QUOTE(MeToo @ Jan 27 2012, 11:34 AM)
The way I look at it.
Buying a car u have a value lost over the years, cant be help.
Buying THIS car u have a Bigger then average loss over the year. If over 3 years I lost an extra 30k compared to say buying an accord.
I might as well put in the extra 30k initially and buy a different car, and at RM120k, I can just buy a Rm150k jap, and I doubt the specs would be much less compared to elantra.
As for korean cars, I have 2 at home now, their drop is bigger then what i woudl like, my proton/nissan depreciation is still acceptable.
As for being able to "afford" it or not, that is a different thing all together, just cause I can afford it doesnt mean I should make a bad buying decision which will end up costing me more $$ then it should have.
Bro, you'd be surprised at how much depreciation you will experience with a D-segment

I did this comparison in another thread:
2003 Camry 2.0 (the big backside model) New price = RM140k
2003 Sonata 2.0 New price = RM110K
2003 Camry 2.0 now = RM55k
2003 Sonata 2.0 now = RM25k
Camry's depreciation = RM85k
Sonata's depreciation = RM85k
So at the end of the day, what does it tell you? Both cars lost RM85k over a span of 9 yrs, or a flatline depreciation of RM9,444 per annum.
If you're comparing the C-segment Elantra vs the C-segment Civic then yes, the Civic will retain more value over the years.