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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - Depreciation on ZT?

Just out of interest, and I'm sorry to bring it up, but does a ZT depreciate on a similar scale to a 75?

I've seen a 2002 02 MG ZT 160 2.5 V6 with 25k for £12K at a garage. That's nearly 50% in a year! So is this a reasonable price, or would there be something sinister attached to it?

Many thanks,

Me.
James

James,
My 02 ZT160 is about the same age and I am under no illusion that privately I might get £10k on a private sale. That mileage is quite high, too, for a 12 month old car, but it still has two years or 35k miles warranty remaining.
List price when new, assuming no real additions like trip computer or leather seats would be in the order of £19.5k. Given that no-one ever pays full wack and that the dealers were offering pre-registered ZT160's at around £17k last year when I bought my 02, the figure is reasonable, albeit the trade in would be in the region of £9-10k. Also a lot of people bought on the discount scheme through clubs or the employee scheme through relatives (like I did) and again that was a big saving on list.
Frankly you could buy cheaper privately, and with the residual factory warranty, who needs the assurance of a dealer's 12 month warranty?
The good news is mine is at 30k miles and has been totally reliable.
If you plan to make an offer, then insist on a set of new tyres as part of the deal if they haven't been done recently, as well as a full second service. Original fit 225/45 18 Michelins are about £180 each, and a full service at 30k miles is about £220. The car will often indicate second service as mine did at 12k increments.What colour is it and what extras are fitted as that will determine whether the price is reasonable.

HTH
Martin

The Rock group KLF famously once travelled to a remote Scottish Island and burned a million quid. If you look at current depreciation scales, they may as well have burned the cash equivalent in Vectras and got more for their million!
Ace

Just considered trading in my 180 + sport auto for new model this morning.
Went to my dealer he has offered me £10,800.00 Trade-in
on same spec motor @ £29,000.00 less this months deal !.
thats some drop in 12 months with only 35k on the clock.
Fink I'll keep it a bit longer - it might some day become a classic and start to increase in value - HA HA !
Shoggy

First year depreciation is meaningless, unless you're one of the very rare breed of private buyers who changes their car every year.

Far more instructive is to examine the depreciation of a car over the period you intend to own it. Over three years, for example, the depreciation on the 75/ZT is pretty much par for its class, and actually slightly better than many of its competitors -- and that's before you factor in any initial discounts that might be available to you.

Seamaster
seamaster

I am not sure the depreciation is correct. The depreciation is the diference between the trade in value and what a replacement will cost YOU (i.e. including any special deals as surely no one is paying list price.)

How do you get a ZT up to £29k list. Our 75 Estate with auto and every toy plus Meteors was a less than that!

Cheers

Patrick
Patrick Beet

"Drop" and "Stone" are words to use here, I'm afraid.
Eric

Drop and stone are words I would love to use on someone's computer, LOL!

As they are, indeed, the words to use on just about most cars being sold after a year unless you happen to buy a rare model that appreciates in the first year after launch, like an MGF, MINI, Beetle etc.

However, factor in the period over 3 years and the ZT/75 starts to look more realistic, especially if the mileage is within reasonable annual averages, as would be the case for all cars. In fact most tables rate the 75/ZT as being better than many other rivals.

Let's face it, whilst manufacturers continue to churn out new metal and then discount it heavily to shift it in order to regain, or stay in profit, then oversupply will always kill the used car sector.

Demanding cheaper new cars with frequent model changes results in:
Poor residuals.
Poor dealer trade ins.
Poor quality as costs are cut.
Increased service costs as dealers work to recover losses on new car sales, or reduced attention to detail in the dealerships.

And this is not just MG R, all the mainstream manufacturers are just as guilty. Have you bought a Vauxhall Omega new recently? My neighbour picked up a top spec model with 12k miles and 12mths old for £10k, from a Vauxhall dealer. List was nearly £30k!

Martin
Martin

...unless you happen to buy a rare model that appreciates in the first year after launch, like an MGF, MINI, Beetle etc.
...

I was offered more for my *F* in its first year than I had paid for it!

Ted
Ted Newman

This thread was discussed between 13/08/2003 and 18/08/2003

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