Yeti Depreciation at No.5

[Brijo]

According to a CAP Automotive report, a Yeti will depreciate by 30.1% over three years, putting it in fifth place behind two Porsches, a Land Cruiser and a BMW X3.  FWIW, because I'm sure other surveys will come up with completely different results!  

 

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/news/ten-cars-hold-value-094919558.html

 

 

[hmibennett]

As I've commented several times in several ways in several threads here. it's difficult to determine absolutely what the depreciation is if you're handing in the Yeti (or any car) as part of a p/x deal. Nevertheless, even if you reckon I got a huge discount on my new L&K, my 170 Elegance had dropped by barely 20-25% in two and a half years. I wasn't really in the market to replace it so soon but I felt it really was an offer I couldn't refuse (and I'd only gone to the dealer with my wife, who was buying a Citigo!).

[Jock]

When we bought the new Yeti, over a two and a half year period, I estimate the old one dropped 23% - not bad!

[BossFox]

I've said it before, but these percentage based figures are what the industry uses to keep people happy who buy premium cars.

What matters is how much you lose in real money, not what percentage of the original price that is.

The third best car on the list is the Porshce 911 GT Coupe, which only loses 27.9%... but that's £20,401 !!!

 

They also don't take into account options.

The Porshce Cayenne in first plae is a prime example of this. (as are Audis)

If you don't add at least £10k of options it's got a terrible spec, far worse than my Yeti.

Add that in and the whole picture changes.

 

No mention of small cars, which although suffering a fair percentage of depreciation cost so little to start with they'll always be better than any of the cars in teh top ten.

I mean, how much can an £8k Citigo actually lose over three years. 

[hmibennett]

My point exactly, really - all that matters at any time that you change a car is how much you are prepared to pay for what you want, ie 'cost to change'. How this sum is arrived at - by p/x price and/or 'discount' is irrelevant - and clearly, the cheaper the cars involved, the less it will be.

[Sporky McGuffin]

My point exactly, really - all that matters at any time that you change a car is how much you are prepared to pay for what you want, ie 'cost to change'. How this sum is arrived at - by p/x price and/or 'discount' is irrelevant - and clearly, the cheaper the cars involved, the less it will be.

 

I think there is some value in looking at the p/x and discount though - it's easier for me to judge if it's a decent deal than by cost to change. The latter is, you're absolutely correct, the only number that really matters, but I find it much easier to follow £x for the old car and £y for the new (and work out the cost to change, and whether £x and £y sound sensible) than if I'm just presented with £z and the new car is mine.

 

Definitely important not to get hung up on the x and y value though.

[Brijo]

Yes, yes and yes.  But may I suggest, as one who (very long ago) was involved in the preparation of 'official' statistics, that there is an alternative viewpoint - one which perhaps makes better sense of the figures, or at least puts them in a quite different light?  

Because the CAP Automotive article presents a numbered list of vehicles, it immediately invites an assumption: that those vehicles are being directly compared with each other.  In fairness to the author, the wording of the title and subtitle is closer to statistical correctness but I bet many of our members didn't read the heading properly, after being rapidly tempted on by the Yeti pic immediately below!  To save you going back to the OP, here it is:  

 

Ten cars that hold their value
Cars can depreciate at a rapid rate.  However, these ten have retained a great deal of their value over three years and 30,000 miles.

The statistics that are of real interest to us, the consumers, are the ones that aren't spelled out and this is where the alternative viewpoint comes in:  

 

  The £73K Porsche (No.3 in the list) is not being compared with the £15K Yeti (No.5) -

it is being compared with other (and unspecified) £73K cars and is found to be holding its value better than the rest.  

 

So, from this alternative and, I suggest, more valid viewpoint, what the article really says about the Yeti is that if you spend £15K on a car, after 3 years/30K miles a Yeti will be worth more than any alternatives at that price .  It doesn't say what the depreciation of the second, third, fourth etc car at that price would be.  Nor does it (nor could it) start to make any allowances for px against whatever, for negotiated discount, comparative value with or without equal/equivalent specifications and so on, either at purchase or at disposal.  

To sum up, it's only the percentage difference in the various price bands (themselves not stated as such) that are being presented by the CAP Automotive article as a ranked list.  Not the cars themselves. 

 

As the saying goes: 'There are lies, damned lies and statistics'. 

 

JMO.   I've had fun putting that together, now you have fun pulling it apart !

[ernieb]

My point exactly, really - all that matters at any time that you change a car is how much you are prepared to pay for what you want, ie 'cost to change'. How this sum is arrived at - by p/x price and/or 'discount' is irrelevant - and clearly, the cheaper the cars involved, the less it will be.

Totally agree, in fact my dealer said that when my car arrived and we did the exchange they would play with the PX and discount values as more than likely the PX figure would have reduced. The bottom line being that the 'overall' cost to change would be the same.

[fuzzybunny]

certainly my last yeti was the best depreciation on a car I have ever had.

bought it cash at the end of 2009 with a big discount (and 15% vat, thank you Gordon Brown) for £18,500.

received it in April 2010

sold it to a dealer for cash in January 2013 for £13,100 with 45k on the clock, (and a dent in the rear wing).

29% over 2.75 years.

But if I had paid full price back in 2009 it would not look so good.

Maybe thats why premium brands justify their lack of discounts because they hold the price better.

there are too many variables for the average mortal to really comprehend what is a good deal!

[Brijo]

How about this, then, just for a bit of fun ?

 

Scenario:  Three years ago (so the Yeti could be included) you were going to buy a new car.  Your intention was to keep it for three years (ignore warranty considerations, servicing and other running costs bit for this exercise, please) and then sell it.  (We're going to call this a hypothetical straight sale, no px or anything, no differentiation between dealer or private.)  You could buy any car, any spec, any options but your intention was to finish up with £10K-£11K cash in hand at three years. 

 

Problem:  How little would you have had to spend, three years ago, and what would the car have been?  The CAP report above says that the Yeti would do it, at £15K-and-a-bit.  Do I hear any other bids? 

[Ray_Green]

I purchased an ex demo 59 plate Elegance 140BHP 4x4 with park assist. 3k on the clock for £20k. Sold it back to the same Chester based  dealer 33 months later fo £17k straight cash. Was well happy  :$$$:

Edited 9 July, 2013 by Ray_Green