Resale value is sad, anyone know why?

[armyGT]

I live rather close to car dealer row in my area. Mazda, Honda, Subaru, etc. All of the dealerships have rows and rows of unsold vehicles, both new and used. Now is not the time to trade a car. Dealers need cash flow and it's not there especially for Mustangs. Chevy dealers all have Corvettes on the showroom floor.
Many people bought S650's when they first came out and paid MSRP. Now many dealers are giving discounts. In all the cost of new vehicles is crazy. Wait until spring, hopefully things will turn around.

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[Edson8r]

I bought my 24 GT a little over 2 years ago and has just slightly over 16K miles. Mine is a base GT, only options are the 10Spd, and nite pony, and of course the color. Whenever I was close to trading in to upgrade I was quoted 37-38K and MSRP for my car was around 45K or so. Which isn’t too bad. But I did expect for it to not be worth as much as I paid new soon as you drive it off the lot. Plus I got it that way to build it my way over time and to keep it till the wheels fall off.

 

[Skye]

Unfortunately, it's the worst possible time for anyone to sell any vehicle.

- Winter
- Model Year transition
- Specific to the OP, 1st year of ownership
- It's a sports car
- Tariff policies were a contributing factor to previous buyer sentiment and current inventory. There was a surge of vehicle purchases as little as one year ago, new and used. People on the fence to buy bought, not knowing what the future held. They've now got their cars and trucks and are not looking for another

Dealer lots in my area are full. Some are having difficulty finding places to park them at times.

The amounts of monies discussed, especially on a one-year old car, do not surprise me. IDK what a "proper" amount is, but I'd expect to take the biggest hit that first year or two.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

Its very simple.

1. It has giant screens. Agree or disagree, this is part of the shitty resale value

2. If you have an auto, this hurts the resale

3. MSRP is considered by many to be too expensive. This is reflected in how much people are willing to buy the S650 second hand.

 

[jawsr101]

put your vin into https://www.carfax.com/value/ and zip code
then get value - you will have to click edit at top and change to see dealer list, private party and trade in.
This at least gives you some "fair" numbers to know if the dealer was low balling, you or not.
this one trade is 51K and dealer is selling for 55k - original sticker was 63k
personally, I think the dealer you talked to was lowballing you.

 

[Trella]

how old are you OP? Just wondering if you’re young so haven’t experienced normal markets.

This is 100% normal and to be expected, the full depreciation curve bottoms after roughly 3 years… then depreciates more slowly over the next 5.

Exactly. I'm not the OP, am 79 and I just keep 'em 3 to 4 yrs. then trade. You just have to be pragmatic and accept the loss. I like mine with tons of extras to play with and that's why I buy them in the first place. To Enjoy! Take care Q6543......Good advice

 

[Neggytive]

the Mustang is now a niche market car, which is proven by the low production numbers.

Your normal used car buyer is not going to see one on the lot and go "I want that", people who want a Mustang go looking for one. It is not a car you can easily sell to the uninitiated.

The Mustang is Ford's Harley, nobody under 60 wants one because they started in imports and are now brand loyal, they cost a lot of money compared to an import, and the reliability is questionable especially on an ecoboost.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

S550s held their value better than this. I suspect this is a symptom of skyrocketing MSRPs.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

No car purchased should ever be considered a good investment. Enjoy the cash you spent on it, drive it for fifteen or twenty years then part ways.

You are conflating resale value with an investment. No one is arguing that buying a car is a good investment, or that a new car doesn't depreciate. But some cars hold their value better that others. And the S650 is not holding its value as well as previous generations.

 

[TonyD]

FACTS AZ_Ryan - whatever it is what it is and I still love this car, I was just a bit shocked by this and YES this dealer was kidnapping me cuz I feigned interest in a 21 Corvette they had listed for $63K - was not impressed tbh, can't even get golf clubs in it!

 

[smurfslayer]

there are 6 reasons for this:

1. Many of us were spoiled/messed up our perspective with Covid prices

2. You had a CTS-V. Not a typial car.

3. You had an SS. See #2

4. As others noted, this is typical for new cars, however...

5. If you had bought a base GT for $42 (or whatever they cost then) you'd be quite pleased. Unfortunately, dealers generally don't consider much of any value in options. Although that does tend to change a bit when they're on the selling side...

6. It also depends on color and transmission choice, as well as wheel choice. I got hosed on my S550 GT convertible because it was yellow, had a stick, and the base wheels. I suspect (no hard data) that the coupe is more desirable with a stick, the convertible with the auto.

Exactly; Covid totally tanked the new car market, so for late 2020 through about 2022, used cars were commanding much more inflated prices- way overvalued because people could not get new cars (they wanted) without a monstrously long wait. Now manufacturers have caught up and people aren't forced into buying beat up Honda civics for 10k more than they're worth.

how old are you OP? Just wondering if you’re young so haven’t experienced normal markets.

This is 100% normal and to be expected, the full depreciation curve bottoms after roughly 3 years… then depreciates more slowly over the next 5.

The S650 in general encompasses the Eco, 5.0 GT and the Dark Horse. All of them have their markets but the Eco is not commanding the same money as a loaded GT and ditto for the Dark Horse.

So in '26, the market is much different now than even mid '24 when I bought. Now it's rare to find a Dark Horse over MSRP, but in mid '24 it was the norm. Deals were out there, but you had to work. A lot. There were a lot of dealers way too proud of their Dark Horse Mustangs.
If you paid over MSRP for it, you flushed that money down the toilet.

S550s held their value better than this. I suspect this is a symptom of skyrocketing MSRPs.

Sure, because Covid. I know a guy who bought '19 Raptor, loaded and sold it in late 2020 for a power boost F150 + he got $20k cash. Not too shabby. Sure, the Rap is a 'Ford Performance' truck but, Ford cranked them out like they were never going to produce another. Yes, MSRP is outpacing people's ability to buy, but a good portion of this is the leftover amortization of Ford's Quixotic EV crusade. They built it and practically nobody came and when the tax incentives went away, so did the majority of buyers.

 

[Wiley Marmot]

It's been my experience new car resale value/s all take a beating for the first 3 or so years; then lose value much more slowly after that; depending on mileage, condition (mods/no mods/type of mod), and cosmetics. I've found the 5-6 year period to be the resale/trade in sweet spot for me.

 

[UniqueDoug]

OP, just out of curiosity run your Stang through Carvana and get an offer, I'm betting it's $3-4000 more.

Also, I can run MMR/wholesale for you if you give me the specifics.

 

[LouG]

the Mustang is now a niche market car, which is proven by the low production numbers.

Your normal used car buyer is not going to see one on the lot and go "I want that", people who want a Mustang go looking for one. It is not a car you can easily sell to the uninitiated.

The Mustang is Ford's Harley, nobody under 60 wants one because they started in imports and are now brand loyal, they cost a lot of money compared to an import, and the reliability is questionable especially on an ecoboost.

Mine was probably the easiest sale they had all year. Started it in sport mode, one test drive and done.

 

[Dave2013M3]

That was one of the concerns I had with the S650. Depreciation on the M2 has been pretty good so far. I bought in 2024 and since then there have been 3 pretty substantial price increases which definitely aided resale. I paid $62K for the car and I could still probably sell her for $59K. I was offered $55K from CARMAX.

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