Interesting (to me) used market trends

"Phyrxes once again has a wagon!" (phyrxes)
08/11/2017 at 19:54 • Filed to: None

For whatever reason (I’m going with sheer volume of sales) the used Civic market is way friendlier than the used Fit market. Corollas are generally more expensive than Civics, and the Focus and Mazda3 are almost not present. I get the Mazda3 being a small player but the Focus somewhat surprised me.

I think I’ll be test driving a few Civics this weekend.

DISCUSSION (17)

Chuckles > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 20:04

I think it’s partially a supply issue, at least for Honda. My local dealership currently has 16 new Fits and 109 new Civics. The used market has to come from somewhere.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 20:17

Civics are everywhere. Fits are less everywhere.

LongbowMkII > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 20:23

Automatic transmissions in focii are hot garbage apparently.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > LongbowMkII
08/11/2017 at 20:26

Isn’t that an ongoing legal thing?

dogisbadob > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 20:31

yup! Ford STILL can’t get right after over a dozen tries to fix it!

dogisbadob > LongbowMkII
08/11/2017 at 20:33

yup! They tried to pass off a DCT as a regular automatic, and it doesn’t work! And the Fiesta’s is even worse!

Ford needs to just replace them with regular automatic transmissions already. In fact, the SFE sedan with the 1.0L turbo-3 comes with a real automatic. All other Focus autos are that lame-ass DCT.

dogisbadob > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 20:35

Hondas hold their resale value all too well, to the point where it could even be cheaper to buy new than a couple years old used once loan interest rates are factored in (new car interest rates are cheaper than used)

Plus, the Civic is a new design, so the used ones are of the older design, which can lower the resale value. OTOH, the Fit and Corolla are the same design for a few years, so used ones look just like the new ones.

Plus, as someone else said, the Focus automatic is awful.

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > LongbowMkII
08/11/2017 at 20:39

I had one and it didn’t really bother me. I necer had mechanical problems up to 150k. I guess I knew what to expect. I bought my 2012 in 2011 and never had an ECU flash at the dealer so I was on a very early version of the software. I loved the transmission on the highway with its quick upshifts. YMMV.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > dogisbadob
08/11/2017 at 20:39

Fair enough, I’m looking to only spend insurance cash if possible so I’m looking at 08-10 models as I’m replacing an 07 Corolla.

dogisbadob > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 20:52

And how much is that? :p

Also, how are used Sonic prices? They recently updated the Sonic and took away the cool digital speedo, so maybe used Sonics with the cool dash might be a good deal. And they do have a regular automatic, not the stupid DCT shit.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > dogisbadob
08/11/2017 at 21:04

We are still in paperwork hell so I haven’t seen final numbers but the claims adjuster (not the total loss settlement person) said we would likely see north of 5k with upwards of 6k possible. So right now I’m looking at what my local options are in that range. I’d rather not pick up another car payment so I’ve been looking to see what I would be willing to commute in that price range.

Difficulty, I live in a locality in VA that also requires emissions.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 21:59

There’s no Mazda3's because you live in the Northeast where they have all rusted into oblivion. It’s a shame too because the 2.3 is a tank and other than the rust they are pretty reliable cars. We have more down here and I recommend them as a kind of hidden gem in the used car market.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
08/11/2017 at 22:02

While I wouldn’t consider VA as the Northeast but it is the land of salt on the roads so the point stands.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 22:03

Let’s just call it the road salt belt

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
08/11/2017 at 22:04

Fair enough, its the reason I won’t even consider a car that lived in PA or any point north at all. If NC had better inspection rules I wouldn’t mind heading south to find something that would pass up here.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
08/11/2017 at 22:14

It’s always weird when I go back to PA to visit family and see 5-10 year old cars rusting when that never happens in central/south TX. If youd like I can check the ads down here in TX but it is quite a bit of a hike back to VA. Interestingly Craigslist in San Antonio is a little dangerous, because ads from Corpus show up as nearby and it’s easy to forget with the average cars being so clean here that cars that have lived on the beach can be total rust buckets underneath.

Aremmes > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition
08/11/2017 at 23:02

I have had a similar experience with my sister’s Focus. It essentially behaves like a manual transmission with a ghost driver selecting the gears. She can drive a stick shift, so she understands its behavior and has no problems with it.