Sold our 03 GT 6spd

[thesmaz]

Well the wife's 03 GT was traded in on a BMW 325 xiT last night. I'm in the military and will be tranfered to Belgium for 4 years and decided that we would get something that would be easier to get serviced during that time. The BMW is AWD and that will come in handy during the long, wet fall/winter.The GT was a good car but we never really developed a great deal of enthusisam over it so it was easy to let go. One thing that suprised me is how fast it lost its value! In four years I'll still be able to sell the BMW for more than what the stealership wanted to give me for the Vibe in trade. So, if you own you better plan on keeping it and drive it till the wheels fall off. I wasn't real active on the board but I always knew where to go if I had a question or concern about the car.Thanks much and enjoy!

[savedbyzero]

bye.

[AKLGT]

sorry to hear that you got rid of the vibe. but if i was able to get a bmw, i'd go for it! LOL. yes, the vibe's still a domestic... so you can watch the resale value drop like a ton of bricks! i think mine is worth maybe $15K or 16K at most. even after dumping $4500 into it. then folks wonder why i prefer to stick w/ toyo since they tend to hold their value much better (just didn't care for the trix styling)

[ragingfish]

Well, it's often said a car is the worst investment to make. Don't buy or not buy a car for it's resale value...at least don't make RSV a major factor...At least that's what a lot of financial advisors I've talked to have told me.

[AKLGT]

well, your financial advisor then has not dealt with insurance loss or issues if your car becomes damaged or you have to get out from under it. if you have a car/vehicle that has poor rsv, then if you need to unload it (whether due to financial reasons or if it's a complete loss due to damage), then you will have a balance owing after you sell. being that i worked in consumer loan collections and then on the other side, consumer lending, i saw many many people who had $3-5K balances left owed for a totaled vehicle or a traded in vehicle. insurance co will only pay the market value of the car, not the full ammt. if it's a total loss and you have gap insurance, then you will be fine. otherwise, you will pay whatever is left outstanding even if you don't have the vehicle anymore.i ALWAYS look at resale value. but i knew the vibe wouldn't have any. it's a ponty, rebates and incentives up the ying yang make it a hard sell once driven off the lot. my tundra had 33K miles on it, I paid $28K and sold it 2 yrs later for $25K. only $3K depreciation in 2 yrs.... not $6K depreciation in one yr!

[tjguenth]

When I bought my Vibe a month ago, I bought an insurance plan through the dealer for $394.00 so if the car get's totaled before it's paid off and the insurance doesn't cover it all the other insurance will pay the balance owed.

[AKLGT]

yes, i highly recommend this. it's called GAP insurance.

[ebslopp]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Well, it's often said a car is the worst investment to make. Don't buy or not buy a car for it's resale value...at least don't make RSV a major factor...At least that's what a lot of financial advisors I've talked to have told me.This is true. A car si the worst investment you can make. However, by looking at the RSV (along with other things) you can make it a less terrible investment. And when it comes time to buy another car, you're left with some money to use for a down payment. For me the RSV vs Cost of ownership is one of the many things to look for in a car.

[Jahntassa]

I'm not sure if going from a Pontiac that's mostly Toyota parts to a BMW is going to make service easier.. BMWs, if there IS a problem, are much more expensive to get fixed...Sorry to see you go..

[Stang2Vibe]

Yeah, but BMW carries a longer standard warranty and covers a lot more on the car. If it's like Audi, then you can get your windshield wiper blades replaced one per year under warranty. All brake parts, including the pads, are fully under warranty as well. They cover the WHOLE car.

[thesmaz]

We didn't buy the Vibe based on RSV, I was just shocked at how much it had devauled in just over a year and it looked brand new and had some factory upgrades. We also bought the Vibe over the Trix based on styling; how much are the Trix's going for? I have a friend who buys cars at auction and sells them on Ebay and he told me that the price that you see a car sell for on ebay is a pretty indication of what a car is worth. With that being said, 03 GT's were selling for about 2k less than what people were asking for them on autotrader.The BMW we bought is still under the 3yr 36k mi waranty which will transfer to Europe and the waranty that it carries is MUCH better than the Vibe. It will probably cost more to fix the BMW if/when it does give me problems but the price for parts on all cars seems to be getting higher.Thanks to everyone for all of the knowledge that I was able to gather from this board. Take Care

[vibepa]

SO you are comparing the resale value of an BMW to an vibe that is like comparing apples and oranges. Of course the BMW will have a better resale value it is a BMW. Yeah ok bye

[MoonDogg]

Quote, originally posted by trdvibe »well, your financial advisor then has not dealt with insurance loss or issues if your car becomes damaged or you have to get out from under it. if you have a car/vehicle that has poor rsv, then if you need to unload it (whether due to financial reasons or if it's a complete loss due to damage), then you will have a balance owing after you sell. being that i worked in consumer loan collections and then on the other side, consumer lending, i saw many many people who had $3-5K balances left owed for a totaled vehicle or a traded in vehicle. insurance co will only pay the market value of the car, not the full ammt. if it's a total loss and you have gap insurance, then you will be fine. otherwise, you will pay whatever is left outstanding even if you don't have the vehicle anymore.i ALWAYS look at resale value. but i knew the vibe wouldn't have any. it's a ponty, rebates and incentives up the ying yang make it a hard sell once driven off the lot. my tundra had 33K miles on it, I paid $28K and sold it 2 yrs later for $25K. only $3K depreciation in 2 yrs.... not $6K depreciation in one yr!I fell ya there... I bought mine for 22K 1 1/2 week ago.. and now its worth 18K or 16K on trade, but I knew that when I bought it also... and I don't realy care I plan on having it forever and I got GAP!! I would not buy a car without it now.. Me and my wife's car has it. GAP is very good .. my friend totaled his brand new Nissan Sentra SER Spec-V and would of ended up paying like 4-5K if he would not of had GAP

[Atomb]

i'm not sure if we have GAP in Canada, but for approx. $30/year i have coverage on my car insurance that will give me the brand new value for the car if totalled in the first 2 years...i plan on having it payed off by then...anything after that i'll live with.

[Dave_ca]

Hey Atomb: I know with my insurance (from NB) I get the same coverage you do, for about 30 dollars a year as well.. I think it might be a canadian thing perhaps.