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Which Options Have The Best Resale Value?

10K views 93 replies 34 participants last post by  EDF30 
#1 ·
Pretty self-explanatory question, I hope. I would imagine that some options (e.g., Park Distance Control, Premium Package, Dynamic Handling Package) have better resale value when trying to sell the car than others (e.g., High Beam Assistant).

In your opinion, which options have good resale value and which do not?
 
#2 · (Edited)
i'd imagine probably leather seats, the sunroof and well i guess if you consider an engine an option, the 335i option probably does ok as will a 328 over a 320i (all else being equal of course). most of the other options probably not so hot, but certain ones are probably extremely low residual (i'm going to figure dhp, bmw assist, driver assistance) especially the ones that are mostly electronic. h&k probably low residual.
 
#3 ·
My CA told me Premium package (mostly because of the leather seats) will see the best resale value. Also - the lighting package for the 328s (standard on 335).

Depending on where you are, heated seats could command a premium as well.
 
#4 ·
My opinion, the answer is "nothing makes a major difference".

The bigger variables will be color, mileage, condition, and the other cars of same type that you're up against the month you're putting your car up for sale. Clearly, some things are expected to be on a BMW and so on a '13 the critical ones that aren't standard would be leather, xenons, and navigation. But those won't help you get more money; they'll just prevent you from having a car that can't sell at all.

But, in the end, on a 5+ year old car and one as popular as a 3 Series which is sold by millions of private sellers and hundreds of CPO dealerships, not much of that stuff is worth anything, not like you're going to get an extra $2,000 because your car has juicy options. Like I said, the extra options protect you from taking a bath. If anything, having a car with no options would give you the best ROI because there is less to depreciate.

If you care about the money at the end, consider leasing. Unless you keep your car for more than 7 years, leasing is actually the smarter play.

BJ
 
#5 ·
3 pedals will have a limited but very fanatic market. Dealers will try to steal it on a trade (saying no one wants MT anymore) but in reality, there are enough enthusiasts out there who are scanning inventories and autotrader daily who are willing to pounce on the 3 pedal cars.
 
#8 ·
The best resale will probably be a base model. It's like the "Worst house in the best neighborhood" argument. The worst resale will be a heavily loaded model.

CA
 
#11 ·
None of the options have good resale value -- but good luck finding a buyer with none of them. I've been out looking at used E60s, and I wouldn't consider buying one without nav -- and yet the resale on nav totally sucks. So go figure that logic, but it's true.
 
#19 ·
Agree

Like putting an aircond into the hosue, it won't add extra resale value, it will create extra interests when selling
 
#28 ·
Said it before, will say it again, "Buying a car with resale value in mind is like screwing to get to the post coitus cuddle."

Buy what you want.
These answer a question I didn't ask, but thanks anyway. I already made my choices on my car in late December.

I'm just interested in whether certain options make a difference in the resale of the vehicle, in the experience of members here.
 
#17 ·
My dealership tried to say that they were low balling me $1k on trade in because I didn't have heated seats, but I ended up getting the $1k back through negotiation. As others have said, people look more at exterior and interior condition over options. Since BMW charges ridiculous amount for techie items, and techie items are ever changing, I would think those options have the highest depreciation value. I would add sports and performance packages as well. In general, my belief, is that people looking for a 5yr old or more BMW are looking for the brand and not much else. So, a vanilla would probably save you more money in less depreciation than all the fancy options.
 
#20 ·
In an M3 the best option for resale value is no options. You save a ton of money and the car will be rare. The options depreciate in value
Much faster than the car. Loaded M 3s are a dime a dozen but no option cars rare. Strippers make better used cars since there is less to break and racers want them.
 
#24 ·
Said it before, will say it again, "Buying a car with resale value in mind is like screwing to get to the post coitus cuddle."

Buy what you want.
You really got a way with the words!!!!:thumbdwn:
cheers
vern
 
#25 ·
It may not affect resale _that_ much, but my we're in the market for a new vehicle for Mrs. MrBelk and she won't even consider a car that doesn't have bluetooth handsfree phone support.

-MrB
 
#27 ·
In my experience they mean nothing at all. It is the model type, driveline, condition, color, and mileage.

Its like a selling your house. Its based on comps and they adjust only for bathrooms, bedrooms, big stuff. They don't care whether you have granite or hardwood.

Same applies to cars. Having a DA package or a Lighting package won't mean a thing.

Those of us who like fully loaded cars have a big disdvantage at resale time.
 
#29 ·
In my experience they mean nothing at all. It is the model type, driveline, condition, color, and mileage.
I agree.

In a nutshell, no option pays for itself on resale. In other words, in 3-5 years, you're not going to get $1,200 more for your car because it has a $1,200 option. If anyone tells you that you're going to get less on resale if your car doesn't have X (sunroof, leather, whatever), there could be some kernel of truth. Sure, with whatever option, you might give a little bit more (even that's debatable, though), but you're never going to get as much as the option cost you in the first place.

Bottom line, as others have said... get what you want and forget about resale.

A minor footnote to this whole discussion would be the collector car market... where options actually can make a difference. If you're talking about '50s Corvettes or something, then something like a rare color combination or even an automatic transmission could potentially add thousands of dollars to the value of the car. Just a footnote, of course, as we're not talking collector cars here.
 
#31 ·
i love these types of threads
Me too.

Something else to add. There are certain options available now that you may think you don't need but will turn out to be critically important in 5 to 10 years. For example, let's pretend I was interested in an E46 just as a weekend fun car. I would not even consider one that did not have Bluetooth integration. Yet back in 2003, Bluetooth wasn't that important and a lot of people passed on it. While they would never recoup the $500 the option cost, the lack of that option will definitely slam the door on perhaps 75% of the potential buyers at a given moment today.

If I had to pick the one option that today looks like it could be skipped but ultimately becomes a dealbreaker 7 years from now it would be either the Technology package or the Adaptive M Suspension. The large LCD screen and the all-important Enhanced USB and Bluetooth would seem to be a no-brainer for future iterations of smart phones. The idea of a his and hers suspension that flips a switch between comfort and sport is something else that I think will be standard on all cars in the future. Added up, that's $4000 worth of options that theoretically you would never see any return on. But the lack of those options may be a dealbreaker for a lot of customers in 2020.

BJ
 
#43 ·
I think built in navigation is becoming obsolete. My iphone gives me directions through the bluetooth. I am sure andorids do the same. I would like a system that connected to the phone and would use idrive to show the map or anything else from the phone. In 5 years or so, i am hoping that's were the technology will be, or maybe even better. So as far as resale value, navigation might not have the best chance
 
#46 ·
Built in navigation is not becoming obsolete. It's getting better.

Five years ago there was a huge gap between what a $150 Garmin Nuvi could do and what a $2000 BMW iDrive nav could do. But time goes by and Nuvi has stalled on innovation and the car manufacturers have caught up.

Smart phone navigation is really good, not fully featured enough, but decent and 'free' doesn't suck. But they are stuck on the small screen and that's their downfall. If down the road a company like BMW partners with Google or Apple to transmit their small screen apps for the big screen, different story, but right now the fully-integrated wide-screen nav is the best approach.

BJ
 
#48 ·
There is something special about having that big screen, the easy user interface while driving, and the heads up display that my iPhone's nav just can't come close to replicating. I bought the tech package on my car and have absolutely no regrets.
 
#76 ·
We've gone a little OT, but in the interests of completeness:

If you have BMW Assist, the built-in cell-phone and gps receiver in your car, along with the cellular phone system, figure out where you are to send the ambulance. (Kind of a problem if you drive out of the phone system's range.)
 
#86 · (Edited)
also have to consider excise tax when leasing which (in mass anyway) is 50 dollars on the g. So for a 50,000 car, the first year you're paying 1250 excise tax :(

sure, you pay excise on a bought vehicle as well, but when you lease and get a new vehicle in 3 years, you pay the excise tax for the value on the new car, so you kind of take a hit there. it is however tax deductible.
 
#91 · (Edited)
BMW's have a greater value than $1,000 after 7 years. Our lowly VW Passat with 49,000 miles had a retail value of $9,800 after 10 years when my wife totalled it, 2 weeks ago. She was not hurt and this provided a reasonable down payment on the 2014 X3 28i that goes into production the week of April 1. Condition and mileage matter the most on a used car. Get what you like and can afford in a popular color.
 
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