Kojo

Well I've been out of the states for 4 years now and I'm due to get stationed back stateside in a few months here so I started browsing cars...I will be heading to Vegas and it seems like either cars are holding value better than I remember or that side of the country is just more expensive in general?....Depending on my circumstances I don't know exactly what I will be getting so I was just kinda browsing anything/everything I'd consider buying and some of these prices feel absurd.

I looked up STI's and 2004-2006 ones are 25 grand with an avg of 80k miles!! Weren't they 30 grand BRAND NEW, 7 YEARS ago? About the same story for Evos...and it's not like the s2000 where they stopped making them so I could understand a spike/hold in value??

The ideal thing for me would be beater/s2k on side, but like I said depending on circumstances will dictate if I get to roll like that or if I need a sedan/to drive our newborn to daycare every day since my wife will be working on a different base that doesn't have a daycare there...

Anyhow, just wondering if it's just me just not being used to it or if it's due to the economy, people buying less new cars so used ones go up?? Not sure...all I know is I've been spoiled being in Japan, 500-1500 will get you 2000 and up beater easy,on craiglist for vegas I'm seeing 99-00 civics for 5 grand still? if I wanted to spend 2500 or under for a beater it felt like I'm stuck at cars 95 and older

redwing497

Yeah, this has pretty much been this way for the last couple of years. I also was looking for a "beater" to use as a daily driver but even early 2000's Accords with over 100k miles were going for $5,000+ I took a look at some used EVOs a few months back and saw some 08-10 still going for 30K or higher. It's nuts.

There's probably a bunch of reasons why this is happening. A few off the top of my head....cars are more reliable than ever so buying used isn't a recipe for disaster, people just can't afford new with shrinking incomes and higher prices as whole, and good deals are to be had on used car loans. Back in the day, like 10 years ago, there was a MASSIVE interest rate difference between new car loans and used car loans. Just made more sense to buy new. Now, they are so low that it's not such a big difference any more.

pdj

Yup!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...041923996.html

Kojo

Yeah, I hear what you're saying...make sense I guess...just absurd...in 09 I bought a 06 is250 with 28k for 22 grand...I haven't checked yet but I feel like nowadays, that same is250 will be 28 LOL.

CosmosMpower

Asking price and selling price are two different things. I'd say actual selling price for 04-06 STi's are closer to 17-18K at least in my area. Evo 8's are 14-17 and Evo 9's are 16-20K (only made one year 06). The crazy prices you see are just dumb kids thinking their car is god's chariot and trying to ask stupid prices. Those cars will be still for sale 9 months later.

With that being said. Some good cars are starting to bottom out or even come back up. I sold my 2000 S2000 a few years ago for around 11K it had 140K miles on it and was very clean GPW/red with lots of upgrades from newer MY. Now the same car would be selling for the same if not more. It's hard to find a non beat S2000 for less than 12-13K regardless of year. Same with old Miata's, you used to be able to scoop them up all day in decent shape for 2K or less, now it's more like 3K or more.

Kojo

I hear ya, the prices I saw were on autotrader/dealership ads!

KBB had em listed accordingly at same price as well...nonsense IMO.

yeah the S I kinda expected it to do that when they stopped producing,besides I'd never feel guilty about overpaying for an S

sahtt

Been that way since the recession for a few reasons:
-financing for new cars was very tough to get once the recession hit full force (not unlike housing)
-people bought used instead of new to save money
-number of new cars sold decreased dramatically for several years reducing supply

And perhaps most significant was cash for clunkers. This literally wiped out a huge portion market for <5000 cars. A negative externality that quickly arose was cars just over 5k in value became much more valuable - those wanting to spend 2-5k on a car were forced to look at cars >5000 in value AND people already in the market for cars in the same price area. Massive reduction on supply and* an increase in demand = high prices.

I bought my daily 05 civic for 8k when it had 72k miles. Sold it last week with 136k miles for 4900. To top it off I got several big dents in it and one was another persons fault and paid out 900 and I didn't put a penny if it into the car. Really I only lost 2k in depreciation over almost 6 years and 64k trouble free miles.

Zoidberg

Unfortunately your taste in cars is the same as everyone else's that uses the internet.

Used prices are up in general, but particularly the price of Subaru/Evo is absurd. I know the ones you listed are great cars, and few other cars feel quite the same. So their popularity is justified. But there are other good cars out there.


For example:
Disclaimer, I still like my S better, so I understand if you're looking for a few specific cars. But my girlfriend just picked up a 2006 Mercedes SLK32 AMG with 33k miles for $19k. That's less than the Evo's price but with half the miles and double the MSRP. Only comes in auto and doesn't have quite the amount of feel of the S, but its handling is certainly respectable. Hardtop convertible roadster with 0-60 in 4.8 seconds.

It's not a perfect example for your situation. Just saying there are fun cars out there if you're willing to forsake the JDM Gods.

Ryan2949

I am in the search for a daily 96-00 Civic and noticed Del Sols are going for 4-5k in Ontario with 120,000-250,000kms. Miatas are almost impossible to find under 4k without being completely rusted and 300,000kms. Hell, even bugeye WRX's still fetch 10k unless they have an decent amount of mileage.

Mr.E.G.

In before all of the, "Der, Cash 4 Clunkers ruined the used car market, derpa derp."