What models/years of used car are in highest demand and sell the easiest?
I would sell a toe to get ahold of an AMC Delorean!
Other than that, I can’t help you.
Generally the same cars that sell the best when new. There are lots of them and it is easy to find decent low mileage models at reasonalbe prices. A dealer friend of mine says 75% of his sales are Toyota Camrys, Honda Accords and Ford Taurus’. He also sells a lot of small 2 wheel drive pickups, minivans, and suprisingly, big work vans. Things he doesn’t like to carry because they are hard to sell include 4x4 pickups, Jeeps, high mileage SUV’s, and Chrysler products. And he loves Cadillac Escalades, he can sell them used for close to the price they sold for new.
A completly refurbished one will only cost you about thirty grand,
(I will someday own a DeLorean.)
Deloreans go for about 15k on ebay. Maintenance may be hard to do though, getting a mechanic who knows how to fix it and getting parts may be hard.
All true. And unfortunately I am a graduate student, so I don’t have “new car money” laying around just yet. Some day though…
This seems like the place to ask how I might find a ranking of quality and value-holding of used cars. If I’m thinking of trading in for a 2001 Focus, how do I find how it ranks in these areas compared to other cars of similar cost and vintage?
Toyotas in general, and Toyota Corolla in particular are in great demand in this part of the world. Honds are good too, but they have a higher maintenance. And Hyundais are picking up in the resale markets too.
Former DeLorean owner here.
It was a sexy car, and I felt cool as hell driving it.
Until something malfunctioned. Which occurred about every 50 miles or so.
The car sucked.
It also rusted out. The body is stainless steel, but the frame isn’t. :smack: :smack:
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- DeLoreans don’t cost all that much. ebay motors shows a few for between 10 and 15K. About 15 years ago a neighbor had a friend who had one, he had paid 12K for it I think. It looked cool inside+out, but the guy said it really didn’t have a lot of power–it just had a regular GM or whatever engine from the time.
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- As for “used cars having highest demand” I would guess it would be a very-expensive, very-rare car. I would nominate some of the old-school entries: Dusenberg? Ferrari? [vintage] Shelby Cobras?
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:eek: I drive a Chrysler Concorde! Why are Chrysler vehicles so low on the resale list??
I think you mean DMC, and I don’t mean the rap group.
Even though John Z. Delorean was an automotive genius, his car was a disaster. Nothing about it went right. For starters, the factory was in Northern Ireland, and the British Governmnet underwrote the loan to build it. This meant that he had to hire politician’s friends and relatives to staff his plant. And it didn’t help that most of his workforce went on strike most of the time (they even called a strike because they wanted a longer tea break!)
Second, the car was poorly designed-CAD was in its infancy, and most of the body panels (SS glued to fiberglass sheets, did not fit well,
Third, he chose the worst possible engine he could have gotten-it was the infamous RENAULT-PEUGEOT-VOLVO V-6. Thnk about it-an engine designed by a French-Swedish team, built by drunks in Belgium! This engine had low power and an awesome number of design and build defects-it was so bad that Renault stopped using them!
Finally, Delorean ran out of money-his investors (and HM Government) stopped advances, and huis cash flow went to nothing…then he dicided to finance his enterprise with bolivian nose candy. The Feds nabbed JZD, and the car bit the dust.
Are they collectable? Yes, but only by masochists and eccentrics!
I did. I noticed that after the post was made, but I didn’t think that it really merited a new post to change a letter :smack:
Ok, I’m shallow. I just like the body and doors on the Delorean.
Rip out the crappy innards and replace them with a straight-six with a nitrus-induced turbocharger. Straight pipes and fat mufflers with a stereo with subwoofers the size of Rhode Island.
Wesley, I’m sorry I hijacked your whole thread 
Just razzin’ ya. 
The thought of the DeLorean being made by American Motors was amusing.
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- US owners have put other engines+transmissions in them. During the 70’s and 80’s, the old front-wheel-drive Toronado engine/trans got stuck in quite a few foreign rear-engine exotics that proved to have reliability problems with their factory drivetrains.
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- As for the doors–gull-wing doors are a “standard” modification of high-end auto customizers. You can get that done to just about any vehicle you want now. Go to a customized-car auto show and you’ll see lots of cars with them.
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I mean, conceptually, they look great…but try using a parking lot…the idea ain’t too swift then!
These days they get Cadillac Northstars. There’s at least one company in southern California that specializes in swapping engines in underpowered cars such as the Fiero and the DeLorean.
Hey, I hear a DeLorean runs great on Mr. Fusion (D&R).
This is Just IMHO, IANACar Dealer, but the Ford Focus is rolling proof that American car companies don’t know how to build an “economy” car that isn’t a piece of shit.
To find relative trade-in or resale values, usually people look it up in the “Kelley Blue Book.” I looked up an 01 Focus, (I pretended it was the SE 4 Door Sedan, automatic, with 50,000 miles on it and in Good condition) and it gave me a “private party” price of $6,500 or a dealer trade-in of $5,100. The comparable Honda Accord (01 DX 4 Door, auto, 50K, good condition) has “private party” price of $9,125 or Dealer trade-in of $7,650. Check it out for yourself at:
http://autos.yahoo.com/kbb/
IME, the Blue Book value is usually rather optimistic.