Winter weather helps boost 4x4 values
Glass’s, the leading vehicle valuation expert, has produced its annual list of 2010’s top 10 three-year old cars with the highest residual values. The key fact to emerge is that seven of the top 10 places were occupied by 4x4s or SUVs. The residual values were expressed as a percentage of original list price for ‘57’-plate vehicles with 37,000 miles on the clock and the following list shows the highest to lowest ranking for each model range.
1. Volkswagen Tiguan (168bhp) SE 4Motion 5d – 68.0%
3. Honda CR-V 2.2 CTDi (138bhp) SE 5d – 64.3%
4. = Land Rover Freelander 2 GS Td4 auto – 63.8%
4. = Audi Q7 3.0TDI (237bhp) Quattro S Line Tip – 63.8%
6. Land Rover Discovery 3 2.7TD (190bhp) – 63.7%
8. Nissan Qashqai 1.6 (113bhp) 2WD Visia – 63.3%
9. Land Rover Range Rover 2.7TD Sport (187bhp) S Auto – 62.5%
In recent years, 4x4s/SUVs have been perceived as polluting, uneconomical and not entirely practical – with some backlash against ‘school-run SUVs’, for example. In addition, the hike in Vehicle Excise Duty, the ‘showroom tax’ for new vehicles, as well as rising fuel prices all seem to have conspired against 4x4s and SUVs.
However, prospective buyers who may have postponed purchases during the recession are now buying and the British love affair with the 4x4 has resumed. Furthermore, at the start of 2010, the country faced extreme winter weather conditions, which have been repeated in the past week throughout much of the UK.
Adrian Rushmore, Glass’s Managing Editor, commented: “Buyers will have been impressed with how much better 4x4s were able to cope with the winter weather, and through the media we were even presented with heroic stories about 4x4s pulling other cars out of trouble or getting through the snow to people who were otherwise stranded.”
“Land Rover is still firmly the residual value king, with three of their models appearing in the top 10. Models from Toyota, Porsche and BMW are hovering just below the top 10, but the feedback from the market is that just about anything with four-wheel drive capability is in demand. Even two-wheel drive versions of some SUVs are now finding favour and the Nissan Qashqai is a prime example.
In previous years, Glass’s has revealed that the best performing models in terms of residual values tend to be near the beginning of their product life cycle. Whilst that is certainly still the case overall, the latest information seems to suggest that 4x4s are currently not as susceptible to the life cycle ageing process, as their prices are holding up, despite the fact that that three-year old examples from the same generation have been available for a number of years.