Does total cost of ownership on a car affect your decision to buy?

[PAB]

I've been looking at residual wholesale values and I'm wondering - does it make an impact on your buying decision?

It looks like - and I cant confirm this right now, but buying say a Civic at $16,000 opposed to an Impala at $17,000 puts you in a BETTER resale position after 5 years.

Researching now.

I'm looking STRICTLY at cost of OWNERSHIP. How much money is it costing you to hold the title - not oil changes, not gas, not repairs.

http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/New/...ws/full/index.cfm/id/15263/Act/Prices/

2000 Honda Civic - EX 2-door coupe w/ABS, automatic
Retail $16,950 Invoice $15,312 Dest $440

Due to trim line and options, invoice on the CHEAPEST Impala was $17284. I'm going to run with that.

2000 Chevrolet Impala Invoice: $17,284

Now, after 6 years - what are they worth wholesale?

Results:

NOT counting costs of gas, repairs, insurance, etc. Strictly - costs of depreciation due to age and mileage - here's what I came up with.

We started with the highest model civic with an invoice in the $15,000 range and a low end Impala with an invoice in the $17,000 range. Both are mileage category B and the same year, so there are no adjustments.

http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img06453qf.jpg

HIGH Wholesale on the Impala: $6100

http://img57.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img06438kz.jpg

LOW Wholesale on the Civic: $6300

So in the long run: You pay more for the Chevy and in 5 years it's worth LESS than a Civic.

GM's got some work to do.

Thanks for playing peeps!

 

[Farbio]

Well of course it makes a difference, but i have to enjoy driving the car for the 5 years, and if the prices are relatively comparable, i'm going to go with the car i enjoy more for the 5 years and worry about the resale difference at the point when i go to buy a new one.

 

[jagec]

considering I buy old cars, maintenance costs, fuel mileage, and sale price are more important to me than resale value.

 

[kmrivers]

Yeah. I don't buy cars because of it.

 

[imported_EmreNU]

I'll probably be purchasing my first car in the next few months (graduating college) but I can say that total cost of ownership is something that I've been looking at for a while in several different models and companies. If you think you'll be reselling a car in a few years, the cost of ownership include depreciation, gas, expected maintanence, insurance - a 16k civic vs. 17k impala could be quite different in these areas over a few years. I'm not knowledgeable of impalas, but resale value is probably better with civic, gas is less, maintanence is less, insurance is less. A slightly used civic (1-2 years) is a very smart buy - I've been driving one for four years with excellent results.

 

[wetcat007]

Civics have some of the best resale value around because of their known to be reliable long lasting cars. Minicoupers I believe have really good resale value as well but I don't know how reliable they are...

 

[Slew Foot]

Originally posted by: EmreNU
I'll probably be purchasing my first car in the next few months (graduating college) but I can say that total cost of ownership is something that I've been looking at for a while in several different models and companies. If you think you'll be reselling a car in a few years, the cost of ownership include depreciation, gas, expected maintanence, insurance - a 16k civic vs. 17k impala could be quite different in these areas over a few years. I'm not knowledgeable of impalas, but resale value is probably better with civic, gas is less, maintanence is less, insurance is less. A slightly used civic (1-2 years) is a very smart buy - I've been driving one for four years with excellent results.

A "slightly used" civic costs about the same as a new one.

 

[intogamer]

uh yeah not everybody can afford to shell out premium

yeah used civic

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: jagec
considering I buy old cars, maintenance costs, fuel mileage, and sale price are more important to me than resale value.

Yeah. You gotta find the cars that are rock solid reliable but have high depreciation.