[jmorton10]

I work at a car dealer & have been watching the value of full size SUV's like the Ford Explorer etc plummet in value recently because of fuel costs.

We had a customer come in this morning with a 2006 Explorer that is a beautiful loaded Eddie Bauer model. He had considered trading it in on something smaller probably a year ago & decided to wait until he had paid off a little more of the balance he owed on the loan.

That was a HUGE mistake on his part. Last year, he could have easily traded & gotten around what he owed on his loan in trade value. Now, because these trucks have dropped so much in value, he is in a bad negative equity situation (meaning he owes way more on the vehicle than it's worth).

He was absolutely horrified when one of our buyers told him what it's worth in todays market............

~John

 

[Dasha]

Yes, I am sooo glad!!!

 

[Charles]

I kinda figured it was bad. Just for giggles, I went to the Kelly Blue Book web site and looked at the Trade In Value for my Escape. :shock: :shock:

If I were in the market to trade in my Escape, I would have a bad negative equity situation as well.

I am going to keep my prop driven beast until the wheels fall off.

 

[Surfscape]

I had to buy a new SUV last year when the Mrs. crashed it... She just had to have a 3 seat row monster "incase" the inlaws came down. I told her why would we want to pay the gas all year hauling all that on the chance her parents would show up. I even said I'd rent a bus during that time if she wanted. Nope had to have a great bid Durango with chrome everything... :doh:

Of course now all I hear about it how much gas it uses and how she hates that @$#%[email protected]% thing. :rant:

You think I can remind her of the purchase conversations.... Nope again. :wall: :bang: :wall: :bang:

 

[jpark]

...not unless you want the :lightning: :lightning: :lightning: :lightning: treatment for the next two weeks.

:lol:

 

[Colleen]

You think I can remind her of the purchase conversations.... Nope again. :wall: :bang: :wall: :bang:

...not unless you want the :lightning: :lightning: :lightning: :lightning: treatment for the next two weeks.

:lol:

Nope, That would not be a smart move !! :lol:

 

[jonas1022]

That could be made into a movie sequel. "Death Wish XVII" or whatever the next version would be...

 

[Surfscape]

Seems I'm in a state of :lightning: :lightning: :lightning: :lightning:

all the time

 

[jonas1022]

Four O'clock in the morning. And nobody cares...

 

[camusdarrach]

A tour of the local garages in my area, West Yorkshire, has proved very interesting of late.
All the "large" 4X4's have plummeted in price, its makes no difference if they have either petrol or diesel engines, or indeed, the age or mileage of the vehicle in question.
However, smaller, less powerful 4X4's such as the Land Rover Freelander, Mazda Tribute, 2001+ Ford Maverick, etc, have seen their value rise :yahoo: , providing, of course, that they don't possess a V6 engine !!!
What I don't understand, though, is why more people don't convert to LPG, as it's only £0.65 a litre here, compared to £1.16 a litre for petrol, and £1.25 for diesel. :stop: :doh: :cuss:
As for my Maverick, if I decide to keep it, then LPG is the most realistic option for the future now, as Big Chris will testify, road tax, etc for 4X4's is now being drastically increased here, the Governments way to encourage us to ditch them for small, family hatchbacks such as the Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta etc. :rant:

 

[MadMax]

I traded my Grand Cherokee Hemi for the Trib 2 years ago...Today, actually, because I had a 100mile per day comute and the gas was killing me and that was at a 1.79 per gallon I also moved to where I work and hardly put a 100 miles a week on the trib. I still freak when I fill it at 50.00 a tank and at 15 gallons it's hardly a tank more like a shot glass. :lol:

 

[jonas1022]

Same with my wife. She used to fill her Escort once a week with pocket change. Now it's $40.00...

My F-150 takes $150.00! :taz: And fortunately I live only 6 miles from work.

 

[jmorton10]

Nope had to have a great bid Durango with chrome everything... :doh:

Of course now all I hear about it how much gas it uses and how she hates that @$#%[email protected]% thing. :rant:

:

Yea, Durango's (especially the Hemi versions) where one of our best sellers about a year ago.

Now, we can't give the darn things away..........

~John

 

[stone]

The same thing is being experienced down under. The six cylinder cars are selling very slow. I have noticed a few more escapes circulating in adelaide and suburbs, but the tribute has more popularity and is more frequently seen on roads out here. The toyota prado and little rav 4 seem to be favoured. Not sure about other australian cities but for adelaide the ford ' Territory', appears to be selling exceedingly slow at the ford dealer yards.

I hope Lathan is not offended. Just being observant of what is happening in sth. australia. The dealers are trying all sorts of flexibility in their finance offers, but the public are stressing about fuel prices. The other problem would be concerns about job security. Over the last ten years retrenchments have increased. Not sure why but the large SUVS as in Toyota land cruisers, prados and Nissan pathfinders, still seem popular in adelaide.

My only guess is that these people are on a good income, and possibly are not overly concerned with the steep fuel prices. Even though i have a medium size suv, whenever they pull alongside in their " Big" 4x4 tanks, my comfort zone is ruffled. Basically never got around the sensation of being intimidated.

 

[latan]

The same thing is being experienced down under. The six cylinder cars are selling very slow. I have noticed a few more escapes circulating in adelaide and suburbs, but the tribute has more popularity and is more frequently seen on roads out here. The toyota prado and little rav 4 seem to be favoured. Not sure about other australian cities but for adelaide the ford ' Territory', appears to be selling exceedingly slow at the ford dealer yards.

I hope Lathan is not offended. Just being observant of what is happening in sth. australia. The dealers are trying all sorts of flexibility in their finance offers, but the public are stressing about fuel prices. The other problem would be concerns about job security. Over the last ten years retrenchments have increased. Not sure why but the large SUVS as in Toyota land cruisers, prados and Nissan pathfinders, still seem popular in adelaide.

My only guess is that these people are on a good income, and possibly are not overly concerned with the steep fuel prices. Even though i have a medium size suv, whenever they pull alongside in their " Big" 4x4 tanks, my comfort zone is ruffled. Basically never got around the sensation of being intimidated.

Hi Stone,

Yes I noticed up here the drop in price of 2nd hand Territory's and there are some good deals on new ones. We intend to keep ours for quite a few years, so it doesn't bother me how quickly its value drops because it will be pretty well worthless when we get rid of it.

 

[Blood Junkie]

As for my Maverick, if I decide to keep it, then LPG is the most realistic option for the future now, as Big Chris will testify, road tax, etc for 4X4's is now being drastically increased here, the Governments way to encourage us to ditch them for small, family hatchbacks such as the Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta etc. :rant:

The problem is the Government think that everyone is 5'7", drives with nobody else in the car & drives solely to annoy everyone and increase global warming.

I could go out and buy a Ford Fiesta but:-

a. I don't think I'd fit in it, and if I did I wouldn't be able to drive it comfortably. (I used to drive the Wife's Toyota Yaris, but only for very short journeys due to having my knees up around my ears)

b. How on earth am I expected to drive a full 7 piece drumkit to rehearsals and gigs in a Fiesta?

When I was looking at replacing my Mondeo estate back in late '05, the primary consideration was ground clearance, not because I go off-roading, but because I wanted to be able to drive with myself, my Wife & my drum kit in the car, without scraping the bottom of the car over every speed bump in London. :cuss: (I owned that Mondeo for 5 years and lost count of the speed humps I'd have to crawl over at 0.0005 MPH, to be accompanied by the Scraaaape of the bottom of the car. :rant:

That was the single most important factor when deciding on a new car. The Government forced me to buy a 4x4 with their draconian speed bump policy, and now they want to tax the crap out of me for trying to find a solution to the corner they painted me into. :wall: :wall: :wall:

I tell you. 'V for Vendetta' is looking more and more like a documentary. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people".....Amen........I just hope the outcome will be the same! :lightning:

 

[jonas1022]

Actually, the prices come down much further and I might buy a large although used Expedition. There is one down the street for $5K, and less than 80K miles on the clock. I don't drive very many miles per year. That maybe the ticket. It would be cheaper to buy gas than buy a new economy car... :yes:

 

[jmorton10]

I don't drive very many miles per year. That maybe the ticket. It would be cheaper to buy gas than buy a new economy car... :yes:

I agree, & that is how some customers of ours are justifying buy a full size SUV now.

I was talking to a customer at our dealership the other day & he was considering buying a totally LOADED Eddie Bauer Explorer. This truck is absolutely gorgeous (heated leather/moonroof/NAV/3rd seat/two tone paint/towing package etc etc etc) & it is priced at least $10,000 lower than it would have been probably 7 months ago.

He has always wanted a truck like this & figures he can buy a hell of a lot of gas with the money he will now be saving on the purchase price............... He also doesn't drive a whole lot of miles per year.

~John