Is the Mini Cooper considered a luxury car?

Q. Is it considered a really nice car or do people view it as lame/geeky? I'm thinking of buying it (I'm a girl btw.)

Answer
I donât think the MINI is considered a luxury car that comes with the Lexus, Mercedes, etc. cliché. It is however a small premium car. If you like driving but also have a good sense of pragmatism this car may be a very good fit. Youâll have fun driving it around and it handles very well, but you wonât spend all your money on it due to the high resale value, free maintenance program, great gas mileage etc. I think only people who donât know what the car is about and never drove one would see it as geeky⦠similar to what some folks thought of Mac users back in the days being a bunch of geeky wannabe designers. In the end you are driving the car and you need to feel it represents what you believe in. I own a MINI and wouldnât trade it in against any other car since all other cars seem either lame or too much $$ to be spent on a machine for me. The MINI is the best compromise I found. Just go drive one and youâll see what Iâm talking about.

Cars.......................?

Nick

Which is the best car? 2007 Camry, used saab 9-3, used audi a4, new Mazda 3, used mazda 6? Why????

Answer
Depends what you want the car for. If you want luxury, the saab and the audi would be better. If you want a super reliable car that will probably make it up to 300k miles, thent he camry. Even if you don't drive the car that long, the camry will have the best resale value. Only problem with the camry is it's boring. The 2 mazdas are ok, not as reliable as the camry but more than the audi or saab, plus it's the cheapest out of the cars you listed. The saab has the worst reliability out of the ones you listed followed by the audi, though audi's problems are mostly electronics related. The engine itself is great.

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Do luxury cars depreciate faster than average cars?

Jason Sant

I am planning to buy a car. Being a business major and being the thrifty person that I am I would never buy a brand new car because once you drive it out the dealership it already depreciated. A one to two year old car is an ideal buy. My economics professor brought up a good point that luxury cars are cheaper to maintain than normal cars. I live in Hawaii which was ranked the worst state to own a car because maintainance is so expensive.

Answer
I would suggest that you use a shopping tool like Yahoo Autos. Just because it is a luxury car does not mean it depreciates less. Some drop in value faster then a lead ball in a clear sky.
I just pulled up a Ford Taurus and a BMW 5 series. Now the 5 series may not be a true luxury car but it is an up scale car. The BMW depreciates almost 30000 dollars (63%) in the first five years, while the Ford only 15000 dollars (48%). Now there may be cars that break this trend'.With the Ford only costing 26600 dollars to begin with is seems that the total cost of the car is almost free when compared to owning a BMW which looses more in depreciation then the Ford costs new.
So do some study, my gut feeling is that it takes a lot of money to buy a car that will keep its resale value up and then it will only be a percentage think. Lets face it, if a car costs 100000 dollars and it only depreciates 10% of its value in a given year, that is still a lot of money!
Sorry, I miss read the question, even if BMW throws in maintanance for free, it takes a lot of maintanance to make up for the extra 15000 dollars worth of loss on depreciation.

Why do Volvos have bad repreciation/resale value?

Dylan

Everywhere i see volvos are the worst for depreciation. Why? i am curious. and please, as a favor why are Audis also like that?

Answer
Hi,

My guess is that Volvos are seen as luxury cars similar to Mercedes or BMWs. But unlike Mercedes they have bad resale value because they are not as common, they are more rare. I know that Saabs as well have very bad resale value for the same reason. For every Volvo you see, you probably see 5 or more Mercedes or BMWs.
About Audis, even though they are from Germany, I think they are slighlty below Mercedes and BMWs in terms of brandname, hence their faster depreciation. Even though I don't if this applies to all Audi models.

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how often do car resale values drop?

mel23

Looking into buying a 2009 325i. I see some range from 18-25k. How often do they drop in prices? Would I see more of a decline by the end of year? I'm clueless about how that works. Is it better to buy at end of yr?
I ment 328i

Answer
Car values theoretically change every quarter (3 months), when the new Kelly Blue Book and NADA guides are published. In addition, mileage is always considered. More miles=lower resale. There is no set time for a large drop in value on any used car. On a new car, waiting until the end of the model year (NOT the calendar year) may result in some rebates/incentive financing being offered by the manufacturer, but on a used car, there is no such thing.

"It's better to buy towards the end of the month when the car hasn't been sold for a while. That will make price negotiations easier."

No, it won't. The dealer paid a certain amount for any car on the lot, and will expect to make a certain amount of profit. Nothing you do is going to change that. Forget related myths such as "They will take a loss to make their quota" and "They can take a loss, and get the next guy", as they are completely untrue as well. Keep in mind that the average used vehicle sits on the lot for 30-45 days. If it hasn't sold, the dealer will usually sell it at an auction, making a minimal profit

"Also, towards the end of the year is a good time to buy a used car. Luxury car prices drop about $5k a year until they hit a certain point and slow down."

Again, this is false. If prices change quarterly, why would they "drop $5,000" after any specific date?

"So yes, it's best to buy during December."

No, it's not...

If you can't afford the car you want now, keep looking, maybe you'll find a deal. Maybe you need to look at less vehicle. At worst, wait a year or two until the car you want is a bit more affordable.

Sorry it's not what you wanted to hear.

why are manual transmission mercedes benz cars have such low resale value?

Pikachu <3

are benz known to have some sort of bad manual transmission reputation? do they go bad quickly? or is it just the fact that since benz is a luxury line anything that isn't automatic has lower demand and lower standards? explanation please?
overdrive/vvt usually doesn't kick in until higher rpms

one recognizable car brand name that has intelligence on overdrive in the lows is honda's i-vtec but thats probably it...maybe toyota as well.

Answer
Benz' are considered luxury vehicles and a strong majority of owners want an automatic transmission. Having a standard limits the potential buyers that will be interested in buying your car.

On the flipside of that, if someone wants a standard Benz, they will look for one & keep searching until they find it.

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What are the hottest selling used cars, those which demand the best prices?

luxury cars with best resale value image

live-abund

Looking to buy a used car with high resale value and big demand. Sport Luxury would be perfect. Maybe Audi or Infinity? But I am open to anything.
I'm in Utah so any info. specific to this market is great, but any information you know will help.
Thanks!

Answer
Most Hondas are pretty good in that area, as well as Toyotas.

What luxury car is the best, in price and performance?

mrsbev88

I own an Audi A6 and a Volvo, but what about the rest? I don't want to buy one that doesn't have good resale value or that has lots of problems right out of the gate.

Answer
Lexus, Infiniti, Acura - Not even worth the time it took to type their names. Think of their counter parts;

Lexus is Toyota - Infiniti is Nissan - Acura is Honda

Now we move onto BMW and Mercedes-Benz

BMW is Bentley - Mercedes-Benz is Maybach

There is a huge difference between a Bentley and a Honda!

BMW is the best in class, It holds it's value better than any other car on the market.

I have owned a BMW since 2003 and it has never had a problem with the exception of a speaker that likes to crackle. I own a Mercedes-Benz ML500 SUV and it is a beautiful car, but has had it's share of minor problems. I own a Volkswagen Passat, The Audi's counterpart and I have had a few problems with battery related issues.

My Family owns several Mercedes-Benz, a BMW, 2 Audi's and a Volkswagen Touareg. The cars that have seen the repair shop the most are those by Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

However, despite our combined problems, I have ordered an E Class Mercedes, 2008.

Mercedes-Benz was recently acquired by General Motors, Hence their maintinence issues. But the way that they drive, keeps me coming back for more.

Those of Asian descent may have the best repair records, but nothing looks or performs like a German car. German cars also have a better resale value and a higher price tag because they use higher quality materials, better engineering and have a reputable name behind them.

If you want a worry free car, your best bet is a BMW of any series.

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I am confused in buying a honda pilot or a pajero 2008. Can anybody advice me on this?

luxury cars with best resale value image

salman

I need an SUV, with a good drive, speed, luxury, all modern features and on the top of this, cheap and have a good resale value. I am thinkingto buy a pajero 3.8 L 2008 in riyadh.

Answer
Neither. Buy an American car.

And also, no such thing as a cheap luxury SUV with all modern features exists. It's either cheap or luxury, but you can't have both.

how reliable are the Mazda cars?

dean i

I am planning to buy a Mazda CX-9, but I hear from different people that those are not reliable and the engine will crash @ 100,000 miles and they do not have any resale value. How true it is? I would like to hear from people using Mazda as well as Experts.

Answer
The Mazda CX-9 was named Motor Trend's 2008 SUV of the Year. It competed against several other very good SUVs such as the Buick Enclave, Hyundai Veracruz, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Land Cruiser and Subaru Tribeca. The panel of 12 judges unanimously agreed that the Mazda CX-9 was the winner!

Motor Trend subjects all of their "Car/Truck/SUV of the Year" winners to a Long-Term Test including the Mazda CX-9. In 15 months, they put 38,000 miles on it and didn't have a single problem or failure of any kind. In closing their report, they said, "The more we drive it, the more we love it!"

Car & Driver also subjected a 2008 CX-9 to a Long-Term Road Test. They covered 40,080 miles in less than 14 months. At the end of the test, they said, "We ended up utterly infatuated with the crossoverâs blend of performance, driving pleasure, comfort, style, and luxury. It looked rich and classy inside and out and every mile turned was a happy one!"

Consumer Reports gives the Mazda CX-9 their "Recommended" rating (which is a designation it shares with the Honda Pilot, Ford Flex and Chevy Traverse). The CX-9 actually scored higher than the Pilot overall and tied with the Flex in the overall rating. The CX-9 is also expected to be at least 16% above average in terms of overall reliability.

****All the evidence, from experts as well as owners on several different sites such as Edmunds.com, TrueDelta.com and Consumer Reports, indicates that the CX-9 is a well-built, reliable and durable SUV. A small percentage of early production 2007 models had very minor issues such as the silver finish peeling or flaking off of door or console trim panels. That's as bad as the reports get and 2008 and newer models aren't having any issues at all.

The person(s) who told you that the engine will blow at 100,000 miles is either misinformed, delusional or full of B.S. and telling lies! The 3.7L MZI V6 in the CX-9 and the Ford Duratec 37 which is currently used in the Lincoln MKS and MKT. Ford has also developed a version of the Duratec 37 with a system they call 'Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing' (Ti-VCT) which puts out 305hp under the hood of the 2011 Mustang and will also show up in the 2011 F150 pickup. The only difference between the Mazda and Ford version of the 3.7L V6 is where they're built- the CX-9's at Mazda's Hirosima Engine Plant and the Ford versions at the Lima, Ohio Ford Engine Plant.

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