I was fooling around on Kelley Bluebook the other day (www.kbb.com) and I got like a $9,000 trade in value on my loaded 2003 Lancer OZ with only 8000 miles on it. I bought the car in January and it's already depreciated 50%? I did get a little over $12,000 for a private party sale, but is anyone else worried about the trade in value of their car down the road?

 

dont expect too much on used lancer.....u wont get much of ur money back.....i dont even want to think about selling my lancer...the dealer quote me 11 to trade in...

 

I got 11k to trade in also :-\ sucks eh..?

oh well

- rob

 

The first yr you own a car is when it is going to go down the most, it will depreciate less and less over the next few yrs....depending on mileage. Your mods will not get you a dime in the long run, if you are going to trade it in, actually mods can make it less desireable for the dealer...private sell might get you a few extra dollars out of it. I am taking a big bite in the ***, by trading my Durango....new about 30 something k in 2001 and trade value is 16k, so it is just not the Lancer. Body style change will make a trade value drop too. I guess ya just got to suck it up and worry about the trade when the time comes.

 

interesting, my 03 with 2k miles comes up at 10225... 5k out the door there... sucks

 

cars are one of the biggest items that depreciate in value..

 

This has been a problem to me recently too. I was planning on trading my Lancer for an 04 WRX, but I'll only get like 7k on trade in 2002 oz, auto, 33k miles, perfect condition. I either have to sell it privately (kbb says 9k) for starting price of like 11k, or wait some 5-6 months til I have more equity in the slush box. Wish I would have known the resell was so horrible on this car.

 

Buying a car to trade it in for another is a BAD IDEA. You will ALWAYS lose money. You're better off buying a junker, dealing with it for the duration, and buying the car you wanted with the money you've saved. Little late for that now I suppose.

 

Yeah I've had a hell of a time refinancing the car. I made payments during my 0 year and got about $3,000 put away towards it. I waited for my year to be up on the 0% interest before trying and I didn't have enough of the pricipal paid down for my bank to do it.

I then went to lending tree and was approved for one and after filling out all the paper work and sending it in Over night (costing about 15 bucks) they said oh we can't do it because you owe too much compared to the value of the car.

I was only about 1,000 short on doing it with my bank so I got that paid down over the last three months and went there again. The value dropped so much that I needed like 2 grand to do it. Back to the drawing board again.

I just tried lending tree again and the same company again approved me for a loan. I called to verify that I could do it and explained what happened last time. They said they have changed their policies since then and ARE able to do it. I just sent in the paperwork again (they paid for it this time) and i'm waiting final approval.

When it goes through I'll end up saving approx. $4,000 over the life of the loan since Mitsu charged 9.9% interest. I'm saving about $35 a month and cut off 6 months of the term.

 

I know i wanted to change my lancer , it cost me 27000$ us and its a 2003 oz-full wtsunroof and a/b/s and they give me 12500$ WTF?!?!?!?!

 

I'm not worried, I was warned ahead of time that most cars lose half their value in the first 3 years, and since the Lancer is new, it might not hold its value as people don't know what to expect. But I plan on keeping it for a long time, and after 3 years it will be paid off and I won't worry that much about it.

 

The Lancer has lost a lot of value just since the beginning of this year. I got my Lancer ES last spring used with 25k miles for around 12.5 grand. My sister just got a Lancer ES used with 25k miles for around 9 grand. Almost makes me wish I waited.

 

yup, I paid $13,400 in early April for my ES.... I see them in lots now for under $10K... I wish I had been more patient! Oh well, I plan to keep my baby for a while so the value isnt a big worry to me. If my car was purchased as an investment, I'd be PISSED!

 

LOL yah just wait another 50 Years.. since the 02-03 body style was only around for 2 years it will be a huge collectors item in the year 2050.. then your measly investment of 13-10G's will be worth more than when the car was new..... just make sure you park the car in your garage and never move it.

 

Tustin Mitsubishi quoted mine at $13,000. 2002 OZ with dealer yellow/black leather and sun/moon roof. i got 24k miles. a chip in the glass.(bullseye). *shrugs* i talked them down from 38k for an evo to 33k.. but still not good enough... oh welz.