The Washington times., 1923-05-26

| A1LSE Tie 4Atu year your CAT Is
Thus in the first year the avera 80
car has deprecated AZ per cent, but
added to this comes the per cent
| federal tax which the purchaser
paid, the freight and certainly the
cost Of a spare tire and some &C
cessories. The figures given do not
apply to all makes of cars because
not all makes are given q total
life Of six years. A Rolls Royce
may be worth $4,000 after being
used a couple of years even though
the original price was only a few
| thousand more. The same reason
ing applies to other high.priced
makes such as Pierce-Arrow, Loco.
mobile, Cadillac, etc. These cars
in certain sections Of the country
may depreciate only Is or 80 per
cent the first year.
Many factors affect the value of
your car. If 1t is constantly in de-
| mand the depreciation is reduced.
But the lower you go in the price
scale the greater is the production
of the cars and usually while there
is a good demand in many sections
of the country, there is also a
good supply and the price you get
is not always what the car is
actually worth.
A car may be good and intrinsi-
cally worth more than it's so-called
market value. The market value
considers a number of factors so
that a car made by concern that
has gone out of business, or a con-
Germ that has very small production,
would have reduced value. In one
case so per cent depreciation is
taken off after the first year. A
car then that cost around 81, 700 in
1922 would be worth around $500
in 1923 and the owner would have
to carry the $1,000 loss plus freight
and tax and accessories OF course
the car is good for four or five
years of good use, but there is
little demand for obscure makes,
and the dealer who buys it may
have to hold it for months before
he can find a buyer. That means
overhead must be added.
A very important point in con-
nectiOn with used car values is
that the car to have the deprecia-
ton mentioned must be in good
condition. If it requires any great
amount of mechanical work and
parts replacement an additional s
or 10 per cent is taken off. If this
is not done then the dealer will lose
money on the trade and this he
cannot afford to do. If the paint
Is in bad shape the dealer has a
hard time selling that car, and
every day he keeps it he must add
overhead charges.
The style of body and condition
of upholstery has something to do
with resale value. A roadster
usually sells for less than a tour
ing even though the list price is
the same for both. A closed car
has relatively higher value than
touring car in the fall or winter
because of the increased demand.
chauffeur-driven car has less
relative value in some sections than
an owner-driven car.
In some sections Of the country
car is worth more than it Is in
another merely because the freight
rate to that point is different thus
II a car is manufactured in New
York and sold on the Pacific coast
1t Will be worth a good 500 more
on the coast than in New York.
Nearly all cars are made in De.
troit, Cleveland, Toledo, sections
which means that Western coast
prices are higher for nearly all
makes.
When car manufacturer changes
his models to a great degree, prices
on the old ones drop violently. If
he merely makes a minor change
the price variation is not SO great.
but if he puts in a new engine, or
changes the frame Of the entire
body, the old model, even though IN
use only a few months, depreI,at,s
greatly. If a manufacturer changes
the list price of the car, used car
values are affected, but not in the
same proportion. IF list prices 90
up used values tend to 20 up and
vice versa.
1t is thought by a great MANY
owners that If they buy a car and
use II elght or nine months AID
then trade Tor new one they are
getting the better OF the bargain.
but on cost per mile basis | be-
lteVe the average owner loses a
great deal. In some cases he may
gain. If, for instance, he drives
the car $4,000 miles the first year
| and the car had a list price Of
around $1,000, that car would be
ready for a complete overhauling
and one might figure that it is
| cheaper to get new car and take
the loss than go to the trouble Of
having the car fixed up and then
take a chance on it's condition.
Some owners are willing to take a
big loss just to have something
new each year, but I believe the
majority do not, but imagine they
! are better off with new car every