Too little and too much - Which used cars offer the best value

[macarose]

So I'm selling two vehicles at the moment.

The first is a 2007 Toyota Yaris with just under 60,000 miles. Base model with roll 'em up windows and manual everything. Four-door. Dealer maintained. It's not cosmetically perfect, but it's better than 90+% of the Yaris models that are out there. That one is selling for $7500 to a nice retired couple from the next state over (Tennessee) and it took only a few days to get it down the road.

The other is a 2005 Hyundai Elantra with the same mileage. This one has power windows, door locks, and mirrors. An upgraded stereo that allows for Bluetooth. It even has a dashboard pad to keep the sun away and a tint job that is professional and well done.

It sat, and sat, and sat. Nearly three months. The price went down from $5990 to $4500. Both of these were deals for customers who were several hours from my place, which is frankly not surprising anymore. Driving that distance and beyond to find a good daily driver is becoming more common too.

Here's the thing. I know how reliable the Yaris is. My long-term quality study has them at the top of the heap. But I really do believe the Elantra is the better car. These were sold at a higher price point. The materials, from the sheetmetal to the seats, are more durable. I would have absolutely no problem making the Elantra a daily while the Yaris, good as it is, doesn't really do much for me.

I think in certain cases the Toy-Onda premium (Toyota and Honda) is unjustified. Maybe a run-of-the-mill Accent would merit a $3000 difference with a Yaris. But a garaged Elantra with more features and a better real-world driving experience should have at most a $1500 difference in cost with a Yaris.

Have you seen other unjustified differences in the used car market?

 

[Cujet]

Wow, that's a loaded question. I'd simply say that any high quality, late model used car purchased at below market pricing is the best value.

Clearly Tesla cars depreciate like crazy. Is that a good value for you? If it works for you, then yes.
Also cars like the Mazda 6 are know to lose value quickly, yet are good cars. Do you want one?
Despite your good results with H/K, they are not as reliable statistically and cost per mile is not particularly good. Purchase v resale.

 

[rstcso]

A person's perception is their reality. If they've heard horror stories about Hyundai (which I have, although my neighbor's has 180k miles on it), then it applies to all. Hearing how great Toyota and Hondas are? It applies to all.

Unfortunately, we only learn after the fact whether those perceptions were truly justified or not.

 

[SC Maintenance]

H/K get a well deserved reputation due to the Theta 2 debacle.

I believe your Elantra has the previous gen engine, which was I think pretty good. But most don't know this. Someone will get a deal, which is good.

The Toyota Tax is real. I actually would say for the unknowledgeable its justified - there were very few complete duds with Toyota. With other makes you had to know what years to buy and what to avoid.

Honda I agree with you. Other than the K24 (which was awesome) I have yet to figure out why people think there so awesome.

 

[rstcso]

.

 

[trd1zz]

What's unjustified? This is simple supply and demand - economics 101 stuff.

If people wanted a used Hyundai as much as the used Toyota equivalent, the market would adjust and value them similarly.

But people don't. The reason a person is buying the used Hyundai is because they can't afford the used Toyota.

Do you think the market is wrong? Then buy up all the Hyundai's you can and turn around and re-sell them at Toyota prices. You'll make a fortune. But first, you'll have to convince them why they should pay a Toyota price for a Hyundai product. I hope you have good sales skills.

 

[SC Maintenance]

@SC Maintenance Based on some quick research, it looks like a K24 engine may used in a 2009 CR-V. Do you concur?

Our oldest daughter drives a 2009 CR-V with 193k miles. It has been in the shop 3 times with the same symptom. We picked it up again last week after the 3rd repair, and she said it's been running good ever since.

I started a thread about buying her a new car and have been researching, but maybe the CR-V still has life left in it and we don't need to buy her a car. She loves her car and is reticent about replacing it at this time (going through a divorce), even if we pay for it. Our granddaughter is 14 and this was planned to be her car when she turned 16.

I'd love to hijack this thread and get opinions on whether to keep the CR-V and spend the money on new shocks/struts, which it desperately needs, or cut the loses and buy a new car?

I priced KYB Strut-Plus for all four corners on Amazon and it will cost ~$750 for the parts including tax. I can replace them myself, maybe even having her or the granddaughter helping.

What did the shop actually do? There is a lot more to a car than the engine.

No vehicle is trouble free, especially at 16 years / 200K. Maintenance is everything. The KA24 is known to run 100's of thousands of miles, but even its not trouble free. The VVT spring / sprocket rattle for example (I probably have that definition wrong, I apologize).

I think 16 year old cars are for either us DIY types or if you have an indy mechanic you absolutely trust. Oh and no road salt.

 

[Nukeman7]

I started a thread about buying her a new car and have been researching, but maybe the CR-V still has life left in it and we don't need to buy her a car. She loves her car and is reticent about replacing it at this time (going through a divorce), even if we pay for it. Our granddaughter is 14 and this was planned to be her car when she turned 16.

I'd love to hijack this thread and get opinions on whether to keep the CR-V and spend the money on new shocks/struts, which it desperately needs, or cut the loses and buy a new car?

Let's not hijack this thread from @macarose and continue the CR-V discussion back on the original BITOG thread.

I was following that original thread, but could not get a sense of what chronic problems she was experiencing with the CR-V. Can you go back and provide specifics since several of us on BITOG are very well versed with the Honda/Acura platforms outfitted with the K24 engine.

 

[rstcso]

Good point @Nukeman7 . Moved further discussion back to the original thread. Thank you.

 

[eljefino]

I think you got great money for both cars!

The Yaris is a little tin box for miserly people. Yes it's reliable, but so are the Corolla and Camry and those are more conventionally sized for American lifestyles.

2005 era Hyundai was still trying to build a name-- and as you noted through your dataset, "more car." But it's still TWENTY years old. But it's still modern enough that you won't find someone who buys it because they know how to fix the points with a matchbox and set the carburetor with a drinking straw. The question is, who's the buyer for this car? In my mind, an old lady who thinks the odometer is a literal gauge of how "used up" a car is. It's an ignorant approach, but if you're selling cars, who's to argue?

I like pre-OBD-II fuel injected vehicles, so 1988-1995 and I think they will have a peak in demand soon if not already.

When I first started adulting, I drove junky cars. Had a hand-me-down mazda then bought American because of the Japanese premium. This was circa 2000. And I was quite successful at it. Now TRUCKS of any maker and size draw the premium, and I can get a nice Camry or Accord for a song.

If you're wondering what to buy next to flip, I say get a truck. You probably look around and see junkers for $4k and figure that's way beyond your price point. But I bet you can enjoy success if you have an open mind.

 

[ripcord]

If you weight the value a car more heavily on the "miles left in her," the Yaris is worth a premium. One can reasonably expect the Yaris to make it to 400k. Not so much for the Elantra.

 

[Jetronic]

So I'm selling two vehicles at the moment.

The first is a 2007 Toyota Yaris with just under 60,000 miles. Base model with roll 'em up windows and manual everything. Four-door. Dealer maintained. It's not cosmetically perfect, but it's better than 90+% of the Yaris models that are out there. That one is selling for $7500 to a nice retired couple from the next state over (Tennessee) and it took only a few days to get it down the road.

The other is a 2005 Hyundai Elantra with the same mileage. This one has power windows, door locks, and mirrors. An upgraded stereo that allows for Bluetooth. It even has a dashboard pad to keep the sun away and a tint job that is professional and well done.

It sat, and sat, and sat. Nearly three months. The price went down from $5990 to $4500. Both of these were deals for customers who were several hours from my place, which is frankly not surprising anymore. Driving that distance and beyond to find a good daily driver is becoming more common too.

Here's the thing. I know how reliable the Yaris is. My long-term quality study has them at the top of the heap. But I really do believe the Elantra is the better car. These were sold at a higher price point. The materials, from the sheetmetal to the seats, are more durable. I would have absolutely no problem making the Elantra a daily while the Yaris, good as it is, doesn't really do much for me.

I think in certain cases the Toy-Onda premium (Toyota and Honda) is unjustified. Maybe a run-of-the-mill Accent would merit a $3000 difference with a Yaris. But a garaged Elantra with more features and a better real-world driving experience should have at most a $1500 difference in cost with a Yaris.

Have you seen other unjustified differences in the used car market?

the wrong car is by default not good value. If the right car has manual everything, I can see that being worth more for you.

I guess Hyundai is developping a stigma with the engine problems some models suffered.

 

[macarose]

If you weight the value a car more heavily on the "miles left in her," the Yaris is worth a premium. One can reasonably expect the Yaris to make it to 400k. Not so much for the Elantra.

See that's a myth. Most of them don't hit 400,000 mi or even 300,000 mi.

When I look at the year-by-year rankings for each of the vehicles in terms of miles, they are actually pretty competitive with each other.

The Toyota has more miles at the time of trade-in and beyond, but not as many as you think.