for the Honda Accord EX-L, no, I couldn't get more than $2,000 off the MSRP, it was $29,000 (down from $31,000). I gave up and got the F-150 at $10,500 off the MSRP. Even if I bought my truck at MSRP for $40,000, I'd have lost $14,000 which is better than losing $17,000 on the Honda.

Now, I buy the F-150 because of excellent resale value.

 

Agree about the resale value disparity. Truly unbelievable what used trucks are selling for. My dealer was selling a used '13 XLT with 20,000 miles for $2,000 less than I paid for my new '15.

I've learned that lesson in the past, I'm much more interested in the used market for just about everything except pickup trucks. I'm going through a divorce at the moment, and there's a chance the truck is gonna have to go. A 3-year-old sedan is top on my list if that eventuality comes.

 

Trucks do have an incredibly high resale value these days. Also small basic cars like Civics and my Subaru Forester....I was looking at 2-3 year old ones for 15-16 grand and bought the new Civic in 2007 for $17.4k and my new Forester in 2008 for $20.4k. My rule is to buy new in cases of low depreciation because you get the full warranty and you create the car's history.

However, in 2000, I bought myself a great certified used '98 Acura 2.5TL for $19k on a list of $32k, and my wife a '98 Sable (loaded LS w/Duratech) for $13k on a list of $22k. Both were under warranty and both were great cars that we pushed well over 100k miles with almost no problems. In cases where prices fall quickly, buy used. In 2000, everyone wanted an SUV (especially in the price range of my Acura) so sedans were cheap--and that is probably the case now with higher end sedans like the Accord EX-L. (The Sable was cheap because it was so ugly, but we got really attached to the car's function and performance.)

George

 

I'm enjoying reading the discussion, It's always great to see others view points.

For me and my family a car/truck purchase has always been a long term purchase 8-10 years min with no thought given to value at that point. Another point to make is many of our car/trucks at the 10 year mark are not sold but added as a second/third vehicle as it has more "value" as an extra then the cash you could get by selling it. It's always been a buy what you want and makes you happy/works for you VS any type of financial calculation down the line. Part of this might be our close ties to the oil industry so when times are good you live like a king, when things are down well you do what you can to get by. Car/Truck purchases typically happen in the "good" years.

 

I did intend to make mine a long-term purchase but I'd be missing out on improved fuel economies, technical stuff, safety features, and there's also the matter of the warranty expiring.

I bought the 2016 because it had far more features than the 2012 and I only lost $4k on my 2012 so I figured it was worth it to trade it in.

The incentives do help. $10k would mean $200 less in monthly depreciation for the next four years. I bought my 2012 for $29,500 when it was new and the dealership was asking for $29,500 for my old truck!

 

For me it is when a vehicle no longer makes sense to have collision insurance. If it is not worth fixing anymore, it is making me money.

 

I don't think I really have a break-even point. I get dangerously sentimental about some things, and I definitely would had I custom ordered a truck new. Then again, every time the F150 is updated, I start daydreaming about what my perfect new truck would be, and every new model year become more and more enticing to me.

It'll probably be another decade before I buy a truck new, but I could see myself upgrading to new truck every new generation or so. Then again, I could also see myself becoming dangerously attached to my 1st 'bought-new' truck, and would end up keeping it until it becomes too expensive to fix at 300k miles!

As for my current '88: it's my perfect truck, and I couldn't imagine myself driving anything else. I'll probably keep it for the rest of my life as a collector truck, when it retires from daily driver duty in 10 years!

 

I wish I was like that. I don't form attachments to much of anything like that...which leads me to trading far too often. I'm starting to feel that way about my current '15.

I've lost my *** over the years with this behavior, and I'm trying to reform.

 

That's how I am, I form an attachment almost right away. It happens with stuff I purchase to fix up and even worse with cars/trucks that have been in the family a few years or more.

The emotional attachment is a bad one because it's really hard to put a price on it. I watch those episodes of "pickers" and these old guys have tons of junk but they can't let go of it....that's me as much as I hate to admit it.

 

I'm becoming more like my dad in the sense that a vehicle is pretty much a machine and any extra money dumped into the machine is money wasted. Owning a trailer and a small truck has become so much more appealing to me.