Ford (Found on Roadside Dead) :)

[littleroc02us]

I think Ford is a good company, but I laughed my butt off when I saw their latest commercial that greatly dissapointed me. Have you seen the Ford Fusion commercial where they state that the resale value is going to be better than a Toyota Camry? It's so ridiculous because at the end they show what the payments would be on a Lease and how much down and made a huge deal about it. So, the question is "If your leasing the Fusion, why would you care about it's resale value?" Idiots!

[snshijuptr]

If they project a high resale value then the lease payments are lower. If the residual is higher then you don't have to pay as much over the life of a lease.

[Scanner]

Hey no dissing Fords. . .my 1999 Ford Taurus has been the best car I have ever owned.

My (grease monkey) mechanic actually drives the same model/same exact car.

And if a grease monkey mechanic drives it, it must be good, lol.

[littleroc02us]

If they project a high resale value then the lease payments are lower. If the residual is higher then you don't have to pay as much over the life of a lease.

The point was that they weren't comparing lease payments between a Camry and a Fusion, only resale value if you bought a Ford Fusion and tried to sell it later. Leasing is renting with the option to buy. Ha Ha! That makes me laugh to.

[disneysteve]

I've seen that commercial and also thought it was ridiculous. Who says the Fusion will be worth more than the Camry? Probably some consultant working for Ford. It is easy for them to make a prediction like that. They can predict anything they want to. That won't make it so.

Besides, I would never buy a car based on expected resale value. I buy based on my needs, likes and budget with the intent to keep the car long term, not sell it a couple of years later.

[bjl584]

If one's only concern when buying a car is its resale value, then they most likely can't afford the car in the first place.

[greenskeeper]

I've seen that commercial and also thought it was ridiculous. Who says the Fusion will be worth more than the Camry? Probably some consultant working for Ford. It is easy for them to make a prediction like that. They can predict anything they want to. That won't make it so.

probably a lot of financial institutions research the projected value and try to get pretty damn close since they are estimating the cost of the lease.

[disneysteve]

If one's only concern when buying a car is its resale value, then they most likely can't afford the car in the first place.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I just think they are buying for the wrong reason because it means they intend to resell/trade the car in a short period of time. If I buy a car that is 1-3 years old and keep it for 10+ years, the resale value just isn't all that important to me.

[jpg7n16]

Emphasizing resale value and gas mileage are just two methods of tricking a buyer into feeling that they need a $30k car. Cause think of the gas mileage I'll save!


Most leases have an option to buy at the end. Though I agree it's pretty stupid

"So why'd you buy that new car?"
"It's a good car, get's great gas mileage, and is projected to have great resale value."
"Hmm sounds good, how long do you plan on owning it?"
"Oh I'm gonna drive it into the ground. I'll keep driving it till it won't drive any more!"

???

"Who'd place a high resale value on a 10 year old car that won't run cause you drove it into the ground?"

"Oh. Ummmm..... I didn't think of that."


Oops! Didn't see this from DS that says kinda the same thing...

If I buy a car that is 1-3 years old and keep it for 10+ years, the resale value just isn't all that important to me.

[bjl584]

I don't think that's necessarily true. I just think they are buying for the wrong reason because it means they intend to resell/trade the car in a short period of time. If I buy a car that is 1-3 years old and keep it for 10+ years, the resale value just isn't all that important to me.

I'm bias due to personal experience. I've had several friends over the years that purposely bought a more expensive car when they really didn't need it and couldn't afford it. Their reasoning was that the more expensive model (often labelled as Limited or some other such thing) wouldn't depreciate as much.

[disneysteve]

I'm bias due to personal experience. I've had several friends over the years that purposely bought a more expensive car when they really didn't need it and couldn't afford it. Their reasoning was that the more expensive model (often labelled as Limited or some other such thing) wouldn't depreciate as much.

I'm sure some people use a high predicted resale value to justify buying too much car. In reality, it might work out sometimes if the cost of ownership over the time they own it is lower.

Let's say you buy a $40,000 car and in 3 years, it is worth $28,000, it cost the owner $4,000/year. Compare that to someone who buys a $28,000 car and in 3 years it is worth $14,000. Their cost to own was $4,666/year. I'm just making up numbers here but I see where it could work out to their advantage. And it does tend to be true that luxury cars depreciate more slowly than non-luxury cars.

All of that said, you shouldn't be buying a $40,000 car unless you can afford a $40,000 car, no matter what the predicted resale value is.

[cypher1]

I guess I'd be one of those people who consider resale value of a car purchase to be a factor. Then again all my cars purchases in the past have been no more than 10k cash (I'm too cheap for payments).

As for leasing a car, I agree with the original post that resale value IMO is irrelevant for that ad. I could understand if someone were to buy and drive to the ground, that they couldn't care less about holding the value. But on the flip side for others not keeping for more than 10 years, I could see where resale may be a factor. Same for potential trade ins, although I've never traded in a car nor would I consider an option. Now that doesn't mean you buy the latest and greatest name/model for that class, and upgrade the perks, hoping to slow the depreciation of the vehicle.

[bjl584]

I did some poking around and found an article claiming that the average American keeps their car 7.2 years. I would have guessed that it's less than that, but knowing that info, I guess one could see just what the kbb value is on a used toyota compared to a used ford, both of them being 7 years old and all other factors being equal.

[disneysteve]

I did some poking around and found an article claiming that the average American keeps their car 7.2 years. I would have guessed that it's less than that

I think that number has climbed as the recession has dragged on. I don't believe it was that high 5 or 6 years ago. With layoffs, job cuts, wage freezes, inflation (no matter what the government says) and all, people are holding onto their cars longer. Remember what happened with the auto makers a couple of years ago. People just weren't buying new cars. It is starting to pick back up but is still nowhere near where it was pre-recession.

[bjl584]

I think that number has climbed as the recession has dragged on. I don't believe it was that high 5 or 6 years ago. With layoffs, job cuts, wage freezes, inflation (no matter what the government says) and all, people are holding onto their cars longer. Remember what happened with the auto makers a couple of years ago. People just weren't buying new cars. It is starting to pick back up but is still nowhere near where it was pre-recession.

The article says that in 1978 people kept there cars an average of 3.5 years. Today it is at 7.2 years. I think that it's a combination of improving quality and as you said the recent recession.