Have you ever looked at a new vehicle on the car lot and asked yourself, “Wow, that sure is overpriced!” As a new car shopper with any experience knows, sticker shock can be as integral a part of the buying process as salesmen with polyester suit jackets.
Forbes Magazine has come up with a unique equation of its own for figuring out the top 15 most overpriced vehicles for sale in the U.S. market. You may be surprised to note that no Bentley or Ferrari models made the list.
First, a market indicator gauges values varying from dealer inventory to residual values is taken into account. Then the J.D. Power and Associates APEAL (Automotive Performance Execution and Layout) indicator is used like model desirability and the percentage of customers who, after a certain period of ownership, would buy the same model again.
Also taken into account are the number, size, and length of use of dealer incentives. If a vehicle only requires incentives to move inventory occasionally, it is doubtful that will have any impact on resale. But a vehicle that consistently needs rebates but maintains a huge amount of unsold inventory will be considered “overpriced” in the first place and a prime candidate in need of a price cut.
Lastly, the study takes into account the difference between the MSRP and what customers actually end up paying. There may be huge rebates available on a certain model, but any savvy buyer should know more savings can be had with just a modicum of haggling at the dealership.
So, without further adieu, here is the Forbes Magazine Top 15 most overpriced vehicles, with commentary courtesy of Automotive.com:
1.) Dodge Ram 1500 – With an inventory backlog of 177 days, these gas guzzling brutes aren’t exactly flying off dealer lots. Add in a pretty standard $3,000 rebate across the range and you have a truck that needs to have its pricing levels adjusted. With the vastly superior Toyota Tundra, Chevy Silverado and Ford F-150 on the market, why buy one except on price?
2.) Mercury Grand Marquis – Does anyone actually buy these with their own money who isn’t over 70 or a taxi cab company? They should just start accepting Social Security vouchers instead of cash.
3.) Ford F-150 – This should change when Ford finally updates the model for the 2009 model year so it can better compete with the Tundra and Chevy Silverado.
4.) Dodge Durango- Another shocking entry from Dodge, this hideous SUV has poor quality ratings and a size that doesn’t even appeal to the Texans who love their Suburbans. In dire need of a price cut or a redesign, neither of which Chrysler can really afford right now.
5-9.) Chevy Trailblazer (GMC Envoy) & Ford Explorer (Mercury Mountaineer) & Jeep Grand Cherokee – These vehicles are victims of the booming business in crossover models. No one wants SUVs like this anymore, plain and simple.
10.) Chrysler Pacifica – An answer to a question nobody asked, in a format that even then-parent company Mercedes couldn’t pull off with its own dire R-Class slug monster. Why buy a vehicle whose looks will give your kids nightmares? It was priced in the beginning to compete with the Lexus RX and is now priced more in line to compete with Chrysler’s own minivans.
11.) Nissan Quest – Nissan did an admirable thing trying to sex up the lines of the modern minivan but went a bit too far with a way too French looking avant-garde dashboard and over $40,000 price tag. Minivans are price dependent to succeed. No one wants to blow more money than they have to on the family minivan. Customers know that their kids will just trash it anyway.
12-15.) Ford Ranger (Mazda B-series) & Chevy Colorado (GMC Canyon) – These models are just endemic of the death of the sub-full size pickup truck market. Only the Toyota Tacoma still manages to rack up a decent amount of sales in this size class. Add to that the fact that the GM trucks are rated lowest in owner satisfaction in the J.D. Power purchasing survey and you have a recipe for disaster. Overpriced and generally underpowered, these vehicles are ripe for the chopping block. And customers know it.