ADVICE!

[woodbine]

Hi Guys,

 

need some advice, will our trucks retain their values? due to the high gas prices, i purchased a vw tdi jetta, 50 mpg diesel. great little car. i am going to burn bio-diesel in it. my question is should i sell my ss or hang onto it? just don't know what to do.

 

thanks

[drako]

Hi Guys,

 

need some advice,  will our trucks retain their values?  due to the high gas prices, i purchased a vw tdi jetta,  50 mpg diesel.  great little car. i am going to burn bio-diesel in it.  my question is should i sell my ss or hang onto it?  just don't know what to do. 

 

thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i thought about this when i was getting my truck. it burned a helluva a lot of gas. it cant take e85, etc etc. its really your descion i decided to get the truck even though i dont need a truck because i like it, simple as that. but i think there will always be people that will just bear gas prices to buy gas guzzlers that are fun to drive.

[haynss]

basically if you are ok enough to ask us what we think then you might as well hold on to the truck. Meaning you dont seem to be in a financial situation to have to sell...however the fact that you got another car because of gas prices may also mean you are in a financial bind....your call

[04CHASE]

retain value? no they will drop and continue to drop, maybe in 30 years they will come back up . I think oif mine as my toy , so i have a different DD!

[misterp]

the value of our trucks is going to continue to fall over a couple more years, so if you need to get the most out of it you can then you had better sell it ASAP, preferably at a time when gas prices relax and there are more potential buyers.

 

Most vehicles reach their maximum depreciation at 5-6 years of age, at that point their market value will not fall any more unless the vehicle is abused and the condition of the vehicle drags its value down. After the 5-6 year point, if the vehicle is really a true collectible (Buick GNX for example) then you will see the value of the vehicle start to appreciate right away. Most collectible vehicles will not begin to appreciate until they are several decades old, if they have any collectibility at all. I think another good example if this are the late WS6 MT T/A cars, if you ever wanted one better get it in the next several years because I think their value will be like the Buick Grand Nationals and begin climbing right after 2006-2007.

 

Anyway, back on point: I would expect our trucks (I also have an '03) to bottom out in value around 2008-2009. KBB predicted in 2003 that our trucks after full depreciation would retain an *average* market retail of $18K, and for a full size truck that's ok, it's not a Lexus but at least it's not in the tank.

 

I have really come to love my SS, and I am going to keep it long term, probably at least 15 years if not longer so as long as I can afford to drive it I'm going to remain very happy owning it and I am really dedicated to doing what I can to keep it tip-top (so far so good, knock on wood). But I realize that I am not a typical SS owner in this regard, most persons will trade in their SS on something else later, it's just a matter of picking the 'right' time.

 

In the end (to me) the most important thing to keep in mind is that you do not want to be making payments on a vehicle that you are not totally happy with; if you have that feeling at all then you need to do what you can to get into a different vehicle, because several years of writing checks for something you resent will make you very bitter.

 

Mr. P.