Date: Sun, 04 May 2003 18:52:06 -0300 From: Dexter J <lamealameadingdongnopsamlamelame.org> Subject: Re: Saab Depreciation: Greater than most?
Salutations: I didn't say leasing was a total rip off - here is the whole post as my news host saw fit dump everyone's posts.. B&D wrote: > > How would you be left holding the bag? I know a lot of people that lease > cars successfully and don't feel burned afterwards. And probably couldn't > afford the car if purchased new rather than leased. You make sure that > there is warranty service for the period of the lease, make sure you select > the correct number of miles. How can people go wrong? Are they leasing > Bentleys or something? <lost post> "Kenneth S." wrote: > > > It goes counter to the traditional American and subsequent Japanese > > approach to the auto business where you are picking up a car every three > > years and your concerns are related to trade in and lease numbers.. > > -- > I'm not at all sure about the comments above -- particularly about the > idea that the reason for high depreciation of Saabs is that consumers > like to trade in their cars every three years. If true, this factor > would apply to all manufacturers' vehicles in the U.S. However, rates > of depreciation in the U.S. are substantially different between > different brands of vehicles. > > I don't know if anyone from Saab monitors this news group. However, if > they want to build up the company's long term future, they should > address this issue. If there is a well-functioning market in your > product (and the market for used cars in the U.S. surely IS such), then > there are great benefits in listening to what the market is telling you. > > I saved money as a result of the high depreciation rates of Saabs when > I bought my 1996 900 SE as a used vehicle a few years ago. However, > there must be many people who are reluctant to buy new Saabs because of > an anticipated high cost, as a result of heavy depreciation. Hey brother Ken - I did not say that folks 'liked' to trade in and up the lease every three years - but it stems from the big odometer charges and buy out numbers that arise when you figure out that the $285 monthly you are into doesn't really amount to much against the value of the car when you come to the lease term.. Most folks don't go 'lease to own' at first and get hit pretty hard on the mileage fees at renewal so that once you are into a local dealer network - you are into their financing for a good many years one way or the other.. This sometimes doesn't leave a lot of money for maintenance towards the end of the cycle.. One outfit up here in Nova Scotia owns and operates the financing across several dealerships and completely different brands so that if you happen to turn up with a red Dodge quarter ton at the VW boutique - they can 'make that payment go away' as part of a larger deal on a new Golf.. They then flog the used Dodge on the lot for a while because there are a lot of other folks who need to dump the Golf for a truck to haul around house renovation crap.. It's a demographics thing.. And it all kinda works in that everybody in the loop gets what they need and the dealer is getting that financing money out for a longer number of years across the same risk assessed consumers.. Eventually - something like my '89 9000T finally comes out the backside of all of this for like $1,800 if I'm willing to try to keep her on the road.. Thusly: a: I can afford a monthly of 'X' and I can get a car that won't break down on me so I can afford to pick up all my bills in the course of a month.. later: Crap - I can't afford the spread between the agreed value in my lease and what offers I got out of e-bay - man that's a heavy hit for setting a minimum - what can you do for me about extending the lease or putting me into the current model at a new lease number.. and/or: Total swap - eat the spread and get into a lease to own arrangement on something that I figure will last 10 years before really getting expensive.. I'm out in five and can run it for a while without a payment.. What is the latest I can go before buying into the extended warrantee please sir?.. eventually: HOLY CROW - does that really say $1,800 for a basically working out of tune '89 9000T with leather with everything!?.. You know - most of us here at old alt.autos.saab .. :) .. So - as I roll through life - I am always working out how many more kilometers/years I can reasonably expect to get per total dollar (purchase, bringing the maintenance up to date and what breaks as I go along) - and then - how much a given repair is going to cost me in an increasingly aging machine -vs- how low I think I can respectably go in terms of brand and condition and still not feel like I'm driving a lifestyle statement I would otherwise not like to make.. It's a crap shoot every time I have to put a round between the headlights of course - depends on your relationship with your wife and what sometimes weird lifestyle statements you feel are cool for you and yours at any given time.. On the other hand - my wife and I were calculating out that in our 17 years together (our anniversary tonight actually) we have laid out about $28,000 in total for - all - our vehicles including repair and insurance (PI/PD only please) - averaging about 45,000 kilometers per year on them.. We have been getting between 3-4 years per very hard working car with one notable lemon 900.. That's not bad all in and we have always driven better cars than our careers would normally afford us - we keep all our receipts and odometer numbers as our cars were all eventually scraped - I usually insist they cut it in two while I watch after I have picked them clean for anything still working as they are patently dangerous by the time we retire their title.. Thusly - the SAAB (and perhaps the Epsilon initiative if it goes as planned) has always been a good buy for us because a lot of the things that break are interchangeable between several model years and, by the time we own a given car, a healthy aftermarket of remanufactured spares have come available.. We ran 99's/900's with b-motors until good chassis became unavailable - tried several other machines we wanted to for a bit - and it looks like we're sticking by the 9000T series until the chassis become unavailable again.. Drive train swapping has played a key roll in our lives.. It's cheaper than you think if you have the right wrench meister and the underlying knowledge or advise to find one you can trust.. With SAAB - I still always check with my local dealer as they are sometimes the price winner on certain parts - I just usually have to wait a while for them.. Which is OK too - as I usually know when something is getting frayed enough to look around for a part related problem.. Not everyone is.. I hope the good folks at GM keep an eye on this NG actually - however I doubt they do.. If the Epsilon initiative goes as described - high wear parts and upgrade should be completely viable into 500,000 km across whole brands directly and it will allow for the demographic shift to ownership over leasing through new models - which then eventually floods the market with low value 6 year old cars.. There are - a lot - of folks who buy to put the right hood ornament in the parking slip.. I'm that same way - but with used cars.. If I was really comfortable that I could affordably buy into a new car that I didn't perceive as being a cheap econo-box and run it as hard as we do without ending up being totally screwed at 5 years in terms of reliability and maintenance costs - I would be more than willing to buy into the financing model instead of the ass end of the cycle.. Now - off to get some flowers for the best missus on the planet - wish to hell I said no to the third helping of stuffing last christmas.. :) .. -- J Dexter - webmaster - http://www.dexterdyne.org/ all tunes - no cookies no subscription no weather no ads no news no phone in - RealAudio 8+ Required - all the Time Radio Free Dexterdyne Top Tune o'be-do-da-day Belinda Carlisle - I Feel Free http://www.dexterdyne.org/888/153.RAM
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