Sorry to hear about your experience, but I have to admire your resolve in making the money secondary to your satisfaction. You made a mistake in buying a 4.6, you weren't happy with the car and you did something about it, whether or not it made "economic sense". Probably a better decision for YOU than driving a car for a couple of years you would be unhappy with. "
Thank you for your thoughts and, yes, I would rather forfeit the dollars, write the experience off to a bad business decision, than make do with a vehicle that I did not find comfortable to drive.
Hey Bishop--
So sorry to hear about your experience with the bad dealer. There's another thread elsewhere discussing resale value (of the Gen, obviously) and generally about other cars as well. Most, if not all, new cars lose about 20% of their value once you drive it off the lot, as you found out. Most lose 40-60% over the first two years! I'm not certain that there's a connection to resale value based on that apparent loss. Dealers buy trades loosely based on wholesale value (
dealers on this site feel free to correct me--accuracy is important to me as well) so they can auction the car (like they have to when I'm done with a car! There's not much left!), or resell it w/a profit margin. That's what make trades possible. I can say that I 'knew' some of this up front, but saw it first hand when I purchased my first Hyundai from CarMax. They were VERY up front about the entire transaction. I'd have bought another car from them had they sold new Gennys!
I do hope your next vehicle transaction is much better for you. I'd recommend buying like I've done for the last 20 years or so. Investigate your local market and find cars that have been reasonably well cared for, and buy one of them. The depreciation has been taken in by someone else, and you'll end up a happier buyer. My success rate with that buying process is great. The Genesis is the first new car I've purchased since '85. It's a V6, (acquired in Aug. '08) and I'm really enjoying it.
All the best with your future endeavors.
Dan :>)