This is just a random thought, but I am interested in what you guys think. This was brought on by a conversation I had a lunch today....my buddy has an 05 Chevy Avalanche, loaded with less than 20K. He is tired of spending $70+ to fill it up and watch it evaporate at 14 mpg. He went to trade it in on a more efficient ride and went to several dealerships to do business. Nobody would give him more than $20,000 for his truck. They all told him that the high gas prices combined with the new car incentives from dealerships have killed the value of his truck.

That made me wonder if the value of my RX may be increasing a little bit or maybe even leveling off because of the relatively good fuel economy. I still average over 20 mpg and have never done anything to my car in over 100K miles. Please let me know what you think.

 

I personally don't think gas mileage alone will affect the trade-in value. Used car value will always be based on supplydemand. Your fuel economy may add to the desirability of your vehicle but not cause the value to rise.

The Avalanche has been a mediocre seller for Chevy at best. That coupled with the dealer incentives right now, why would anyone buy a used one? If they were to buy a used one, it would have to be because the price was super low. The dealerships telling him it's due to the gas mileage is just a tactic to help lowball their trade offer. Don't get me wrong, there is some basis there, just not the driving factor they state.

 

I don't think so only because 20 MPG is not really that big a selling point. Sucks to be your buddy though

$70...geez

 

No way anyone would pay a premium for a used RX, as the automakers start making more and more Hybrids with even better performance and MPG it will only continue to go down.

 

I dont know if that will effect it or not but i can say that in the sacramento area all the dealers want to sell low mileage rx's for premium dollars. Example: 99 with 84k selling for 21,995 no dealing. or 2000 with 58k for 25,995 so i bought one one out of state....

 

My personal guess would be that all SUVs would face some downward price pressure given today's gas price. I do think that Toyota/Lexus would face far less pressure than Ford, GM, and Dodge. Just about all Toyota/Lexus SUVs have the best fuel economy in the class.

The Avalanche was an overpriced whachamacallit to begin with. Now with the high gas price and new Employee Discount on new vehicles (which isn't a better deal than those $5,000 cash back anyway,) expect all Ford, GM, and Dodge SUVs resale value to drop like a tank.

I average 24-25 mpg for my commute in my RX300. That's with A/C on. The Avalanche can't even get that kind of gas mileage rolling down the hill.

 

I don't think the value of a used RX will rise, or even hold steady. I think the overall value for ALL SUVs will actually drop with the ongoing oil "crisis" that's going on. I feel that our days of sub $2 / gal gas are over. With gasoline hovering at say $2.40 for regular, I could see in five to ten years a shift back to smaller vehicles with better fuel economy.

I think the U.S. has done this problem onto ourselves, by everyone jumping on the SUV bandwagon and buying such inefficient vehicles. Wasn't it just two or three years ago that trucks (SUV, vans, minivans, etc.) sales outsold cars, and I think it's been that way since. I don't think it's going to hold this year though.

For a person going out to buy a used vehicle now, I don't think the decision is which SUV to get that's more fuel efficient, but rather to even get a SUV, or just a regular car.