Wow, thinking of selling my 2004 lariat. The depreciation is unbelievable on these F-150's , I know american cars don't hold their value that well but I thought american trucks were better than this.

 

Did you buy it for sticker price or get rebates? That sticker price will kill you. Try another dealer.

 

With almost $10K off retail for the average purchase price what did you expect? You can't have it both ways. Either you get a deal up front or it's worth more on the back. Combine that with first year depreciation, then factor in the glut of used cars and trucks in the US and you got a vehicle with poor resale at least in the first 18 months.

This..is why I leased mine...

 

I got about $6K off sticker. No I don't trade my vehicles or boats for that matter I sell myself. The trade in is a joke. Would never do that. I know your going to take a big hit, just thought that american trucks held some of their value...

 

They do, but when someone can go out and buy one for $10K off sticker it's going to kill the resale on a current model year used vehicle. There is a reaction for each action. When manufacturers give huge discounts on new, it kills the used market. American car buyers won't buy a car unless it has a big rebate, low interest, etc. We suffer on resale because of this. The big discounts and low interest rates have caused a boon in new car purchases...many of those had trades and now the trades are so new and so plentiful and sooo cheap that anyone trying to sell a car outright can just forget it. You might find someone and get lucky, but the average seller won't even get any calls.


Like I said..you can't have it both ways...the imports know this and that's why they have small rebates and small discounts. They'll sell fewer cars, at a higher profit and also support their used market. Toyota is starting to do more of the american way of discounting and it shows in their used cars. You can buy a current model year used Camry for WAYYYYY under what it used to sell for.

 

Let's see...............
American car, let's say a Taurus. you can buy it for invoice, and probably get a $3-5000 rebate. So the true cost of ownership is invoice less rebates less trade-in value.

Foreign (Japanese) car, an Accord or Camry. Discount, if at all, is minimal, and there are NO rebates on Hondas, maybe $500 on the Camry. But everyone brags about the high resale value. Okay: HOW MUCH MORE DID YOU PAY FOR IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?! Near sticker price less tiny rebate less higher trade-in is probably about the same as the Taurus. It doesn't matter what NADA and the rest tell you. What did you eventually have to pay out of pocket, what's the true cost of ownership?

 

I agree with the action, reaction statement.
I bought my truck in March. Got it for $1000 under invoice, about $6000 off sticker. Doesn't sound like a good deal now, but I also got a trade-in allowance for my old truck about $4000 more than if I had traded at clearance time. If they discount the new trucks more, what do you think is going to happen to the trade values?
It all evens out.

 

Any Car pretty much loses 20% or more as soon as you drive it off the lot..pretty expensive couple of feet. Just think, you test-drove it further, and it didn't depreciate at all---but once it's yours watch out.

Look at 3 year old F-150s on used car lots equipped similarly to yours, and see what they are going for....that will give you a ballpark idea of what yours will be worth in a couple years......maybe a little more as the bodystyle change made the old style depreciate more.

I wouldn't say they don't hold their value, but would rather say they don't hold the value you expected.

 

Right, but in 2-3 months when the 04's are off the lots and there are no rebates on the 05's the value of your 04 will climb back up. Right now is lousy time to be selling a used 04'.

 

Booked mine out on kbb.com and for selling it myself (private party) it booked for more than I paid for it, so I'm not complaining.

 

Before you get your hopes up, my 04 SCrew listed new at $30,930, I paid including taxes $ 24,600, it books by KBB for trade in value at $ 21,375. I am trying to get rid of this lemon and although pristine, this 4 month old truck, I have been offered a whopping $16,750 as a trade. I understand about taking a bath when you first drive it off of the lot but this is absurd. And that is the best offer I've had.

 

What types of problems have you had that made it a Lemon?

 

I have no intention on selling or trading my 2004 Screw 4x2 Lariat. It is the best vehicle I have ever owned. I have had no real problems during the 12,500 miles I've driven. I just booked it again on kbb.com using the trade-in value this time. The window sticker on this truck was $34465 when I picked it up last November. I paid $29230 before tax and lic. The only rebate I recieved was the $750 Military. The trade-in value as of today was $26465, and I still don't consider that too bad after owning the truck for almost 11 months. There is not a vehicle on the market that appreciates in value or at least not one that most people could afford. Now, if a person is fool enough to pay the MSRP on the sticker, plus any additional fees the dealer tries to tack on, then they will be upside down in a hurry.

Good luck getting out of your truck. I would try to sell it yourself, why let a dealer take $3-4K from you.

 

Just an FYI..the book value you got is no where near what the truck is actually worth. Subtract about $7000 and that's what it's really worth. Don't believe me? Call any dealer, any wholesaler, any auctionhouse.

 

I see so much emphasis on "resale value". It matters very little to me. After all, my truck isn't an investment, it's my truck.

My resale value on KBB came out a little more than I paid for it. I wouldn't expect it to appreciate to sticker price, 'cause I didn't pay sticker price.

In reality, I probably won't sell it for 12-14 years with well over 100,000 miles. I'll get the full value of what I paid, and it won't be worth too much by then. My 94 Ranger didn't bring much when I traded, but then, I didn't pay very much when it was new. You can probably get a vehicle that will hold it's value better, but you will pay a lot more up front.