11 new cars buyers give up most often after 1 year
Some new-car models, particularly a few luxury vehices, are resold after just one year of ownership signficantly more often than the average car is, according to a newly released analysis by iSeeCars.com
While just 1.5 percent of car buyers resell their new cars within the first year of ownership, iSeeCars spotlighted 11 models thatn see at least twice the rate of resale when compared to average car, says the research firm.
iSeeCars analyzed more than 24 million individual new car sales and counted how many of those new cars were reselling as used within the first year.
Six of the 11 models are from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
The top three models include the BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class
“All re-sold at rates that are quadruple the average of all models,” said iSeeCars.com
“This is partly attributed to dealers reselling their loaner vehicles which they have an oversupply of due to incentives from the automakers.”
The following is a list of the new cars resold most often as used within the first year of ownership, according to iSeeCars.com, along with percentage going this route.
BMW 3 Series, 8.0%
BMW 5 Series, 7.1%
Mercedes C-Class, 6.1%
Nissan Versa Note, 4.0%
Dodge Dart, 3.9%
BMW X3, 3.9%
BMW 4 Series, 3.9%
Mercedes E-Class, 3.9%
Chrysler 200, 3.8%
Subaru WRX, 3.3%
Nissan Versa, 3.2%
"While some might be surprised that these luxury brands top the list, these auto manufacturers offer their dealers incentives to buy new cars to use as loaner vehicles, which are then sold as used when they are still under a year old," Phong Ly, chief executive officer of iSeeCars.com said in a news release. "This is a marketing strategy with a two-fold purpose. It puts brand-new models in the hands of current owners when they bring their cars in for service, increasing the likelihood that they will buy another car from that brand. In addition, it essentially increases the brand's new car sales, which help to give them the ability to claim the title of 'top luxury brand', something that BMW and Mercedes-Benz compete for every year."
iSeeCars suggests that one reason these models are being resold within the first year of ownership is linked to quality or perceived quality of the cars.
Aside from the BMW and Mercedes-Benz models, the remaining models on the list, all ranked an average of three stars or less in the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Initial Quality Study, which surveys consumers after 90 days of ownership, iSeeCars said.
"It's not surprising that consumers would make a change after a short amount of time if they felt the quality was lacking," Ly said. "After all, a new car is a very expensive purchase and one that consumers spend a significant amount of time with multiple times a day."
Additionally, the high resale rate of the 11 models represents an excellent opportunity to find bargains on them.
Nine of the 11 models have an estimated discount 12.7 percent higher than the average car, according to iSeeCars.com.
The following is a list of each model's average discount.
Chrysler 200: 29.9%
Dodge Dart: 27.4%
Nissan Versa Note:20.2%
Mercedes C-Class: 19.6%
Mercedes E-Class: 19.3%
BMW 5 Series: 18.2%
BMW 3 Series: 18.0%
BMW 4 Series: 17.3%
Nissan Versa: 14.1%
BMW X3: 12.7%
Subaru WRX: 6.2%
iSeeCars analyzed more than 24 million individual new car sales of model years 2015-2017 within calendar years 2015 and 2016.
The firm used each car's Vehicle Identification Number to see whether the car was re-listed between four months and a year of its sell date.
New cars with over 500 miles and used cars with less than 4000 miles were excluded from the study.
The amount of cars relisted as used was then articulated as a percentage of the number of new car sales by iSeeCars.com.