Wow the resale value drops like a rock in water.
Over $30K list '05's XLT's with 10K miles have asking prices of $19995 at Ford dealers in my area.

 

That's why buying a 1-2 year old vehicle is always your best value.

Jeff

 

I did alright buying my '05.
$35200 list.
With Employee discount,$4K rebate and haggling,I got $8+K off the sticker.
The only reason why I bought an Explorer.
I really wanted a 4Runner but there was a $10K difference.
Check the resale prices on a 4Runner.
Unbelievable!

 

I've owned many vehicles over the years, and it still amazes me how the Explorer depreciations so rapidly. Cars/trucks used to be lucky to reach 100,000 miles, but today you can change that to 200,000 miles. So buying a used car is a real value nowadays. You could buy an Explorer equipped how you want it with say 75,000 miles and get many years and miles left to go, for "on sale" prices.

 

The decline of the american manufacturers over the last year hasn't helped.

Although buyers over the last year have had great discounts (employee pricing, rebates, etc., etc.) that also plays itself out over the used car values.

All the great incentives get folks buying new vehicles, which is what the manufs want, but that also floods the lots with relatively new used vehicles, driving supply up, while demand is low, due to the aforementioned incentives.

It's all a cycle. At the same time, I experienced the ability to negotiate good trades, as the dealers were desperate to move new inventory, but the overall trend on trade-in is down.

My '05 had a sticker of $37k ... by the time I drove it off the lot, I got it for less than 27k.

I DO like my explorer, btw... a tank in the snow with the Volvo RSC and Volvo Advancetrak .

 

I had a brief conversation with someone in the auto industry.
The guy said that rebates,employee pricing etc cuts into the auto manufacturers research and development programs,which isn't good.

 

I got a buddy at ford (he was a lab mate of mine in college when we were both getting our masters degrees).

He said it's ugly. You are absolutely right.

If Ford and GM don't get their collective heads out of their posteriors and get competitive small and mid sized cars on the lots to cut into Toyota/Mazda/Mitsu/Nissan/Subaru/German/Korean crowd and soon the China crowd's sales, they are doomed.

The time to put mega $$$s in research and development is precisely the time when the market is down, so you can catch the wave on the next upswing.

I work for a large aircraft engine manufacturer. Over the last down cycle (9-11 until about now), they put billions and billions into R&D.

Today, we are executing record sales with the latest and most innovative products. Left a few competitors sitting there with tattered clothes coughing up dust.

Although GM/Ford produce, arguably, the best trucks and SUVs, it won't sustain them over the long haul, as we are seeeing now.

Although much hype has surrounded hybrids recently, they will not penetrate the market deeply, as, the consumer still wants conventional gas engines.

IMHO, the domestics would be well adivsed to do what the Germans have done, quietly, overseas. They have a very well devloped set of Diesel offerings that, in some cases, can hardly be distinguished from gasoline counterparts in driveability. Yes, Diesel costs more than gas over HERE, but still, often they achieve better than 40mpg in the city.

This is going to be an interesting next half-decade for the domestics. They have to get their (out of control) labor costs under control, they have to confront the "pie in the sky" union contracts, and they have to get contemporary products fielded, or it's all lost.

(end of lecture)

 

Interesting!


"Although GM/Ford produce, arguably, the best trucks and SUVs, it won't sustain them over the long haul, as we are seeeing now."
$52K sticker prices on the '07 Tahoe won't help.

 

NO it won't ...

Around here gas has snuck up to the $2.59 range again. If this continues, they could put a $30k sticker on it, and it will do nothing but protect the asphalt on the dealers lot from pigeons.

 

True.
Loved the "it will do nothing but protect the asphalt on the dealers lot from pigeons"

 

No truck or SUV is going to hold its resale. No matter what brand or make you have, if the truck gets 15 city and 19 Highway, you better believe its not going to have a high re-sale.

No one hardly wants to buy a gas hog these days with gas prices the way they are now. Only cars that will have a higher re-sale are cars that are great on gas.

I have an 02 Mountaineer right now, and I love it!

 

Most say I don't care about resale value because I'm keeping my truck for XX years.
Well if one should total thier truck or if it's stolen that resale value will hurt.

 

the depreciation on American vehicles is astounding. doing some research on the edmunds.com site and using their "true cost to own" tool, I was amazed that the first year depreciation on a new explorer is around $8000 and the first year depreciation on an expedition is over $12,000. All the japanese comparable vehicles had first year depreciation at less than half these figures. Due largely to the depreciation, even at $5k less initial purchase cost, the net cost of owning the American vehicle for 5 years is about $5K MORE than the foreign vehicle. Go Figure.