Vehicle depreciation: Be save or score a likely bargain?

South Africa’s car buying public is known for its fierce loyalty to a certain brand and in some cases, unwillingness to change no matter the costs.

While the reasons for these vary, the staunch support for a certain brand comes at the cost of another when the need for a new vehicle rises.

And as is the expected norm, buyers willing to venture what is known as the “left-field” route are subjected to big the losses when it comes to selling their vehicles made by a brand known for heavy depreciating models.

The flip side of the coin though is that these vehicles often make for hugely attractive second-hand buys given their lower than “favoured” brand prices and in some instances, better levels of specification.

Unsurprisingly, the latest vehicle price deprecation report by AutoTrader identifies Alfa Romeo, Jaguar and Volvo as being the most notorious for losing a fair chunk of their value when it comes to selling time.

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An unfortunate trait all three brands are generally known for despite their respective products being well regarded, the same fate is known to limit buyers’ appetite for models made by Fiat, Peugeot and Citroën based on past performances, well publicised problems relating to parts and servicing costs that eclipse those of “better established” marques as such as Volkswagen and Toyota.

Despite South Africa’s well known love affair with the German Big Three, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the sometimes heady depreciation associated with derivatives of the respective brands are not as harshly looked upon as a result of what can be seen as an aspirational buy associated with the “allure of the badge”.

Besides respective brands, the increased of popularity of SUVs has led to a downturn in the demand for traditional family sedans and hatches as well as the once popular MPVs. The same applies to sports car that are notorious for depreciating at an alarming rate the moment from leaving the showroom floor.

In the case of the latter, the loss when new often elicits an enticing buy second-hand, but more often than not ends with more being money spend based on the condition and higher than normal servicing costs associated with the brand the model comes form.

The final conclusion then is that careful consideration should be given when buying new or used with a view on the future resale, or a willingness to pick-up a bargain that could prove troublesome and without any value in the long-run.

Full assortment of AutoTrader’s vehicles can be found here.