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I hope not, that would be insane. If a car is not worth its price when you buy it, don't buy it.

by aw3c2 11y ago

cbhl 11y ago
IIRC, that's not how car prices work. A new car on a lot is worth far more than a used car with exactly 0 miles driven on it.
- smnrchrds 11y ago
  I hear a lot that a car loses 10-50% of its value the moment it leaves the dealership, but I am somehow skeptical. If it is true I would love to buy a new used car right outside of, hell, even 50 miles after the dealership at half the price. I think the truth is that it is so rare for a car to be sold at 0 miles that we don't really have a price point on it. It is effectively an illiquid good, so the pricing is just a meaningless number, because no one would sell their car at this fictitious price. Like how no one will bought 37 Signals for 100 billion dollars. [1] [1] https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1941-press-release-37signals-valuation-tops-100-billion-after-bold-vc-investment https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1941-press-release-37signals-...
  - mikeash 11y ago
    It's rare but it's not completely nonexistent. Sometimes the dealership will take possession of a recently sold car, perhaps because they offered some sort of guarantee on it. Once the car has been sold it can't be sold again as "new" even in a case like this, so it will be sold as used with almost no miles on it. Almost nobody is going to buy a car and then immediately turn around and sell it at a huge discount, but that's not the only way cars get sold. Here are a few listings to check out, as proof they exist: http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/648714782/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/648714782/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/647726128/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/647726128/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/645336026/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/645336026/overview/ I can't be arsed to do the comparison to see how much value they've actually lost compared to new, but the data is there to prove or disprove the claim.
robotresearcher 11y ago
Customers did not know the cars violated regulations when they made the buying decision. VW knew all along and deliberately defrauded the customer. VW screwed up so badly.
dalke 11y ago
"Worth" includes an estimate of the future money one might get from a sale or trade-in. That estimate is of course fuzzy. The estimate of worth, and estimate of fuzziness, assumes that VW wasn't deliberately hiding crucial information from the market.
- benmanns 11y ago
  "its price" is also fuzzy, because total cost of ownership includes gas (affected) and maintenance (affected).
  - dalke 11y ago
    Isn't that factored into the worth, not the price? I thought "the price" was more quantifiable as the specific amount spent to get the car.

I hope not, that would be insane. If a car is not worth its price when you buy it, don't buy it.

by aw3c2 11y ago

I hope not, that would be insane. If a car is not worth its price when you buy it, don't buy it.

cbhl 11y ago

IIRC, that's not how car prices work. A new car on a lot is worth far more than a used car with exactly 0 miles driven on it.

smnrchrds 11y ago
I hear a lot that a car loses 10-50% of its value the moment it leaves the dealership, but I am somehow skeptical. If it is true I would love to buy a new used car right outside of, hell, even 50 miles after the dealership at half the price. I think the truth is that it is so rare for a car to be sold at 0 miles that we don't really have a price point on it. It is effectively an illiquid good, so the pricing is just a meaningless number, because no one would sell their car at this fictitious price. Like how no one will bought 37 Signals for 100 billion dollars. [1] [1] https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1941-press-release-37signals-valuation-tops-100-billion-after-bold-vc-investment https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1941-press-release-37signals-...
- mikeash 11y ago
  It's rare but it's not completely nonexistent. Sometimes the dealership will take possession of a recently sold car, perhaps because they offered some sort of guarantee on it. Once the car has been sold it can't be sold again as "new" even in a case like this, so it will be sold as used with almost no miles on it. Almost nobody is going to buy a car and then immediately turn around and sell it at a huge discount, but that's not the only way cars get sold. Here are a few listings to check out, as proof they exist: http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/648714782/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/648714782/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/647726128/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/647726128/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/645336026/overview/ http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/645336026/overview/ I can't be arsed to do the comparison to see how much value they've actually lost compared to new, but the data is there to prove or disprove the claim.

robotresearcher 11y ago

Customers did not know the cars violated regulations when they made the buying decision. VW knew all along and deliberately defrauded the customer. VW screwed up so badly.

dalke 11y ago

"Worth" includes an estimate of the future money one might get from a sale or trade-in. That estimate is of course fuzzy. The estimate of worth, and estimate of fuzziness, assumes that VW wasn't deliberately hiding crucial information from the market.

benmanns 11y ago
"its price" is also fuzzy, because total cost of ownership includes gas (affected) and maintenance (affected).
- dalke 11y ago
  Isn't that factored into the worth, not the price? I thought "the price" was more quantifiable as the specific amount spent to get the car.