Vehicle Valuation

[Mathew]

Valuations done by dealers tend to be the price they would pay you for the vehicle, which is very different to what they would then onsell it for (which will be closer to the market value). In my previous job our company cars would be sold off after 4 years or 130,000kms (whichever happened last) and at the time of sale we would get a valuation from the dealer the car was purchased from, and this would be the reserve tender price when the cars were offered to company employee's. If no employee's tendered high enough the car would be sold back to the dealer. It was very common to see these cars sold back to the dealer for say $8000, and to see it on the yard for sale a few days later at the "Bargain" price of $11995.
I reckon your car would be worth something like $7-8000, mainly because the high Km's would be rather off-putting to the average punter. It can certainly be depressing when you add up the costs of all the "goodies" you add to your vehicle, and then compare the market value of the vehicle. A MX5 is certainly no appreciating asset, but I certainly get a lot of pleasure throwing far too much money at one.

[Gary Morrison]

Chic,

I went through this for the sake of my insurance claim at the beginning of
this year. To get a realistic value I went to Mazda in Wellington, explained
I wanted an insurance valuation, and that I wasn't after either a trade in
value, or a car yard retail figure, but an estimate of what it would cost me
to replace what I had, taking into account the extras etc. I also did the
same with another dealer (the sales guy who sold me the car 5 years ago
actually). I also surveyed the club web site, and ads in the Herald. I ended
up with two written valuations af around $15k. This was for a 1991 with
100,000kms, but a lot of aftermarket work and additons. The assessors
valuation at the same time was around $10k.

The valuation you were given is nonsense, and I would try again. You need a
saleperson who has an interest in cars I think, and one who is sensitive to
your needs.

Gary

[Phil Dyer]

Chic
Tell the yard that gave the $5000 valuation that you want to do a bulk order
and I'm sure we all would buy another at that sort of price!
Phil