Chevrolet Sonic worth vs KBB?

[m3t4lm4n222]

I bought my 2014 Chevrolet Sonic 1.4T 6M about 4 months ago for approximately ~19K. I now owe 15.5K on it and have since put 2700 total miles on it.

I'm essentially wondering what the car is worth, in relation to how much I owe on it. I took a look at KBB.com for an appraisal and the websites saying it's worth somewhere in the low 13K which doesn't seem right to me. I know new cars depreciate as soon as you drive them of the lot, but why am I seeing 2012 Sonic's with the 1.8L and 30K+ miles selling for around 14k? Meanwhile, I have less than 3K miles, MyLink, Rear Backup Camera, etc.

Thanks guys.

 

[Lovehanayo]

Maybe it's the area but I haven't seen any in Texas sell for that much! 2012 sonic sells between 6500-8k on Craigslist. eBay showed one for over 9k barely. I haven't seen any for 14k. If I had, would've sold mine for that much and made a profit off of it!

 

[wbjones]

maybe the difference between retail and wholesale … i.e. the difference between trade in and dealer asking price

 

[mitdr774]

What the trade in or private party value are listed at will be well below what a lot will sell the car for. A lot of people think they can get retail or private party on a trade in, but that is not how it works.


My car has a KBB trade in of about $6000 and a private party value of about $7700. Keep in mind that dealers use NADA guidelines and not KBB. NADA black book used to always be a minimum of 25% lower than KBB for trade in. KBB lists certified pre owned value at about $11,400, this tends to be below NADA black book values based on when I was in the dealer world.

 

[m3t4lm4n222]

The reason I ask is I am considering selling the car and breaking even. I checked KBB and the private party value on my 2014 with all it's features is around 13K or so, but even that seems a little low to me, considering the pricing i've seen at dealers.

 

[Italianjoe1]

The car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. You may find a buyer, but you will probably be surprised at how little you will be offered for it.

Keep this in mind when selling private party : Most people looking to buy a cheap car do not have cash, so they will need to finance. Most people looking to finance will just go to a dealership and have them handle everything. This hurts you when trying to sell a regular car for full price.

Also, if you are seeing them at a dealer lot for 15K, they bought the car for 10-11K tops. That's closer to real world value.

Take the car to carmax and get an appraisal, then add 2-3K. That's about the most you will be able to get for it anywhere.

 

[Dirkdaddy]

You bought it only months ago, drive it and enjoy. Quit worrying. The steepest depreciation is occurring first 6 months. So you will lose your fanny if you get happy feet and want to get into something else. Sit tight. Trading will only lose you money.

 

[m3t4lm4n222]

You bought it only months ago, drive it and enjoy. Quit worrying. The steepest depreciation is occurring first 6 months. So you will lose your fanny if you get happy feet and want to get into something else. Sit tight. Trading will only lose you money.

Yeah I was kind of thinking the same thing. I've been overpaying on my car payments in an attempt to lower the amount I owe on it rapidly. To this date, I am currently 2 months ahead of my car payment, meaning I technically don't even owe anything until early March, but I still intend on overpaying every month.

I'm young and prior to getting my Sonic I got screwed by a private seller so I said "Screw it, my next cars coming from a dealer." The problem is I can't keep a car for a long time without getting "Bored" and I essentially locked myself into $337 a month payments *I'm paying $500 a month* and $200 a month insurance payments. I figured a Turbo Sonic would hold my interests, but as of now, it really isn't.

I'm basically wanting to return to driving used ****boxes that I can hoon to no end so I can eliminate car payments, and lower my insurance, effectively saving like $500 more a month. Looks like I won't be able to do that for awhile unless I sell the car at a loss.

I have a K5 Blazer i'll probably sell for upwards of $2000 I could apply towards the 15K that I owe right now and tax returns are coming soon. I could probably offload it in the next couple of months, but that doesn't really seem like it'd be the best decision in the long run. Plus, I wouldn't have paid on the car long enough to really build credit.

I could probably pay the car off completely in about a year or two and by then it'll be worth a decent amount and I can then decide whether I want to keep, sell, etc

 

[muniorbust]

I've been overpaying on my car payments in an attempt to lower the amount I owe on it rapidly. To this date, I am currently 2 months ahead of my car payment, meaning I technically don't even owe anything until early March, but I still intend on overpaying every month.

Is the amount you're overpaying going toward principal or are you actually paying future monthly payments in advanced? If only towards principal, I think you'll still need to make your monthly payments. I could be wrong. I believe people normally make additional payments toward their principal because it shortens the loan's time-span significantly. Making monthly payments in advance might make sense if you have trouble holding onto your money until payment time, but otherwise you're better off keeping your money in a bank, if not for the measly interest then to have cash available for the time before your next monthly payment, in case something more important requires your money.

I'm basically wanting to return to driving used ****boxes that I can hoon to no end so I can eliminate car payments, and lower my insurance, effectively saving like $500 more a month. Looks like I won't be able to do that for awhile unless I sell the car at a loss.

If you can save $500 a month, then it will only take you 2 months to make up for every $1000 loss you take. Taking a loss of some amount could make sense.

 

[m3t4lm4n222]

Is the amount you're overpaying going toward principal or are you actually paying future monthly payments in advanced? If only towards principal, I think you'll still need to make your monthly payments. I could be wrong. I believe people normally make additional payments toward their principal because it shortens the loan's time-span significantly. Making monthly payments in advance might make sense if you have trouble holding onto your money until payment time, but otherwise you're better off keeping your money in a bank, if not for the measly interest then to have cash available for the time before your next monthly payment, in case something more important requires your money.



If you can save $500 a month, then it will only take you 2 months to make up for every $1000 loss you take. Taking a loss of some amount could make sense.

I've been paying the base amount, then the overpayed amount in principle. So for example, $337 for the base pay, then $163 towards Principle. Since I am two months ahead, what I will probably do at the beginning of next month is pay a full $500 towards principle.

 

[Chuck Schick]

I would try the CarmaX angle. I sold a used truck to them years ago, they offered a great price. I was told if the car you had, was attractive to their market, then they would pay.

See what happens.

 

[m3t4lm4n222]

Well, I really want to do whatever is going to get me the best value.

If I owe 15.5K now, and the car is currently worth 11K on trade in *Per KBB* and 13k private party with 3000 miles on it, how much will it be worth when I owe ~14K and it has 6000 miles on it, etc.

I don't really want to sell the car right now @ a 2K-3K loss if in 2-3 months I can sell it at a smaller loss, if you see what I am getting at.

 

[blutrotsonic]

Purchase a tune, any one of the three trifecta tunes and you will be excited about the car again. Wait a year and purchase the upgraded turbo system one of the vendors is working on and you will like it again when you get tired of just a tuned sonic.

 

[CDub002]

Well, I really want to do whatever is going to get me the best value.

If I owe 15.5K now, and the car is currently worth 11K on trade in *Per KBB* and 13k private party with 3000 miles on it, how much will it be worth when I owe ~14K and it has 6000 miles on it, etc.

I don't really want to sell the car right now @ a 2K-3K loss if in 2-3 months I can sell it at a smaller loss, if you see what I am getting at.

The money is already "lost" so to speak. You've taken the hit of depreciation. If you don't want to lose more money, then drive it till it dies. You can always put whatever mileage into KBB for a rough estimate of what it will be work at ~14K miles. FWIW, my 2013 with 48K miles is probably worth around the $10K mark if I got lucky.

 

[ahtoxa]

Depreciation will be steep the first year or two. It then starts to level out - generally after 2 years.

Also, Sonics depreciate horribly. That's the unfortunate downside to this car. A hond Fit, for example, will hold value much better than a Sonic.

So, Sonics need to be kept a lot longer in order not to completely waste a ton of money.

 

[m3t4lm4n222]

Yeah. I'm surprised they depreciate so quickly. I did know that Toyota and Honda's hold their value very well, but they where also very expensive for their base models and really..well..boring. Toyota was offering 4 speed auto's and 5 speed manuals, and Honda was offering the FIT.

See, I would tune in a HEARTBEAT if it wasn't for the whole warranty situation. I've been told it's unlikely that they ever realize it has a tune with the way the Trifecta Tune can be set up, heck, the dealer who sold me the car said it was the best $300 he ever spent, but I am worried that they'll somehow detect it and i'll be SOL.

Regardless, it does seem like they level out around the 2 year-40K mile mark as far as depreciation goes. Looks like a 2012 with 40K miles is worth between 10k-11k and that's probably what people owe on them by then.

I only expect to owe like 9K by the end of this year, if that.

 

[mtbrdad]

Depreciation will be steep the first year or two. It then starts to level out - generally after 2 years.

Also, Sonics depreciate horribly. That's the unfortunate downside to this car. A hond Fit, for example, will hold value much better than a Sonic.

So, Sonics need to be kept a lot longer in order not to completely waste a ton of money.

Yes depreciation on any new car is the biggest downfall to buying new. I would say as a guideline: Only buy a new if you plan on keeping the car for at least 10 years, which every new car I've purchased in the last 20 years has gone past. Simply said any new car is a losing venture, unless you keep it for at least 10 years.

 

[Foxbox]

See, I would tune in a HEARTBEAT if it wasn't for the whole warranty situation. I've been told it's unlikely that they ever realize it has a tune with the way the Trifecta Tune can be set up, heck, the dealer who sold me the car said it was the best $300 he ever spent, but I am worried that they'll somehow detect it and i'll be SOL.

Just flash the car back to stock before every dealer visit. It takes 10 minutes tops.

 

[m3t4lm4n222]

Just flash the car back to stock before every dealer visit. It takes 10 minutes tops.

I was informed they can see flash counts. Although I was reading that they can only see flash counts on Automatics because of the TCM. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

 

[The Champ]

Yes depreciation on any new car is the biggest downfall to buying new. I would say as a guideline: Only buy a new if you plan on keeping the car for at least 10 years, which every new car I've purchased in the last 20 years has gone past. Simply said any new car is a losing venture, unless you keep it for at least 10 years.

I agree that keeping a newly purchased car 10 years can be financially rewarding, but it's not mandatory.

I've bought a number of new cars - and if purchased "right" - you can move them earlier and have them be a good financial move. The first new car I ever bought was a 1976 Pontiac Ventura (yes, I'm old). The MSRP was $3995.00, I paid $3250.00, drove it for just under 3 years and 65,000 miles and then sold it for $2750.00.

Even back then, $500.00 depreciation was a small price to pay for putting 65,000 miles on in less than 3 years.

My Sonic that I purchased in September had a sticker of $20,355.00. After rebates, dealer discount, GM credit card cash and ACDelco points that I redeemed I paid $9,466.00 plus tax title and license.

My other current car is an '06 Pontiac Torrent purchased new in March of '07. It had a sticker price of about $26,000.00 and I bought it for $17,300.00 after rebates, dealer discount and GM credit card cash - plus tax, title and license. At the time I bought it - they were getting over $18,000 for similarly equipped used Torrents with over 12,000 miles.

I may own this one 10 years, but I could sell it today and be in good shape because I bought it right to start with.