Diminished Accent vehicle value due to lower mpg

[freshsqueezedsaturns@yahoo]

Separate issue from the gas compensation fund Hyundai/Kia have initiated and I see the lawyers/class action are now catching up to the legitimate concern some owners do have and most should have. Compensation for the diminished value of the car.

- Anyone who says there is none is not being honest.
- Anyone who says you are already being compensated for it is also not being honest.

The program 'may' compensate me for SOME/all of my higher fuel cost depending on if I drive the theoretical mix of highway/city that their averaged mpg adjustment calculates but it DOES NOT compensate me for the lost vehicle value. We'll also see if Hyundai adjusts the sale price to now sell 'slightly' less attractive (strictly from a fuel efficiency standpoint) vehicle. This would cause harm to existing owners. We plan on having our for +8 yrs but others who sell sooner will be impacted more so.

[mickeyboat]

Only the lawyers could get anything. Do you really believe 3 or 4 years downstream, any potential buyer will be looking at whether the expected mileage is 38 or 40 mpg? Most buyers will be looking at condition, maint history, miles on odometer, etc.

[hoosieraccent]

I've wondered what effect this would have as well, though I do not have one of the affected vehicles. What would this mean for the brand as a whole? I don't know, but the Accent has always has abysmal resale value.

Saying "Hyundai" and "Accent" on the trunk probably does more damage than the MPG "scandal" (I know as a long term Accent owner, mine's in great shape but utterly worthless to anyone but me.) Besides, with the public's short attention span, I suspect this won't even be on the radar of future buyers.

Personally, if I were buying one of these cars used, maintenance history and how the car was treated overall would trump a couple of MPG's. My casual observation shows many people just don't take very good care of cars in this class, viewing them as disposable appliances I guess... I would gladly pay more for one that was driven by someone who cared about it even if the fuel economy didn't match the original sticker.

[norcalguy]

Geez...now this. I'm trading mine in asap. It's a good car but I've been checking the resale value vs. other cars in the same class and I don't like what I'm seeing. I see the 2011's are massively discounted now compared to when I was looking at them earlier in the year. Thousand's of dollars difference with low miles. WHAT?!

[az2008]

Originally Posted by freshsqueezedsaturns@yahoo

Separate issue from the gas compensation fund

I think you raise a good point, but the compensation fund cannot be separated. The vehicle now has added value in the sense that it "pays an annual dividend." That added value should be exactly the same as the value lost if the vehicle was 3% less economical to drive than originally expected.

I think the separate issue is: so many Accent owners are experiencing wildly disparate mileage results. I think that's what will hurt the value of the vehicle. Are the good mileage cars just an anomaly which will eventually fall into the bad mileage camp? Did Hyundai err when it (apparently) used an anomalous vehicle to test fuel economy? If so, all owners have a claim of damage.

If the good mileage cars aren't the anomaly, then there are too many cars producing too low results for Hyundai to overlook. Those owners have a claim of damage.

[freshsqueezedsaturns@yahoo]

Originally Posted by az2008

I think you raise a good point, but the compensation fund cannot be separated. The vehicle now has added value in the sense that it "pays an annual dividend." That added value should be exactly the same as the value lost if the vehicle was 3% less economical to drive than originally expected.

I think the separate issue is: so many Accent owners are experiencing wildly disparate mileage results. I think that's what will hurt the value of the vehicle. Are the good mileage cars just an anomaly which will eventually fall into the bad mileage camp? Did Hyundai err when it (apparently) used an anomalous vehicle to test fuel economy? If so, all owners have a claim of damage.

If the good mileage cars aren't the anomaly, then there are too many cars producing too low results for Hyundai to overlook. Those owners have a claim of damage.

If Hyundai said they were going to pay owners a gas rebate, while NOT disclosing the error, then yes, there would be an added value. However, the gas rebate just cancels out our additional cost of gas created by their error so I'd say it is break-even now.

It hasn't for subsequent owners which is why I believe there is diminished value. We'll see if Hyundai now has to reduce price or offer extra incentives to move the new stock. If so that further diminishes existing owners' value. They have to be careful with that one though because when it is cheaper to buy a new car vs a slightly used one existing owners won't be happy.

[Blue Minnow]

I am going to drive mine til it wont drive anymore. I will make them pay me that rebate money for at least ten years. lol

[az2008]

Originally Posted by freshsqueezedsaturns@yahoo

However, the gas rebate just cancels out our additional cost of gas created by their error so I'd say it is break-even now.

Yes, I agree with that. I wasn't trying to say we come out ahead. Just that the annual dividend adds value to offset the reduction of value in a car with lower fuel economy ratings.

My reply was intended to address what I thought was your separating the dividend from the lowered value of the car, like the value is lower and the dividend doesn't offset that.

You're right that owners are harmed by more than just a 3% (or whatever it is) reduction in fuel economy. There's the negative press, the annual trip to the dealer to get your dividend.

I was wondering tonight if Hyundai didn't fess up to a general fuel-economy reduction to try and diffuse what may be a much larger problem with disparity in fuel economy. People are getting wildly different results. That could lead to much costlier resolution (buy backs, time spent diagnosing problem cars, etc.).

By rolling back their overall MPG by 1-2 MPG, it gives them something to point to when people talk about "hey, I'm only getting 25 MPG." Hyundai can say "oh, yeah, we admitted we made a testing error." But, what they're really doing is obfuscating how the people getting 25 MPG are being affected by something much different than "all the cars are getting 1-2 MPG less than we thought."

I have a strong suspicion this was damage control. An attempt to sacrifice something small to avoid a bigger problem. A Red Herring.

[2012AccentRocks]

Originally Posted by Blue Minnow

I am going to drive mine til it wont drive anymore. I will make them pay me that rebate money for at least ten years. lol

I'm with you, Blue Minnow! I bought this car for keeps! I don't get people who buy new, then sell after a year or two, but that's me.

I do feel bad for the people who have gotten sub-par mileage, though. If I was getting less than 30 mpg, I wouldn't be happy about it. Still, Hyundai is paying 15% more to try to appease. They're definitely putting up a lot of money to try to rectify the situation...

[freshsqueezedsaturns@yahoo]

Originally Posted by 2012AccentRocks

I'm with you, Blue Minnow! I bought this car for keeps! I don't get people who buy new, then sell after a year or two, but that's me.

I do feel bad for the people who have gotten sub-par mileage, though. If I was getting less than 30 mpg, I wouldn't be happy about it. Still, Hyundai is paying 15% more to try to appease. They're definitely putting up a lot of money to try to rectify the situation...

I honestly don't believe the 15% is to 'appease'. It might help to address those who do mostly city driving vs hwy, who will be using gas at a higher rate but not compensated because the program is mileage based. If I drive 100% city, my travel distance isn't going to be as high PER km driven at shitiier mpg rate. It might also help disparities with regional gas prices. There is no way anyone can say my average gas price is the same as someone in Toronto's for example. Their 'regions' on the estimator appear to be based on PROVINCE.