Best Method To Prevent Too Much Depreciation?

pulsar2008 · August 17, 2009

We all know that when buying a Lexus its value will never increase, but what is the best way to prevent too much depreciation? I mean is it better to buy a second hand Lexus every few years, or maybe a brand new Lexus every few years? Or is it best just to buy a second hand Lexus and to keep it as long as possible? Does anyone know the answer to this?

kam05 · August 17, 2009

For me, buy 2nd hand and keep it until it dies.

I've got a 8 (nearly 9) year old IS200. bought it when it was 2 years old with 30k on the clock, its now at 124k and counting.

I will be keeping this IS200 until: A: it becomes a MOT failure, B: Written off in a accident, C: Stolen (and damaged beyond economical repair).

I don't follow the "I need to change my car every 1/2/3 years" gang.

dazed · August 17, 2009

Buy a two year old car and keep it until the end of its useful life.

If you must buy new, again, keep it until the end of its useful life.

Regularly changing cars is expensive (IMHO). A bit like trading shares too often.

Parthiban · August 17, 2009

Personally if you buy new then best to keep it as long as possible. As an example, I bought mine new, and have had it for 7 years and possibly a few more still. As it's a Lexus it hasn't cost me any more than routine maintenance and still feels as tight as when I first picked it up.

But if you want to change cars regularly, the best option financially is probably to buy 2-3 years old when the bulk of the value has gone and then replace when about 5 years old.

Johnny777 · August 17, 2009

Bought a brand new IS200 Sport in April 2004 and traded in for a 5 month old IS250 SEL in June 2009. That was the longest I had ever kept a car.

Plan is to keep the IS250 for 5 or 6 years or so. Didn't want to buy new again.......my IS250 had already depreciated £5-£6k in the first 5 months of it's life. Perhaps I should have gone for something slightly older, but I fell in love with the car!

kenfoxy · August 17, 2009

There are two points of sudden depreciation on a car. When it's new and when a replacement comes out. If this is followed then you would buy at 2 years old from new and sell as soon as a replacement is being heralded. You would have the car for 6 years, on average.

I tried to trade in my immaculate IS 200 with full Lexus Service history AFTER the IS250 came out. The dealer didn't want to know because he was, by then, awash with traded in IS200's.