Food for thought, depreciation of a hyundai. (rental, 2012, sedans)

[MustangEater82]

Someone made a statement in another thread about comparing 5 year old hyundais to similar cars. Let us ignore KBB inflated prices, but will just use them as a comparison.


My 2007 Pontiac G6 base with 3.5L, power everything, alloy wheels, spoiler, abs, tcs, Front and rear side curtain airbags

Blue books at $9300ish dollars according to kbb

Kelley Blue Book



Now a 2007 Hyundai Sonata, base (and even with 60 less hp, still gets almost identicle fuel mileage to my G6 ) I picked a base, and exact options I picked for my G6, same mileage, etc...

Blue books at $8600-8700 according to kbb.

Kelley Blue Book




So these cars that maintain their value so well now. Still don't hold their value as well as a "so-so" , not that greatly reviewed Sedan, that the manufacturer went out of business, and has the stigma of "how will I get parts"

I assume other comparisons will be worse.

Just saying.... My G6 was $16,500 before tax, tag, title.

[MustangEater82]

Even going up a model class, to the GLS and a 3.3 v6 that gets less mileage then a G6.

$9200, alot closer, but still below, and remember, we are comparing to a Pontiac G6, a car whose value tanked when Pontiac closed down.

Kelley Blue Book

[NJGOAT]

2007 Sonata GLS standard equipment, MSRP was $17,195. It's current trade value is around $7,300 in average condition with average mileage. That's about 56% depreciation in 5 years.

2007 Pontiac G6 "value" w/ standard equipment, MSRP was $17,245. It's current trade value is around $6,900 in average condition with average mileage. That's about 60% depreciation in 5 years.

2007 Toyota Camry CE, MSRP was $18,470. It's current trade value is $9,425. That's about 49% depreciation in 5 years.

2007 Honda Accord SE, MSRP was $18,625. Current trade value is $9,775. That's about 48% depreciation.

2007 Ford Fusion S, MSRP was $17,430. Current trade value is $7,050. That's about 59% depreciation.

2007 Chevy Malibu LS, MSRP was $17,125. Current trade value is $6,650. That's about 62% depreciation.

That makes our rankings on these...

1. Honda Accord - 48%
2. Toyota Camry - 49%
3. Hyundai Sonata - 56%
4. Ford Fusion - 59%
5. Pontiac G6 - 60%
6. Chevy Malibu (old body style) - 62%

Of course, what this doesn't account for are any incentives on the cars. For example, the Malibu was heavily discounted in 2007 since there was an all new and much improved car coming out in 2008. Typical prices paid would have been closer to $14,500 making the depreciation 55% instead of 62%. If we accounted for all the factors, the list would probably change, with the exception of the first two spots.

So, to do it for real you need to look at what the actual transaction price was for the car and what their current trade value is. I'm not a diehard Hyundai covert by any means, but their resale has been getting stronger over the years, but still lags behind the industry leaders in that segment. Of course, resale value is also very fickle, Jetta's overall have poor resale, but TDI Jetta's hold their value better then just about anything on the road. It really needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis. What I will say is that some companies like Honda, Toyota and now Subaru have long had solid resale trends across multiple models. Hyundai isn't one of them but they also aren't bottom of the barrel either.

PS FWIW, the comparison used was a little unfair to the domestics since the particular models (base midsize family sedans) are the ones most often dumped by the rental car companies. In general, I think you will find that the real ranking would put Ford over Hyundai and Hyundai over Chevy in terms of resale.

[Checkered24]

Good comparison. Actual transaction prices would be revealing here after you get beyond Honda and Toyota (both of which hold value well).

The Hyundai's may be hurt a little in resale too since the 10 year warranty does not transfer in full to the new buyer. That warranty, which makes the car worth more new, shortens for a subsequent buyer, which removes the value it adds to the new car on the lot.

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by Checkered24

Good comparison. Actual transaction prices would be revealing here after you get beyond Honda and Toyota (both of which hold value well).

The Hyundai's may be hurt a little in resale too since the 10 year warranty does not transfer in full to the new buyer. That warranty, which makes the car worth more new, shortens for a subsequent buyer, which removes the value it adds to the new car on the lot.

The warranty is one of the bigger reasons that they don't hold their value as well. Hyundai also doesn't really have a CPO program, they just shorten the 10/100k powertrain down to match the 5/60k base warranty. It's still competitive, but you do lose a bit of value especially when companies like GM keep their 100k powertrains as transferable to the new owner and tack on a year or two through CPO.

What will really change for Hyundai is when their reliability reptuation is seen as equal to or better then everyone else. They are already making large strides in the perception department, so we'll see what happens.

I tried to make the comparison as apples-to-apples as I could by using the same trade value program (dealer level access NADA) for each car. What I tend to see in terms of retail is that the Hyundai's still sell for less on the used lot then others in the class, even if the trade values are somewhat similar. That tells me there is still a strong perception among buyers that used Hyundai's aren't worth as much as other brands.