Want to buy 2-3 year old car with good resale/trade-in

R

rduane

Registered User
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HI all,

Would like to buy a 05/04 year old car (small family car/supermini) which is reliable and safe and has got good resale/trade-in value in 3 years time?

I do very little mileage per year (<8k) which should be an advantage in 2-3 years time.

I am looking at Toyota Yaris, Mistubishi Colt, Honda Jazz, Ford Focus as of now.

really dont know which one holds its value best or if there is a better car out there to hold its value.

Not concerned about style, performance etc. Just want an A to B car which is reliable and safe and which has got a good trade-in, resale value.

Thanks,

Russell
 
You should go with the Yaris, check out carzone.ie and you will see 99 Yaris going for €4250 + of course that's the price they have on them if they get someone to pay that much for them is another thing.
 
Thanks for the replies,

i see that the yaris seems to hold its vale very well on carzone
2005 11,000+
2002 8000+
1999 4000+

Like you said, whether these numbers are realistic is another thing!!!

R
 
Yaris holds value well but a 2-3 yr old will only get you the previous model which is very small.
Honda Jazz hold their value very well and have a very funky rear seat configuration that allows you to fold up the seated part to give you a lot of storage space.
Focus will be a good resaler but in that class I would opt for a 5dr Corolla hatchback. Very hard to get a good one and have very strong residuals. 1.4 petrol in strong demand but if you can get your hands on a 1.4D, then you'll have them lining up to take it off your hands.
 
Again, thanks for the replies.

Do the bigger cars like the corolla, focus and even bigger like the avensis hold their value as well as the smaller cars? I dont see how they could seeing that they cost that much more to begin with. I am assuming all cars are esentially worthless after 10 years and would be no more than half their original value after 4-5 years.
The only way i can see bying a bigger car is if i buy a high mileage avensis/corolla/civic (04-05) and do very little mileage on it for two years and try to sell it on after 4/5 years.
Anybody any experience of doing this?
The carzone numbers vary widely and it is hard to know the true values.


Thanks,
R
 
In general bigger cars loose value quicker.

Mondeo and Laguna sized cars especially.
 
what kind of car do you need? Surely this should be your deciding factor?
You are not going to buy any car to make a profit and they all depreciate...some more than others.
If you want a small car then the Toyota & Honda are the best choice.
Hatchbacks I would go for a 5dr Corolla Hatch in a 1.4 petrol or diesel.

These choices will probably depreciate the least of most cars out there and are always in demand
 
Thanks for the replies.
I dont care too much about engine size etc although would prefer not to go higher than 1.6 say for tax and insurance.
For me the requirements are
1) low depreciation
2) reliabillity
3) safety
For 1) and 2) small cars from honda and toyota seem to win out. For 3)bigger models with better safety including more airbags come into the reckoning but these are more expensive and depreciate faster. The toyota corolla isnt that safe according to NCAP even though it wins on 1) and 2).

Still looking for a smaller japanese car with good safety - more than twin airbags ideally curtain airbags.

Thanks,
R
 
Hi all,

been doing some checking up.

The old model of Honda Civic seems to be very safe (even without side airbags) aswell as reliable. I assume that it has got good depreciation also.
I shoudl be able to pick a 2/3 year old model for 12k.
Anybody have any thoughts?
Thanks,
R
 
rduane said:
Hi all,

been doing some checking up.

The old model of Honda Civic seems to be very safe (even without side airbags) aswell as reliable. I assume that it has got good depreciation also.
I shoudl be able to pick a 2/3 year old model for 12k.
Anybody have any thoughts?
Thanks,
R
Click to expand...
ya, you cant go too far wrong with the Civic either. Good thing about the previous shape is that you wont find too many thrashed by boy racers as they were not their kind of civic. Friend has a 5dr hatch and thinks its way better than the Primera he has. Apparently the 1.6 is the better engine to go for in these over the 1.4, but you will probably find the 1.4 is a sounder buy when it comes to selling on.
 
I thought Honda Civics were one of the worst depreciating cars? Certainly one of the most expensive to get repaired.

May I suggest a VW Golf? These hold their value extremely well, as confirmed by the Irish Times motoring supplement a month or two ago - the Polo, Golf and Passat were each the best in their class at holding their value. Make sure to get a comfortline or sportline, as the base model isn't a great reseller.

The golf is also a little bit more fashionable than the other cars you've mentioned (IMO) - bonus! :)
 
Thats interesting. Did not know that the VW golf has the least depreciation. It is also a nice car to boot... :>

Talked to my mechanic and he told me stay away from the honda civics because they are being stolen all over cork city....
 
Golf has an undeserved reputation for reliabilty. They are average and no better than that.

They tend to be well built however, with higher quality materials used in the interior.

I wouldn't pay a premium price for one.
 
I love the way some mechanics give advice on one or 2 life experiences.

I honestly cant see the previous Civic being too high on car thieves agendas.
 
With regard to reliability, i think the japanese cars wins.
This site i found useful for reliability even though some of the results are strange. VW golf 36th best out of 100, honda civic 6th, toyota yaris 5th with honda accord 1st. However, the toyota corolla comes in at 91st out of 100!!!!!

[broken link removed]


Funnily, My mechanic told me to go with toyota corolla as he thinks they hold their value best and are bulletproof regardless of the above survey!!
 
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