StandardShift.com

I was talking to a friend of mine who is in the market for a new car. Knowing that he's owned several manual transmission vehicles in the past, I asked him if he was considering buying one again. His answer kinda surprised me. He said, "As much as I'd like to buy a stick again, I'm worried about the resale value", which he then went on to explain that selling a stickshift car is tough because there simply aren't many buyers for them. I tried to argue that there's always a buyer out there, but deep down I knew he was correct when he said that there is a limited market when you're trying to sell a stickshift car.

Personally, I've never worried about that. How about you?

It's interesting that he says that, I am in the market for a new car and at a local ford dealer, there is a 2011 brand new fiesta SES. They still have it and they say that the only reason that it's still there is because it's a stick. I personally don't care too much because I don't plan on selling the car I am looking at in the foreseeable future. Though I can see where it can become an issue, especially depending on the car and the make.

Nuh-Uh.

Resale?...Schmesale!

Eye Yam driving mine until the wheels fall off!

Resale value is the lowest rung of my worry ladder.

Scratch that, it's the ground the ladder sits on. No, under the ground. Bedrock. I worry more about the dash getting dusty.

Not a worry of mine at all.

I dont care at all

I don't worry at all about resale value either. But I guess some people do....

BTW, he's considering a new M6 and he's purchasing instead of leasing. It's ironic that he's dropping more than $100K on a car and that he's concerned with resale value. Depreciation is going to be a major bitch on that car anyway, despite his choice of transmission.

i am incapable of thinking far enough ahead to truly worry about depreciation and resale values. going along the lines of what someone already said in here, i'm more worried about dust collecting on my hard plastic dashboard and other things relevant to the ownership experience with the car i'll be driving, than with issues that might come up when i go to sell it. now, those who bought houses at peak prices should probably be worried about resale values...

I don't have a choice as the "Moupe" doesn't come in auto Besides, I love this car so much that I'll drive it until the wheels fall off of this thing...So, I'm not worried about it for one second

Keep my cars too long to worry about resale value.

bk7794 wrote:It's interesting that he says that, I am in the market for a new car and at a local ford dealer, there is a 2011 brand new fiesta SES. They still have it and they say that the only reason that it's still there is because it's a stick. I personally don't care too much because I don't plan on selling the car I am looking at in the foreseeable future. Though I can see where it can become an issue, especially depending on the car and the make.

That's how my dad got a sweet deal on his Focus. It was the only 5MT on the lot and it had been sitting there for months.


I don't care about residual value. I plan on keeping my current car until it's not worth much anyway.

You'll almost always lose money on a car. Might as well enjoy it while you pay for it.

Boston Fit wrote:
In the U.S. market, I would expect sticks to have generally lower resale value versus their automatic counterparts due to lower demand. Solution: Turn it to your advantage and buy used! Problem solved.

I've generally always bought used and thus have not really worried about resale value. My opinion is to drive what you like, or being able to get top dollar isn't going to matter because you'll try to kill it with fire - thus lowering resale value.

Currently I'm in a lease, and am thinking that I'll probably keep it afterward. Just going to see if I can come up with a way to save the money to buy out the lease at the end of my term. If I get this job I'm looking at, it may be a very definite possibility.

Good luck with the job, TnB.

I won't say I didn't think about it when purchasing, but resale value is pretty darn low on my list of things I worry about. Like my parents before me, I plan on keeping vehicles until at least a few years after they are paid off. Basically, until I don't feel like working out the crazy problems anymore - or if they become WAY too expensive to repair. Now if I had someplace reliable to work on a vehicle... that might change.

I can't say that I'll keep the Fiesta forever, but I certainly would be fine keeping it for years as a to/from work vehicle (or just me running errands). It won't work forever in the future for family needs since the back seat is tiny.

Squint wrote:Good luck with the job, TnB.

I won't say I didn't think about it when purchasing, but resale value is pretty darn low on my list of things I worry about. Like my parents before me, I plan on keeping vehicles until at least a few years after they are paid off. Basically, until I don't feel like working out the crazy problems anymore - or if they become WAY too expensive to repair. Now if I had someplace reliable to work on a vehicle... that might change.

I can't say that I'll keep the Fiesta forever, but I certainly would be fine keeping it for years as a to/from work vehicle (or just me running errands). It won't work forever in the future for family needs since the back seat is tiny.

Thank you. I'm in the "we're not sure if we want to talk to you" phase of the process and am trying to keep up on that.

I've always had good luck with Fords and I'm learning to be more like my dad and less like my mom, in that I'd like to keep a car long past its expiry date. The shortest time my dad has ever had a car was 12 years (a bog standard 99 Escort - didn't even have a tape deck), until it was finally killed in it's third nasty collision (2 t-bones and a rear-ender - Escort going face first every time at the hands of my brothers) and my dad didn't feel like fixing it again. My mom, on the other hand, tends to change up pretty frequently. Up until now I've had that tendency, but I'm moving away from it.