This surely isnt good news for a newly launched car:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/15/autos/hyun...x.htm?iid=HP_LN

Of course la. Depreciation within the first 2 years is the WORST for any car make even Toyota & Honda. Read what i said again. I said Toyota and Honda have much greater holding power after the 5th year onwards.

By the way, you said its a 2009 model rite? So that means it was considered a 3yr old car when sold this year not 2. 2009 is considered the 1st year. Vehicle age is calculated using year of manufacture not the actual months from date of purchase.

Depreciation is calculated based on percentage when comparing as the original purchase price is different. Not the actual value itself. Based on your info, the Civic depreciation is 34% while the Forte depreciation is 26%. But Forte cant be really taken into account since there arent many 2nd hand units up for sale. So its more of your luck actually.

Honda City 2004 resale value is approx RM 44K-45K. If your friend traded in at 30K++ that means he/she got a very poor deal.

Trade in value is not resale value. Trade in value is the value the 2nd hand card dealer accepts your car while resale value refers to the exact value of your car. Dealers accept different margins for trade in depending on the make and model of the car. .

Btw, what car did he trade in for?

This post has been edited by cybermaster98: Aug 17 2011, 06:15 PM

My opinion as follows:

1) For loan amount, i think max should be 5 years. If u can't afford 5 yr loan then that car is not meant for you. Always put in max downpayment but also take into account that some banks offer better interest rates for higher loans. Just do the math and come up with an amount that gives you the lowest interest payments.

2) Changing car should be nothing before 5 yrs as anything lesser than that would result in a massive loss of resale value but better if you can keep longer till about 7yrs or more.

3) For lowest depreciation, just get a car with higher resale value e.g Toyota and Honda. If you wanna go for Korean also can but ensure that the car's original price is competitive and the car is selling well e.g Kia Forte.

But most importantly, buy a car that satisfies your needs & requirements. Dont just buy a car to impress others. Be practical about car purchases as its a losing investment no matter the brand. Always remember to live within your means.

Not really. Price depreciation is the highest in the first 3-4 years. After the 5th year it will stabilise. A 2003 model Toyota Vios sells for about RM 42-43K now. Just a drop of about 44% only in resale value over 8 years. It still retains about 55% of its original value despite being 8 years old. Thats what i call good resale value. Resale values are demand driven.

Most of these 5 year warranties are limited warranties. Only the first 3 yrs are full warranty. Tats the case with Hyundai & Kia. Not sure about other makes.

The 5 years warranty is a 3+2 or 2+3 right? So the remaining + warranty only covers major mechanical parts. I dont think the sunroof is covered.

Your Civic couldnt handle the bends in that area at 90kmph? Are you sure? Those bends were actually designed to handle cars travelling at 85kmph and this was way back in the 1980's. New generation cars would have no issues at all taking them at 90kmph. Even my Vios can take them relatively well (except on rainy days when i rather not take the risk).

Why bother getting the current model now when the new facelift is already on the way???

I wonder why would ppl still consider the Sonata when the Optima is more value for money. Unless they prefer the looks of the Sonata, i dont see any other reason to get one.