When do cars loose value

[ConwyC]

Bought a AMG 220C November, it is a May 2017 car, when will it loose value, is it tomorrow 1 of January, in May when it was registered first or when?

[E63eeeeee...]

ConwyC said:

Bought a AMG 220C November, it is a May 2017 car, when will it loose value, is it tomorrow 1 of January, in May when it was registered first or when?

When you sell it.

[Lincsls1]

ConwyC said:

Bought a AMG 220C November, it is a May 2017 car, when will it loose value, is it tomorrow 1 of January, in May when it was registered first or when?

I understand what you are getting at.
IMO, it doesn't matter too much what month a car is registered, what an average buyer tends to see is simply the year of registration, so as of tomorrow your car will be seen as another year older to 99% of the buying public and thus worth a little less.
Applied to average cars I'd suggest, classics and 'special' cars can actually go up in value, be seen as getting cooler as they get older.

[craigjm]

Never

They do however lose value

The correct answer is as above when you sell it

[E63eeeeee...]

Lincsls1 said:

ConwyC said:

Bought a AMG 220C November, it is a May 2017 car, when will it loose value, is it tomorrow 1 of January, in May when it was registered first or when?

I understand what you are getting at.
IMO, it doesn't matter too much what month a car is registered, what an average buyer tends to see is simply the year of registration, so as of tomorrow your car will be seen as another year older to 99% of the buying public and thus worth a little less.

For this to be true, people would have to consciously work out how many six-month periods have elapsed since a car was registered and reduce the value accordingly each time that number went up. I don't believe people do that.

Your car's value right now is completely theoretical, and also can't be more than an approximation. You can only crystallize an actual value when you get someone to pay you for the car.

[Panamax]

Prudent buyers will be looking at,

• Overall condition, and
• Service history

so I don't think the detailed months of age matter very much.

On the other hand there are often more buyers around in the Spring which can make it a good time of year to sell.

[interstellar]

As each new number plate is released ie September and March It has the biggest bearing.
As you drive it each mile it depreciates.

A new year has an effect on depreciation but the above two are more influential and the first one is linked obviously.

[Zarco]

Every day.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Zarco said:

Every day.

...and if you are a private (not VAT registered) individual about 17% the minute you turn the key on your new Ford Ranger

[samoht]

Lincsls1 said:

IMO, it doesn't matter too much what month a car is registered, what an average buyer tends to see is simply the year of registration, so as of tomorrow your car will be seen as another year older to 99% of the buying public and thus worth a little less.

I agree with the first part. I don't think there's a specific 'drop' in January since while your car is another year older, so are all the other cars in the classifieds that a buyer might purchase instead.

Personally I consider all cars of the same body shape as more or less a single entity, so your car is a W205 Mercedes, and the primary thing is the ageing of that model. In your case the W206 came out recently, at that point your car became 'last generation' and thus worth a bit less.

Then within a single generation there's a gap between pre- and post-facelift values typically (unless the FL was a mess or primarily cost-cutting). Within that, the year and mileage together have some influence, but only alongside spec, colour, condition and history.

So I think the year alone isn't that significant, and thus the turning of the New Year doesn't really affect things.

Value consists of a continually descending trend with age up to 10-15 years, plus trends in the used-car market (recently upwards but may fall again), plus seasonal fluctuations based on balance of buyers to sellers at different times of year. I certainly wouldn't think that either the turning of the year, nor the car's birthday in May, would affect its value much.

[ConwyC]

Thanks, I was curious and actually spent some time trying to look it up.

E63eeeeee... said:

ConwyC said:

Bought a AMG 220C November, it is a May 2017 car, when will it loose value, is it tomorrow 1 of January, in May when it was registered first or when?

When you sell it.

So when the insurance company asks what value the car is I should put £0 or should I write I am not selling it?

[Zarco]

ConwyC said:

Thanks, I was curious and actually spent some time trying to look it up.

E63eeeeee... said:

ConwyC said:

Bought a AMG 220C November, it is a May 2017 car, when will it loose value, is it tomorrow 1 of January, in May when it was registered first or when?

When you sell it.

So when the insurance company asks what value the car is I should put £0 or should I write I am not selling it?

[E63eeeeee...]

ConwyC said:

Thanks, I was curious and actually spent some time trying to look it up.

E63eeeeee... said:

ConwyC said:

Bought a AMG 220C November, it is a May 2017 car, when will it loose value, is it tomorrow 1 of January, in May when it was registered first or when?

When you sell it.

So when the insurance company asks what value the car is I should put £0 or should I write I am not selling it?

There's a reason they ask for an approximate value. Usually they'll suggest one based on your reg. And if necessary they'll value it at the time of a claim.

[samoht]

ConwyC said:

So when the insurance company asks what value the car is I should put £0 or should I write I am not selling it?

If you need to know the approximate value at any point in time, that's easy, just go to Autotrader or whatever and search for cars like yours (2017 Merc C220d), sort price high-low and find the car in the middle of the results (filtering by spec, mileage if necessary).

[Phunk]

What’s a AMG 220C?

Do you mean a Diesel C Class Merc?

It isn’t a AMG

[alabbasi]

ConwyC said:

So when the insurance company asks what value the car is I should put £0 or should I write I am not selling it?

They're only asking to determine what to charge you for your premium. Unless it's an agreed value policy, you'll get what they determine it's worth and not what you think it's worth.

[E63eeeeee...]

Phunk said:

What’s a AMG 220C?

Do you mean a Diesel C Class Merc?

It isn’t a AMG

It's got an AMG badge on. What more do you need?

[Dav72D]

Every other Tuesday at 6.35pm.

[Mr Tidy]

In normal times I would have said a 3 to 4 year old car was losing value every day, but just now that doesn't seem to be the case. Probably because people can't get new cars!

But who knows how long that will still be true.

[E63eeeeee...]

Dav72D said:

Every other Tuesday at 6.35pm.