Rapide Depreciation
Discussion
Having had one of these fabulous machines since the end of April, I am quite shocked to learn that there has been the best part of 45k in depreciation in 6 months. In fact having owned many other supercars I would go as far to say that it is the worst depreciation that I have ever suffered, as i intend to keep this long term and there is no finance on the car its annoying but not the end of the world, however anyone having taken out finance would now be in negative equity my guess is.
What I cant understand is how Aston have allowed this to happen and got it so wrong, there was to my knowledge, a healthy order bank and all of the used cars have remained in the dealer network, so you would have thought that they could like Ferrari does to a certain extent control the depreciation, it is hardly like these cars have had a terrible review or are as ugly as the Porsche. I emailed the UK sales manager to ask for some answers on what went wrong and to find out why they are allowing dealers to discount new cars by up to 25k, very disappointed to receive some slick marketing reply back, service from the factory and head office use to be a lot better and more helpful and open to customers. I can only assume that Bill Donnelly no longer worries about what customers think and if they have to shaft customers to make a quick buck then so be it,.
My own dealer said Aston massively got there numbers wrong and there are loads of Rapides that remain unsold so I see no chance of situation improving anytime soon, its is really sad that they have allowed this to happen to such a great car, and having owned 2 DB9's in the past feel I really couldn't justify owning another, and have decided not to go ahead with a proposed DBS purchase.
Bill Donnelly has since failed to reply to my of the other emails and obviously is more of a numbers man then someone who feels comfortable with dealing with customers, with this sort of service it can only do down hill from now
I wondered if there were any other owners on here that are as hacked off as me!
What I cant understand is how Aston have allowed this to happen and got it so wrong, there was to my knowledge, a healthy order bank and all of the used cars have remained in the dealer network, so you would have thought that they could like Ferrari does to a certain extent control the depreciation, it is hardly like these cars have had a terrible review or are as ugly as the Porsche. I emailed the UK sales manager to ask for some answers on what went wrong and to find out why they are allowing dealers to discount new cars by up to 25k, very disappointed to receive some slick marketing reply back, service from the factory and head office use to be a lot better and more helpful and open to customers. I can only assume that Bill Donnelly no longer worries about what customers think and if they have to shaft customers to make a quick buck then so be it,.
My own dealer said Aston massively got there numbers wrong and there are loads of Rapides that remain unsold so I see no chance of situation improving anytime soon, its is really sad that they have allowed this to happen to such a great car, and having owned 2 DB9's in the past feel I really couldn't justify owning another, and have decided not to go ahead with a proposed DBS purchase.
Bill Donnelly has since failed to reply to my of the other emails and obviously is more of a numbers man then someone who feels comfortable with dealing with customers, with this sort of service it can only do down hill from now
I wondered if there were any other owners on here that are as hacked off as me!
You do know there is a recession? so it might just be the depreciation is out of their hands.
Luxury items are having to come down in price for people to spend their hard earned and if Aston don't build anymore
and there becomes a shortage the price's, fingers crossed might go back up when things get better.
Luxury items are having to come down in price for people to spend their hard earned and if Aston don't build anymore
and there becomes a shortage the price's, fingers crossed might go back up when things get better.
Luckyluciano said:
You do know there is a recession? so it might just be the depreciation is out of their hands.
Luxury items are having to come down in price for people to spend their hard earned and if Aston don't build anymore
and there becomes a shortage the price's, fingers crossed might go back up when things get better.
You are actually missing the point it is more about controlling supply and demand which is key when in the middle of a recession, for any business to be lean and survive the recession you cant just over produce stock in the hope that it might sell, and if not massively reduce the price and in doing so drive down the whole market. who in a recession with any business sense would produce 100 more cars then you actually have customers for ? in the hope that they might sell, We are not talking about 10k city cars here. It is nothing more then a recipe for disaster because the customer who bought the cars in the first place are not going to be knocking on Astons door in 12 months time to replace there cars with a shiny new one and i cant imagine there'll be back in 2 years either, I know you mention it might be out of there hands but look how Ferrari have managed to control the prices of the California, you dont see every Ferrari dealer in the Uk with 5 new cars in stock in the hope they might sell and if not just keep lowering the price until they do. I imagine Rapides will be sub 100k by the springLuxury items are having to come down in price for people to spend their hard earned and if Aston don't build anymore
and there becomes a shortage the price's, fingers crossed might go back up when things get better.
dazzalse said:
Luckyluciano said:
You do know there is a recession? so it might just be the depreciation is out of their hands.
Luxury items are having to come down in price for people to spend their hard earned and if Aston don't build anymore
and there becomes a shortage the price's, fingers crossed might go back up when things get better.
You are actually missing the point it is more about controlling supply and demand which is key when in the middle of a recession, for any business to be lean and survive the recession you cant just over produce stock in the hope that it might sell, and if not massively reduce the price and in doing so drive down the whole market. who in a recession with any business sense would produce 100 more cars then you actually have customers for ? in the hope that they might sell, We are not talking about 10k city cars here. It is nothing more then a recipe for disaster because the customer who bought the cars in the first place are not going to be knocking on Astons door in 12 months time to replace there cars with a shiny new one and i cant imagine there'll be back in 2 years either, I know you mention it might be out of there hands but look how Ferrari have managed to control the prices of the California, you dont see every Ferrari dealer in the Uk with 5 new cars in stock in the hope they might sell and if not just keep lowering the price until they do. I imagine Rapides will be sub 100k by the springLuxury items are having to come down in price for people to spend their hard earned and if Aston don't build anymore
and there becomes a shortage the price's, fingers crossed might go back up when things get better.
Gotta agree with Dazzalse..
Aston Martin's new car pricing is quite simply ridiculous, they seem to just throw a figure out there & if no-one bites they discount MASSIVELY!!
Its completely unfair to any brand enthusiast who ordered an early one to watch new customers getting cars way cheaper than they did...
I bought a new N420 Roadster, RRP - £114,158 I paid £86,500 !!!!!
I also know of someone who got a new V12V for 110k
Come on Aston, price the cars correctly in the 1st place & you may end up with more buyers...
Aston Martin's new car pricing is quite simply ridiculous, they seem to just throw a figure out there & if no-one bites they discount MASSIVELY!!
Its completely unfair to any brand enthusiast who ordered an early one to watch new customers getting cars way cheaper than they did...
I bought a new N420 Roadster, RRP - £114,158 I paid £86,500 !!!!!
I also know of someone who got a new V12V for 110k
Come on Aston, price the cars correctly in the 1st place & you may end up with more buyers...
Also just to point out because nobody else has (and the same reason I bought a new car in late November) is because by far and away this is the quietest part of the year to buy a car and therefore the prices go down incredibly so. I know that's exaggerated even more with a convertible as mine, but surely the Rapide will have some evidence of a knock because of that.
most cars shed 25% in 6 months dont they?
youve got VAT and the dealer buy/sell margin to come off the minute you drive away
buy a £25K Ford and its £18K trade in a week later
so a £160K car dropping £40K in 6 months just about covers the vat and margin to sell then buy/prep/sell again,
seems normal to me ?!
its only cars with a huge waiting list that depreciated slower isnt it?
youve got VAT and the dealer buy/sell margin to come off the minute you drive away
buy a £25K Ford and its £18K trade in a week later
so a £160K car dropping £40K in 6 months just about covers the vat and margin to sell then buy/prep/sell again,
seems normal to me ?!
its only cars with a huge waiting list that depreciated slower isnt it?
bogie said:
most cars shed 25% in 6 months dont they?
youve got VAT and the dealer buy/sell margin to come off the minute you drive away
buy a £25K Ford and its £18K trade in a week later
so a £160K car dropping £40K in 6 months just about covers the vat and margin to sell then buy/prep/sell again,
seems normal to me ?!
its only cars with a huge waiting list that depreciated slower isnt it?
Exactly.youve got VAT and the dealer buy/sell margin to come off the minute you drive away
buy a £25K Ford and its £18K trade in a week later
so a £160K car dropping £40K in 6 months just about covers the vat and margin to sell then buy/prep/sell again,
seems normal to me ?!
its only cars with a huge waiting list that depreciated slower isnt it?
OP - if you're not selling, you have zero depreciation on your car. So quit worrying about it and instead sing from everywhere that will let you how good the car is. Get others wanting to try it. Harping on about how much money you've (not) lost isn't exactly going to instil confidence in others. Is it.
As for what's "fair" or not..."stock" cars have always been available at a discount. Because you have no choice over what spec you are getting. If a stock car fits what you want (mine did), happy days. If not, hello Mr RRP. Are they offering similar discounts on own spec cars? I would imagine not.
Ferrari are in a very fortunate position as they don't really have "stock" cars. Though I believe negotiation is more than possible if you wanted a 612...
Aston can't do this at the moment as they're still, in many ways, rebuilding the brand. Whether they'll ever get to the same position as Ferrari or not who knows.
That said, try buying a car (any car) from a Ferrari dealer and then within 6mths ask him to buy it back off you. Think you'll get tiny depreciation?
Anyway, get some pics of the car up
Depreciation on luxury cars is always very high, and it always higher than you have optimistically set your mind that it is going to be. It is obvisously going to be higher in a recession but then as has been pointed out with a bit of keen negotiating there is a discount to be had that will have stave off some of the losses, particularly if you can afford to keep the car until the market picks up again and new car discounting stops, forcing used car prices back up.
Its very hard for a company such as Aston Martin to simply reduce supply becuase there is a recession. They have huge fixed costs to cover in the production facilities so that will always mean they have to shift a certain amount of volume. They have laid off many of their skilled staff (to much critism in the press) to try to reduce variable costs but given that these are hand built products which pride themselves upon skilled labour there is only so far they can go before they loose the skills forever and the product looses its unique selling point. The recession is a no win situation for them really - be thankful they are doing what they are to survive in such bad times. Without AM the auto industry would be a worse place....
I know its hard to face up to huge depreciation but did you really not expect to loose a huge amount on it when you bought it? It is a very very expensive niche luxury product purchased in the middle of one of the worst economic climates in our lifetimes. These new cars should not be bought as investments ever really, and certainly not in a recession. Just enjoy it - your comments indicate that you can afford it, so dont let a few grand extra beyond expectations ruin your ownership of what is one of the worlds best cars!
Its very hard for a company such as Aston Martin to simply reduce supply becuase there is a recession. They have huge fixed costs to cover in the production facilities so that will always mean they have to shift a certain amount of volume. They have laid off many of their skilled staff (to much critism in the press) to try to reduce variable costs but given that these are hand built products which pride themselves upon skilled labour there is only so far they can go before they loose the skills forever and the product looses its unique selling point. The recession is a no win situation for them really - be thankful they are doing what they are to survive in such bad times. Without AM the auto industry would be a worse place....
I know its hard to face up to huge depreciation but did you really not expect to loose a huge amount on it when you bought it? It is a very very expensive niche luxury product purchased in the middle of one of the worst economic climates in our lifetimes. These new cars should not be bought as investments ever really, and certainly not in a recession. Just enjoy it - your comments indicate that you can afford it, so dont let a few grand extra beyond expectations ruin your ownership of what is one of the worlds best cars!
Edited by Adam2S on Thursday 2nd December 17:30
I purchased a Lamborghini Gallardo six months old in late 2005. I purchased at what I thought was a good reduction from new ( about 30K) and was shocked to discover trade bids of mid £70K six months later- this represented a loss of 58K in one year.
Look at the replacement lambo the LP560 - with options its about £190,000 when year old examples are worth half that.
Ferrari suffers the same fate these days as well, I recall when selling my perfect 1999 355f1 berlinetta and going into marranello and delighted to see the same year car with more miles than mine on sale for £72000 ; the price i was offered £45!
It seems nothing has changed
Look at the replacement lambo the LP560 - with options its about £190,000 when year old examples are worth half that.
Ferrari suffers the same fate these days as well, I recall when selling my perfect 1999 355f1 berlinetta and going into marranello and delighted to see the same year car with more miles than mine on sale for £72000 ; the price i was offered £45!
It seems nothing has changed
Edited by 355f on Thursday 2nd December 19:28
Siy said:
recession or not....£45k in little over 6 months is awful!
A good friend of mine done the same as this on a Range Rover supercharged a couple of years ago, Without a recession... Keep a car long term it all works out great,, Short term lease or hire, You know were you stand every month with no hidden suprises
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