gyrase321

For 2015, KBB awards Subaru as best resale value brand among non-luxury cars, and Lexus for the luxury class. http://www.kbb.com/new-cars/best-resale-value-awards/

Lexus sweeps all the top luxury categories (from entry level to high end luxury cars and SUVs). Even the new models RC and NX bagged awards. I would like to know what methodology KBB used for determining these, especially since the RC and NX have just barely been introduced. Still, it's a slam dunk for Lexus (and Toyota).

Gojirra99

It's called projections

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

The adage on each

spwolf

kind of not good news for some trying to buy them used :-)

Aron9000

True, but sometimes if you're buying at the right time of the year(summer/early fall trying to move out last year's model) or if they have a special financing deal going on(0% APR) you can pick up a new car for maybe a grand or two more than used 1-2 year ones.

I know Lexus really doesn't do fire sales or 0% APR like some other makes though.

gyrase321

What does resale value signify? To me, it signifies the used car market's perception of a brand's durability and long term quality. High resale value indicates that a certain used car or brand is in high demand relative to supply due to that car's reputation for high quality which translates to low long term maintenance costs. Used car buyers can be described as price-sensitive, which means that they are more in tune with brand quality and durability. Are they more rational than new car buyers? I've often wondered about that. I'm a new car buyer myself, but I wonder whether new car buyers are more susceptible to be swayed by emotion, new car shine and smell, brand prestige (i.e. irrational) than used car buyers. A strong case can be made that buying a high quality used car is the more fiscally responsible decision. In my case, my rationale for buying new cars is that new safety technology available in new cars may justify paying for the new car smell. Besides, I prefer Japanese cars.....these tend to have high resale value, which narrows the price gap between new and used vehicles, which reduces the attractiveness of used cars.

realkrs

I have no issue with Lexus being the leading marque when it comes to resale value but given the pretty attrocious reliability records of all Subaru models I wonder what the buying public is smoking?

I've become somewhat reliant on the findings of two guys who have set out to offer some idea of the true longevity of cars by using trade-in records and wholesale auction reports instead of initial value or short 3 year/40000 mile reviews as done by the major predictors of value so heavily relied upon by used car buyers.

In many cases the numbers found by these two guys counter the information we receive from major known references, and they've done this work because, they reason, most of us would like some idea of the potential reliability of our cars for longer than a new car lease period.

I'm talking about this: http://www.tradeinqualityindex.com/
Their intentions and methods are described within and the results seem unbiased to me.

pbm317

Most banks utilize Automotive Lease Guide (ALG) residuals for leasing portfolio assessments... they've awarded Toyota and Land Rover as the two best brands in residual value for this year.

https://www.alg.com/residual-value-awards/

For whatever it is worth, I've rarely seen dealers come close to any of the KBB appraisals for trade in value.

adpock

Excellent news! Front page worthy indeed...
https://www.clublexus.com/articles/k...-resale-value/

SSTG

I've had my 15' GS for sale for a couple months. I think the resale is horrible compared to my previous Corvettes.

mmarshall

Nobody's smoking anything. Most Subaru models, most of the time, according to Consumer Reports (which IMO is the best source available) are better than average in reliability, although the WRX and STI have been exceptions, possibly because of the way they tend to be driven hard.

pbm317

GS models are currently underperforming due to the heavy incentives that are on the vehicle to help it maintain sales volumes close to 2K/month. Incentives on the new side and lowered transaction prices will obviously place downward pressure on the resale value on the cars coming back to market.

Those sub-$500 lease programs that the GS needs to undercut the respective 5 Series and E-Class leases (which are also HEAVILY incentive driven) have ripple effects.

MattyG

Just looking at this post and then browsed my local "trader" site. So this is totally anecdotal not statistics.

In the 3 -5 year range when premium car buyers flip their vehicles often, not much difference or a marginal difference between the Germans and Lexus. Once you take that first big depreciation hit; Japanese cars do really well.

If you extend out to 7-10 years that's where Lexus really does well. A premium LS, GS is holding up because of its reputation. When you price out a MB or BMW from those years, the prices nosedive. Heck I'd love to own an S class from the early 2000's but who wants the headaches? Buy an LS instead.

That's basically the used car market and its potential buyers saying something.

And Subarus? They got a nasty reputation sometime in the mid-2000's for really expensive head gasket fixes to the tune of $2500 among other things.

mmarshall

The head-gasket issue with Subies basically involved the non-turbo 2.5L models up until the early 2000s, not the mid-2000s. Indeed, the 1999-2002 versions had their 5/60 engine warranties extended to 8/80 if a special factory-approved coolant additive was added to the radiator, which was supposed to help prevent the failures.

MattyG

Thanks for the clarification mmarshall. Yes Subarus of the "new" design from the late 90's had the greatest problems. But I also found that the later models still had issues when I was researching a slightly used Subi wagon in 08.

I was drooling over that 2005 Legacy GT turbo wagon. When I researched the overall issues with their cars from the 2000's, it drove me away as a used car buyer. And this is from a guy who worked as a service advisor at a Subaru/Volvo dealership for the briefest of times (3 months) in 1998, lol.

Some independent shops who specialize in them seem to be saying that a few owners even up to 09 are having issues. That may be just neglected maintenance or a repair shop trying to scare up some more business but it does indicate proceed with caution.

But there doesn't seem to be any damage to Subaru's long term reputation for awd or quality.