Establishing Fair Resale Value

[ranjr13]

Has anyone got any ideas how to minimize the "drive it off the showroom floor" depreciation on a Passat TDI SEL with less than 500 miles? I'm not sure NADA has anything out yet. I will check with dealer but doubt they would be my best option. It's going back for a new nav/radio system Wed cause it failed upon delivery, and the optional rear park assist is way too quiet, but other than that it's perfect. Even has 3M Crystalline 40% smoke tint ($800+), engine hoir meter, block heater and HID headlight/LED tail light kits coming in for it.

[VW_JW]

Optional rear park assist? Is this a '12 VW Passat option? It doesn't show up on the VW web configurator and my dealer didn't mention one when we asked about it. Do you have any details on this you can share?

Thanks

[ranjr13]

In Jan or Feb they came out with a dealer installed option. It is mentioned in other parts of this forum. Have your dealer call Mitcbell VW of Canton, CT. They ordered and installed it for me when they dealer prepped the car last week.

[VW_JW]

Thanks! Any idea how much they charged for it?

[ranjr13]

Mitchell VW. Around $600, don't remember exactly. I think you can get aftermarket for less, but having them do it came with a full warranty that goes with the vehicle. The sensors that go into the rear bumper do not come painted - they can be painted to match your car. Mine are very close and not painted. It works great, just isn't loud enough. They are going to check it out and change out the beeper if necessary. Good luck!

[Plus 3 Golfer]

Spend less money on your Passat, not more and your depreciation will likely be less.

You are likely not going to find any dependable values for a current MY car until sufficient numbers of the MY enter the resale / auction market. This could take a few years.

I'm not sure what you are trying to get at with repect to resale value and options. Optional equipment virtually always depreciates faster than the base car value. If you are asking whether there are options that can be added to lessen the overall depreciation of the car than it otherwise would be - there may be some options that buyers might consider "standard" or "must haves" (in AZ that might be tint for $200) and some options that depreciate less than others (again in AZ that might be a white / light colored car). Or are you trying to rank options based on economics (which options have the highest resale value). Most add options based on perceived utility to themself not someone else (market value). If you want to gauge what an option like fog lights and so forth might be worth, go back a few years in the value guides for older vehicles and look at the MSRP vs current value.

If one only factors in resale value / economics in choosing options, I doubt most would add many options. For example, another option is a metal skid plate. Many swear that one is "required". But my guess is the economics simply make no sense based on the likelihood of ever "needing" it and resale value. But if one is "worried" about damaging the oil pan / engine (and such damange either is not be covered by insurance or one has to pay a high deductible), a skid pan can be viewed as "insurance" against a catastrophic event. Options like fog lights, upgraded brakes and the like are safety related features. Again doing an economic analysis on safety related upgrades makes little sense. Similarly, trying to economicly justify performance upgrades - tunes, suspension, and the like - makes little sense.

Just my .

[dezel]

I think its fair to say all new vehicles depreciate when you take them off the lot. Its only obvious some things like leather,sun roof,traction control(if available) will help resale but you pay for those options. So do your homework by finding out invoice price,destination fee and all those other fee's thats tacked on. Try to negotiate everything. If you are happy with the car thats what is important, just dont pay sticker price. Look at a car 3 or 5 yrs later makes you think twice about buying new as far as depreciation goes. But by buying new, ya dont get someone's problems.

[ranjr13]

I guess I wasn't clear. I own the car, have had it almost two weeks and can't get used to it and am almost out of patience. It is going back to the dealer on Wed with about 500the miles and may try to unload it and get out of it.

Thanks.

[Plus 3 Golfer]

Originally Posted by ranjr13

I guess I wasn't clear. I own the car, have had it almost two weeks and can't get used to it and am almost out of patience. It is going back to the dealer on Wed with about 500the miles and may try to unload it and get out of it.

Thanks.

Okay, then I'd gather as much data as I can from cars.com, autotrader.com, and truecar.com on what dealers are asking for used 2012s (there are a few available with low miles) and what deals are available on new 2012s.

You might also want to stop by your nearest CARMAX dealer and they should give you a "fair" purchase price estimate. If I had to guess, it would be around $2 thousand below the dealer invoice of your car plus maybe $500 for the upgrades.

Now you have an idea of what you might be able to negotiate with the dealer. With 500 miles on it, my guess is that your best bet would be to trade it at the dealer on another car he has on the lot (especially if you get credit for the trade-in value against any sales tax on another purchased vehicle). So, it sounds like you already spent $800 on tint and $600 on the park assist, and $ on the block heater and hour meter. My guess is the dealer will not pay very much for your upgrades (especially the tint). The dealer may have someone on a wait list for a car like yours and be able to "sell" yours to that person and in essence, give them the upgrades for free and still make their markup. Also, the dealer may be willing to sell a car on their lot to you with minimal markup. I think if you could limit your loss to the cost of the upgrades, you would be doing very, very good.

I believe the problem trying to sell it privately is that a potential buyer will believe that there's got to be something wrong with the car and hence the reason you are selling it. If I were buying a car from a private owner with only 500 miles on it, I'd likely offer about $2-3k under invoice and pay no more than 50% for the upgrades.

Good luck.