A few hours ago, I checked Edmunds.com to get an updated on the street value of my 2004 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan. Once again, despite a later date and a higher number of miles, the value has hardly changed.
At the beginning of the year, the car was valued at $12,074 for private party resale, and by today it has only decreased to $11,767. I’ve adjusted my net worth in Quicken going back to March, the last time I checked the value. You’ll see the new numbers on my October net worth balance sheet.
Now that the car has been in an accident, I might want to deduct a certain percentage off my calculation. When I get the car back from the body shop with new door panels and the rest of the work completed, it will be in excellent condition. However, I might not be able to get full value if I sell. My plan is to keep the car until it no longer runs, but the car’s history should probably figure in my net worth. What would you do?
Email this article
Print this article
Share this article: Twitter | Tip'd | Facebook | Delicious | Reddit | Digg
About the Author
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
New door panels mean higher value! (Hmm, I guess that really only works for houses…)
What’s something worth? Only what someone will pay for it. I wouldn’t set your heart on that number — especially since it’s been in an accident.
Yikes. An accident. I hope everyone was okay.
I don’t normally put my car into the net worth calculation but I am a big fan of running a car into the ground.
I had a Geo Prizm that ran to 200k and I have a Chevy Malibu that’s at 141k. I’m not a big car guy so the less I need to buy or sell cars, the better.
I wouldn’t deduct any percentage off of the value of the car unless you’re pretty good at speculating car values.
What would I do? Get spinner rims.
That should increase the value of your car.
Oh, and an Xbox. Yeah.
As your net worth increases continue to gain steam I would accelerate the write downs on the car value. The car will someday be worth nothing and it does no good on your balance street in terms of improving your annual return.
Cars are not solely Assets, they have many attendant Liabilities, as well.
Most “Car” balance sheets, if you’re lucky, will leave one with very little Equity, if any at all.
Do yourself a favor, forget about the monthly vagaries of some website valuation. The car, at best, is worth the expense it avoids.
True Assets are those that exist over and above your costs to “manufacture” your current standard of living. Husband them well and they’ll multiply into the opportunities you think are valuable.
As someone who is in the used car business, I certainly wouldn’t go on a number from Edmunds since that number listed is unfortunately probably the MOST you’ll receive..but since it’s been in an accident – then yes…you can’t quite go on that number. But I do wish you the best of luck in selling it!
I don’t plan on selling it, just looking for a somewhat reasonable private party price in order to guesstimate how much equity I have. It’s not really that big of a deal. I proposed the question to see if anyone had a guideline, like 10% off Edmunds’ private party price. There’s probably no good answer.