Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Used Toyota and Honda prices fall

As the recent worldwide recall fiascos of Toyota and Honda erode their credibility, the secondhand prices of the two Japanese carmakers’ autos are falling sharply in Korea, according to the market watchers yesterday.

SK Encar, a major used-car dealer in Korea, said the secondhand prices of Toyotas and Hondas have dropped by 2 million won ($1,735) to 5 million won over the past month.

The secondhand price of the 2009 Lexus ES 350 fell from 53 million won in January to 50 million won as of late last week, the dealer said. The prices for the 2008 and 2007 models of the same car declined from 47 million won to 44 million won and from 43 million won to 38 million won, respectively.

The 2009 Lexus GS 350, a sports sedan, slid from 57.5 million won to 54 million won, while the 2009 Lexus RX 350 SUV retreated from 54 million won to 50.5 million won.

As for Honda, its SUV model CR-V 4WD LX, produced last year, went down from 29.5 million won to 27.5 million won. Honda’s 2009 Accord 3.5 sedan moved down from 34.5 million won to 31.5 million won.

Camry and Prius, the other Toyota cars subject to a worldwide recall, were still new to Korean markets and were not much available at the local used car markets, the dealer said.

By Kim Tae-jin [joe@joongang.co.kr]
source