How long does it take for a car to go from new to used with a significant price reduction?

Question

By significant I mean like 10K off the price.

Answer 1

as soon as the front tire drives off the lot

Answer 2

The general rule is that the day you drive the car off the lot, it looses 20% of its value. But thats not always the case. some used cars appreciate once its driven off the lot. For example, the ferrari enzo sold for $750,000 from the factory. An enzo with 10,000 miles sells for around $1.5 million today. so the value of the car doubled because its such a limited production vehicle.
Also, it can depend on what year the car gets a redesign. If you buy an 07 civic, and in 08 its going to be redesigned, the value of the car will drop much faster. nearly all of the time, the people looking for a civic will like the new design better, so they will pass up on an older looking car.

Answer 3

When you buy any big ticket item such as an automobile or RV that has significant mark-up in it and a fairly rapid depreciation rate as soon as you take ownership of the merchandise it is considered used. Now the initial depreciation is going to be dependent on several things. What was the difference between what you paid for it and what the dealer paid for it (mark-up, or dealer profit), what kind of incentives are offered by the factory, and whether or not the car is in the NADA yet. So all that said this is how you can get a pretty good estimate...dealer cost minus factory incentives minus $1000.00 - 1500.00 and that is what the car is worth when you drive off (unless it is late in the model year and it's already in the NADA...then you go by the figures in the book). That's the initial depreciation and it slows down quite a bit after that....maybe $800.00 - 1000.00 dollars a year after that.

Answer 4

Define significant.

While shopping recently, a dealer recently had 1 car that 400+ miles on it and was about $1,500 lower than a new car. It had one previous owner who couldn't get the financing and had to return it to the dealer within just a week or two after buying it.

I would have bought it, if it had the colors and options I was looking for.

Answer 5

Once u drive it off the dealer's lot . That is where the drastic drop between new car price and the book value.

Answer 6

As soon as you drive it off of the car lot, it depreciates significantly. In fact, a new car can depreciate up to 20% of the car's total value, by just driving off the lot, once you've bought it. :(

Answer 7

The instant you drive it off the car lot.

Answer 8

The moment it is driven off of the dealers lot.

Answer 9

about 45 seconds after you have driven off the lot

Answer 10

When you drive it off the Garage forecourt for the first time.