Miles and depreciation

[Fast_Portuguese]

Hi all, I was wanting to join the LC 500 ownership group :) Do you think the car in the link below is a good deal based on the very initial data that bvhout collected?
I'm struggling to understand if it is and mainly for a couple of reasons, there's little data to compare and if I go on webuyanycar they are offering 40k for that car, which is a long way off the 60k asking price.
I always found webuyanycar values a good basis to understand the value of any car in the current market, but maybe they don't have enough data for these more niche models.
My concern is, I don't want to buy the car and lose 20k straight away. Any thought?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202104261844219?model=LC%20500&radius=1500&include-delivery-option=on&make=LEXUS&year-from=2016&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&sort=price-asc&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=se100tp&minimum-badge-engine-size=5.0&page=1

[ColinBarber]

The price is there or there about with Lexus dealers, maybe a little high as you could probably get a Sport+ for similar money with a few more miles on the clock, and if you get one from a Lexus dealer you would get a 1 year extended warranty which will be better than any third-party warranty on offer.

At this sort of price the difference between forecourt and trade-in is going to the £6k+ so that goes some way to the £20k difference but I've always found WBAC do give very low valuations, especially on a niche vehicle such as this - they don't want the risk of having a high depreciating vehicle that can be difficult to sell.

[Spacewagon52]

The longer you keep a car, the more value you get from depreciation. My neighbour paid £22,000 for a VW Passat Estate (all bells and whistles) in 2007!

He has spent approximately £3000 on repairs (excluding servicing) A cost of approximately £1,500 a year.

If he had traded it in at 3 years (50% depreciation) The depreciation would be £3700. But do have in mind what £22,000 would be worth now?

Imagine buying a car for £3500 and keeping it for 5 years with no extra repair costs - possible with a Lexus!

[Fast_Portuguese]

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

The price is there or there about with Lexus dealers, maybe a little high as you could probably get a Sport+ for similar money with a few more miles on the clock, and if you get one from a Lexus dealer you would get a 1 year extended warranty which will be better than any third-party warranty on offer.

At this sort of price the difference between forecourt and trade-in is going to the £6k+ so that goes some way to the £20k difference but I've always found WBAC to give very low valuations, especially on a niche vehicle such as this - they don't want the risk of having a high depreciating vehicle that can be difficult to sell.

Would you recommend for me to wait for something to come up from an official Lexus dealer? I'm not in a hurry.

[wendle]

I really think it depends on what you are looking for.

there are not many around, so if your looking for a particular colour and interior you may have a long wait, if this is the colour combination and model you want its got low millage, and a reasonable price, see if it comes with a years warranty, if so then there won't be any difference from buying one from a Lexus dealership.

 

[Alex S. Driver]

The Lexus national used car website shows only 12 in stock at the moment.

https://usedcars.lexus.co.uk/en/Lexus/lc

It's a rare vehicle and as such the demand/supply 'rules' aren't what you'd expect for the equivalent BMW or Merc. I factored this rarity value into my buying decision and watched the above web page for almost a year before grabbing a V8 with the features/colour I wanted. It was 15 months old with 5300 miles on the clock and Lexus had borne £25k of the depreciation for me - thank you Lexus!. As I expect to keep it for 10 years I'm not going to lose a lot of money per annum.

Fortunately, the performance car motoring press don't draw much attention to what is an amazing bargain piece of art, engineering and pure joy. Who knows, it might even become a classic - one of the last of its kind.

[MNMJ]

On 5/4/2021 at 9:19 PM, Alex S. Driver said:

I factored this rarity value into my buying decision and watched the above web page for almost a year before grabbing a V8 with the features/colour I wanted.

I did this with both my IS-F and RC-F: Online stalking for many months, then leaping into action when the right car arrives at the right price. Lexus dealers also seem to raise and lower prices with little apparent reason. Of course, for this to work you need to be able to delay gratification; how were you with marshmallows as a kid?

[Brian R]

20 hours ago, MNMJ said:

I did this with both my IS-F and RC-F: Online stalking for many months, then leaping into action when the right car arrives at the right price. Lexus dealers also seem to raise and lower prices with little apparent reason. Of course, for this to work you need to be able to delay gratification; how were you with marshmallows as a kid?

Precisely what I am doing now whilst getting familiar with the traits noted by current owners. Bought my last two cars with too little research and given I want a keeper I'm determined to research the LC far more thoroughly. Good news is there is practically no negativity that I've come across.

[Malc]

On 5/4/2021 at 5:55 PM, ColinBarber said:

WBAC do give very low valuations, especially on a niche vehicle such as this - they don't want the risk of having a high depreciating vehicle that can be difficult to sell.

Colin, I discovered recently that WBAC was recently sold to a bunch on Investors for a few £bn I believe 

BUT   interestingly your thoughts on holding a vehicle in stock never often applied to the previous owners of WBAC .......... it was BCA,  British Car Auctions ..........and I'm sure they always made a good WBAC business decision when buying cars ....  and always finding a profitable home for them somewhere along the line 

Maybe not so much for the new Investors tho' eh !

Malc

[ColinBarber]

3 hours ago, Malc said:

BUT   interestingly your thoughts on holding a vehicle in stock never often applied to the previous owners of WBAC

I should have been clearer as I implied that WBAC held stock. What I meant was they don't want to auction a vehicle that is expensive/highly depreciating and niche as the bidders know if may take time to sell and therefore will only put in low bids.