Establishing Auto Value Is A Bit More Complex Than It Used To Be! A couple of decades ago, when you went shopping for a new car, it was a much more straightforward proposition than it is today. In the old days, you were more concerned with looks, amenities, the cost of insurance and the total price. We were still fully immersed in consuming. If you were looking for a luxury car, it had to have air conditioning, power everything, an impressively lighted dashboard that reminded you of a Christmas display in Saks Fifth Avenue and preferably, leather seats. The perceived auto value revolved mainly around how impressive your wheels were. We hadn't yet experienced the $4.50 gallon of gas. We put maintenance and repair costs for fixing those dazzling panel of lights and corresponding features conveniently under our mental rug of things that happen to other people. If you had a great (and secure) job, a $500 car payment didn't even make you blink. This has all changed. Establishing auto value today has become a complex analysis. Almost everyone wants to drive a nice looking auto, but fuel economy, reliability, registration and insurance fees are now important considerations. As for all those power options, hey, you can roll your own windows up and down. Electronic components spell trouble, somewhere down the road. Air conditioning? That's about the only amenity everyone still lists as a must-have. Today's car buyer has become a hard sell, according to the car manufacturers. So much so, that the 'Big Three' are now lobbying Congress to bail them out of a mess of their own creation. They evidently did not have the foresight to anticipate that fuel costs were going through the ceiling, nor that the signals of a slowing economy and tightening credit would come back to bite them in the you-know-where. The consumer's perception of auto value was changing and they failed to see it coming. The result is a complete mismatch between buyer and seller. The ordinary buyer of today is establishing auto value based on more down to earth criteria. With so many people commuting long distances to work, fuel economy is primary. New cars don't offer much here. Ironically, if a new car provides good mileage, it's likely a $30,000 hybrid. With all the talk of alternative fuels, not many buyers are willing, or able, to spring for this sum of money. Who knows that a couple of years from now, someone might come out with a reasonably priced vehicle that runs on algae and doesn't cost $30,000? The savvy consumer is more likely to hang on to their current vehicle, a known quantity, than to make a rash and costly investment in what Detroit has to offer as 'good' auto value today. People who now own vehicles with good resale value are far more inclined to keep this good auto value in their possession rather than fool with some unknown quantity. After all, if the Kelly Blue Book(TM) is good now, why take a chance on a vehicle whose auto value can tumble in the next year? If you perceive that your car has good auto value for you today, why rock the boat? Surely, in a country that travels to the moon and performs heart transplants, Detroit will get around to providing truly good auto value in the foreseeable future. Your best bet now is to sit tight and force the technology. Summary Auto values are a bit more difficult to nail down than they used to be. Options for vehicles have changed and the more electronic components offered, the more value the vehicle is perceived to have. Green cars are the issue now with people hesitant to invest in a hybrid at the current prices when a new model could arrive at any time that is a much better value down the road. Related Articles Buying A Used Car Finding Affordable Used Cars Related Sites