Used VW Tiguan’s cast down with the Soddomites

The vagaries of the motor trade have claimed another fashion victim; from being the car with the best resale value in the land a short while ago to being cast down with the Soddomites, it’s the VW Tiguan.

I have spoken to buyers of the crossover SUV who tell me that in the early part of the year they were so rare and so sought after they were making what some in the trade call “Brewster’s” and were a virtual guaranteed profit machine.

Of course nothing stays in fashion forever and notwithstanding seasonal changes one may expect the 4wd to take a decline in value as the weather improves, however values have dipped alarmingly and dealers have been caught out by not adjusting their sticker prices accordingly. This coupled with many more drivers trying to trade them in has led to a meltdown in values. This maybe temporary but it’s almost certain that the car will not retain its number one spot in the league of best percentage of list at three year resell value.

There are those in the trade that believe the issue is not one of a sudden lack of popularity akin to a runner up in a xfactor type show but more to do with the fact that guide values seemed to ignore for too long the fact that as supply became more plentiful an unrealistically high value was unsustainable. All that has happened to the Tiguan is a correction in value which is more realistic to current market conditions but this has also been compounded by, what felt to some dealers, like an overnight decimation of the value of the car.

One dealer told us that whilst he’d “had it away” for a long time and made some great profits he had reacted quickly to the declining market by taking his medicine early and trying to replace his current stock with cars priced in real time which could potentially be more profitable. He gave me an example of a 08/08 2.0 TDi SE with 30k mile which had standard spec. Three months ago he could still ask in excess of £20,000 for a fairly basic 3 year old car whereas today the same car would maybe retail at £16,995 or even less. With a new face lift model hitting the streets it will be interesting, when the season starts, if the merry go round starts all over again and whether the old shape picks up a few new followers who enter the market at a different price point.