I'm in the process of moving on my 18 plate MY17 car that I bought new in March last year. After 13k miles and virtually a fault free experience I've asked my local dealer to SOR it. I'm hoping to get between £75-78k back, I paid £89k for it new so would be reasonably happy with a return somewhere near.

I'm trying to keep the depreciation to a reasonable level whilst enjoying a new car on a regular basis but assume greater losses if I keep it much longer, almost exponentially faster depreciation in year 2 as I was lucky to get a run out model. I'm guessing it'll be worth around £60'ish this time next year with another 15k miles.

Do others think similar, do you all just grin and bear it or do you try to play the market at all? Interested to hear other's views on this subject, I don't have any financial issues, I just feel less comfortable seeing so much money just being wiped off every week.

Looking to get a very early next Gen Range Rover in 20120/21 as my next set of LR wheels.

I fear you’ll have a bit of a shock in terms of its value after your first year. Having lived through that, your depreciation will be a great deal less over the coming year. Unless you really need to sell, or just don’t want it anymore, this would be a massive depreciation hit for just 13,000 miles of use.

I’ve suffered that eye watering hit in my first year and the only way it gets close to making economic sense for me is to run the car until it’s no longer fit to go to work in! (250,000 miles +).

Last edited by Red Merle on 8th Feb 2019 8:06pm. Edited 1 time in total

Assuming a 4.4 AB I imagine a dealer would get 75 to 78 for it today. But would you get that much back after any commissions or fees or adjustments for a trade sale? Or maybe you are a dealer. Also note, the number of 18MY cars coming to market is picking up for various reasons which will put downward pressure on your MY17. For example, for me to get into a MY17 I would need at least £10k difference, personally. (Other buyers may have less understanding of the facelift benefits or be more price sensitive).

In the past I have looked at TCO of FFRR but never for such a short ownership period. The sweet spot is 3 years of ownership in my opinion or if low annual miles then 10 years. For the first time I am following the 10 year model and I am now gagging for a new car this year (will be 9 years, but who's counting?).

Personally, I would not SOR a car and then wait ~2 years before I get my hands on the next one, presuming driving something humdrum in the meantime. I'd rather keep the 4.4 AB and when the time comes cough up the extra for the upgrade. Life is too short. Unless maybe I had a 911 in as my alternate driver or something in which case, why not?!

As said above, they tend to loose the most money within the first year.

There was a thread on here where a chap paid £120k new and took it back after around 18 months and the dealer offered him circa £85k

I would imagine that they would look to do a straight purchase of your car in the £65-67,000 region.

Keep it!

I agree, £65k sounds about right for a sale into the trade. They'll need a good £10k in it to turn a profit.

Firstly, I'm not a dealer, with my record of losing money on cars I don't think I'd make a great car dealer.
I'm looking to get around £75k back via an SOR route (and have been offered fairly close to that deal today) so nearly £14k hit for the first year. I'd imagine for the next two to three years that's roughly where the level of depreciation will fall if I'm doing circa 15k miles per annum. My problem is that I chop and change on an almost yearly basis hence why I'm trying to time it right. I think being a MY 17 with lots of MY18 cars on or about to come to market will depress the earlier car values even faster, I'd rather pay a bit more for a MY18 like many others so my thoughts on offloading now whilst it still appears new to the people who don't know the model changes.

I'm just interested to hear of other people's experience's and how they go about updating their car's.

Andy,

I'm in a similar position to you having bought a MY17 new in Feb 18 for a similar price. I've also had a look recently at the cost of 'up grading' to a MY18.

My last MY16 RR bought new and run for 50k miles over 2.5 years when trading against the MY17 depreciated by £50k (all round figures). It lost at least £20k in the first year.

To 'upgrade' to the equivalent MY18 68 plate now (or 19 plate in a few weeks) will cost around £110k or at least £35k to swap. For me, the MY18 improvements are not worth that amount. If you go for a nearly new MY18 with a few miles it will cost around £100k or £25k to swap and may pick up one with 'faults'. Either way, you'll then lose around £20k in first year depreciation on a new or nearly new MY18.

I don't think the MY18 will have any more impact on a MY17 values than it already has because there are plenty of MY18's available and have been for sometime. Therefore, I'm sticking with mine for now. Other than vanity, all the mechanical bits are the same after all.

I don't think there is a way of minimising depreciation on new or nearly new RR's for a given mileage if you swap them regularly. I've been lucky buying an early Evoque for my wife which only lost £10k over 3 years and her latest Volvo XC40 has hardly lost anything in its first year. Other than changing marque or keeping it longer to minimise the average depreciation you just have to accept the cost of swapping regularly. MY23 D350 HSE
On my 7th RR plus various other JLR vehicles

Back in the day when one could get some allowance against tax of depreciation of cars used in a business, the accountants used 25% reducing balance as the standard measure. That seemed to be about right, though maybe a bit light in early years and too much with older cars. The waiting list, and manufacturers having an incentive to keep residual values high for the purpose of selling on finance, kept depreciation a bit lower in recent years. Not so long ago some second hand prices of recent RRs being asked by dealers were hard to justify against new/waiting. But I suspect that has changed, see for example the Pendragon (Stratstone) accounts of a while ago where they said they had lost out due to overvaluing s/h cars and were rebasing in order to make that area a main profit centre.

So I'd expect pretty high depreciation, and accept it as part of the price of having a RR. I have had cars for almost 10 years from new, and change when there is a compelling reason to do so, either because there is a new product that is sufficiently better, or because the car I have is becoming exasperating as regards repairs/corrosion etc. Only Range Rovers since 1988

Unnecessary quote removed

Phil,
I guess I'm trying to take advantage of the discounted cost of these late registered MY17 cars to try and minimise the first year loss, trying to play the depreciation game. I wouldn't have bought a new 17MY without this hefty reduction as the MY18 cars would hold their value better IMHO. I do agree that the MY 18 cars are not worth the extra as the interior makeover is just that...a makeover, tart up call it what you want but mechanically almost identical.
Think back to the first year or two with this model first arrived and they were holding their value really well, that's the sort of purchase strategy to follow a bit like your XC40. Enjoy the new models with minimum costs hence my bailing out now and going for a new model when it arrives. I have other cars to use that I enjoy in the meantime.

Andy,

I understand you want to 'bank' the £14k lower depreciation after one year compared to a 'normal' £20k depreciation. However, we differ slightly in our views because I don't believe the MY17 depreciation will accelerate over the next couple of year i.e. I may see £45k rather than the 'normal' £50k depreciation over 3 years, dependent on mileage.

I'm still enjoying mine so will keep it for now and possibly swap when the new new model appears in a couple of years, an event which will certainly dent all L405 values. MY23 D350 HSE
On my 7th RR plus various other JLR vehicles

Managing depreciation on an L405

Keep it as long as you like, then lube up & bend over

I'm sure there is an optimal time to trade in, but equally sure that it's a moving target and there is no magic formula. I still believe it's largely exponential decay - with the biggest hit in the first year - that didn't happen for a while after the L405 was launched, but expect it to be the case again now.

Mines 5 1/2 years old and 90k+ and milesI probably should be trading it, but I'm very reluctant to as it hasn't had any problems and there's no killer features that I think justify the cost to change. I can see me hanging on until the next new model at this rate.....

CS wrote:

I have had cars for almost 10 years from new, and change when there is a compelling reason to do so, either because there is a new product that is sufficiently better, or because the car I have is becoming exasperating as regards repairs/corrosion etc.

Be aware that the deal being suggested may not be the deal you end up with, at best I suspect in 3 months you will get a phone call saying they have a buyer @£ so you get ?, do you want them to go ahead or have it back.
The deal seams too good to be true...… letters not necessarily in the right order

Would this make more sense with your yearly renewal habit - provided they offer L405s?
https://www.carpedrive.com/pricing
Hope this helps l=Oo\________/oO=l l:OolΞΞΞΞΞΞΞloO:l

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