Why is Honda’s High Residual Value So Attractive?

You’ll hear a lot of Danvers drivers talking about how buying, as opposed to leasing, is an investment; after all, you’re putting in money to make the car yours. So, it should come as no surprise that residual value is important.

All new cars depreciate in value, so the car you’re investing in is going to be worth less as the years go by. However, a car with high residual value isn’t going to depreciate as dramatically. That helps when the time comes for you to sell your vehicle and move on to a new one.

Residual value is just as important when leasing a vehicle, if not slightly more. Residual value is a crucial factor in determining your monthly payments. When you lease, you’re essentially paying for the value the car loses while it’s in your possession. If the car loses a smaller portion of value – in other words, if it boasts high residual value – the monthly payments will be lower.

Let’s take a hypothetical look:

• You lease a $25,000 Honda Civic. It’s worth $20,000 at the end of the lease, so you’ve used $5,000 worth of value, or 20%.
• You lease a $25,000 rival model. It’s worth $15,000 at the end of the lease, so you’ve used $10,000 worth of value, or 40%.

The dealership would clearly need to charge higher monthly payments for the rival model.

Okay, so residual value is important, but what does that have to do with Honda? Well, Honda vehicles have consistently retained a higher residual value than other brands. Several models have earned a Best Retained Value Award, and the following have all claimed the top-spot in their respective classes for resale value in 2018:

• Honda Fit
• Honda HR-V
• Honda Accord
• Honda Odyssey
• Honda Ridgeline