Are 2nd-hand saloons worth more than estates?

[LotusOmega375D]

I'm thinking about trading-in or selling my 3 year-old Passat 170bhp TDi Sport manual estate, so thought I'd type in the details for a free valuation. Parkers is currently off-line, so I tried Autotrader.

Having entered the reg. number and mileage it came back (incorrectly) with the equivalent 4 door saloon details: Dealer sale GBP 13,564, Private sale GBP 14,500.

I then re-entered the car manually and correctly as an estate and it came back: Dealer sale GBP 12,609, Private sale GBP 13,500.

So that's a thousand quid less for an estate, same specification, age and mileage!

[kambites]

That certainly surprises me. I'd have imagined the estate would hold its value better.

[Fastdruid]

Totally depends on the car and how rare. At a guess either no one wants the estate version of the Passat or there were lots made.

I've just done a valuation on my car (estate) vs the identical saloon version:

Estate - New 28660 / Dealer 6745 / Private 6055 / Part Ex 5770 / Trade 5400
Saloon - New 27383 / Dealer 6465 / Private 5795 / Part Ex 5540 / Trade 5170

Seeing as I paid £6500 for it a year ago I'm not unhappy at that.

[mnkiboy]

Just a thought, but I wonder if someone has input the data for the estate and saloon the wrong way round on the website you used. You did say your car came up as a saloon rather than an estate.

[LotusOmega375D]

Well Parkers are back with us now, so ran it through them. They also have it down as a 4 door saloon! Anyway at least their prices make more sense:

Estate: Private GBP 15,100
Saloon: Private GBP 14,100

Looks like AT's input data is incorrect. Nevertheless it's odd that both companies think it's a saloon: I am its only owner and ordered it from new production as an estate and it's always been registered as an estate in the V5C without any registration number changes.