In the past, when it comes to models with high retention rates, the first thing that comes to mind is off-road vehicles such as the Land Patrol and Prado, or Japanese brand family cars such as Toyota and Honda. But no matter which of the above models, in fact, it is a relatively ordinary "road car", which is inevitably slightly tacky. But in fact, there is no conflict between value preservation and niche matter, let's take a look at the current Chinese car market, 11 unpopular but very value-preserving models!
When it comes to niche unpopularity, the station wagon is definitely one of the categories with the most say. The high-performance imported station wagon represented by Audi RS 4 and RS 6 can be called the unpopular among the unpopular. Audi RS series station wagons used to give people a very low-key, pig eating tiger impression, but the current generation of models on sale, the shape design is actually not low-key at all, especially the RS 6, exaggerated encirclement and combat sense of rim, a look is not good to mess with the goods. In terms of performance, the RS 4 is equipped with a 450 hp 2.9T V6 engine, with the quattro full-time four-wheel drive system, which can achieve 4.1 seconds to break the 100 acceleration capability; RS 6 is equipped with a 600 hp 4.0T V8 engine, 0-100km/h acceleration in only 3.6 seconds!
Excellent acceleration performance, coupled with the unique temperament of the station wagon, has made the Audi RS series gain a large number of fans. In the past two years, due to the global epidemic, the market of the RS series has risen even higher, and the retention rate has reached its peak.
Among them, RS 4 is the national 5 version before the 2020 reform, when the new car price is 890,000, and the current second-hand market is generally at the level of 70 million. And if it is a quasi-new car in 2021, the price of a used car is not even much cheaper than the new car guide price! Of course, if you want to buy RS 4, and do not want to go through a long cycle of booking and waiting for cars, the 2019 National 5 emission RS 4 is a more recommended choice, because the exhaust of the National 5 version does not have a GPF particle catcher, and the sound wave is more surging than the Currently Sold National 6b version, and the later modification can also eliminate the link of dismantling the GPF.
As for the higher positioning of RS 6, two generations of models have actually been introduced in China. Among them, 2020 and the previous generation of products, when the new car included tax price of about 1.5 million, the current second-hand market is generally around 1 million; and the new generation of RS 6 listed in 2021, because the current booking has to wait for more than half a year, so the market is high and scary, 1 year old quasi-new RS 6, can still be sold to close to 2 million, more expensive than the new car 1.55 million guidance price.
If in the United States, the pickup truck is definitely the most mainstream model, but if you change to the Chinese market, because the policy will position this model in the "truck", you must implement 15 years of mandatory scrapping, traffic restrictions, speed limits and other policies, so in addition to some low-end pure tool pickups in China, there are not too many ordinary household users who will buy pickups. But it is in this environment that there is still a high-end pickup truck that is sought after by the Chinese, and even has to increase the price to pick up the car, it is the Ford F-150 Raptor.
Of course, today we are not going to talk about the new generation of F-150 Raptors that have just begun to be pre-sold in China recently, but the previous generation. This generation of models was released by Ford in the United States in 2015, and was officially imported to China by Ford in 2016, and is equipped with a 3.5T V6 engine and a 10AT gearbox, which was priced at 621,800-68.18 million yuan that year. Compared with the old 6.2L V8 engine of the previous generation, the 3.5T engine equipped with the previous generation of Raptor not only reduced the fuel consumption of 100 kilometers from about 18L to 14L of the V8, but also became more powerful, especially in the highland area, the advantages of the turbocharger are very obvious. In addition, the previous generation of raptors has also made significant progress in quality, and will no longer casually throw the owner on the road of self-driving tour.
The all-round improvement of power and quality, coupled with the raptor's consistent domineering appearance and excellent off-road capabilities, the previous generation of models has been in a state of difficult to find after being listed in China in 2016. Take the 2019 model before the suspension of sales as an example, the guidance price of the new car at that time was about 530,000-620,000, but the actual want to pick up the car, at least to increase the price to close to 700,000.
Because of this, later with the F-150 new and old generation in the domestic suspension of sale, the price of second-hand cars directly rose, and now a 3.5T Raptor is still sold to more than 600,000, not much cheaper than the guidance price of the new car, for a 15-year mandatory scrapped, many cities restricted pickup truck, such a retention rate can be described as outrageous.
In the European market, the small steel gun is a very mainstream model, while in the Chinese market, Chinese consumers who are beautiful in the big way do not recognize spending the money of a luxury car to buy a hatchback. Therefore, small steel cannons such as the Golf GTI and Fox RS have always been the existence of Ye Gonghaolong in China. In the field of small steel cannons, the strongest model that can be bought in China is naturally the AMG A45 S.
As the strongest steel cannon on the surface, the AMG A45 S's main competitiveness is equipped with a 2.0T engine codenamed M139, which is a machine from AMG engineers, which can burst out 421 horsepower, 500N·m of violent power, with the A45 series exclusive 8-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, and a four-wheel drive system that supports drift, which can achieve 3.9 seconds to break the hundred acceleration capability. What's more, the A45 S is not just a straight-line machine, its track performance is also very good, new north 7:48.80 lap time, even 4 seconds faster than the 3.0T twin-turbo engine of the previous generation BMW F82 M4!
It is precisely by virtue of super performance, as well as AMG's strong appeal, A45 S has been in a state of difficult to find since its listing in July 2020, under the influence of the global epidemic, Mercedes-Benz's production capacity has also been greatly affected, exacerbating the shortage of A45 S, which directly leads to the current terminal market AMG A45 S new car to increase the price to 700,000 to buy. The price of new cars remains high, and used cars are naturally very valuable. Nowadays, a second-hand A45 S can still sell for more than 600,000 yuan, and if it is a quasi-new car, it can approach the 700,000 mark! In fact, such a second-hand price is not much cheaper than a new car, but there are still many people who choose to buy, because the second-hand car does not need to go through a waiting cycle of half a year.
Speaking of BMW, their sedans 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, and the X5 in the SUV must be the most well-known models. In the relatively entry-level market, there are two models of the front-drive 1 series and the X1 as an option to lower the threshold. So for most ordinary users, it is not surprising that they do not know the existence of the rear-drive 2 series, after all, this rear-drive two-door Coupe model itself is niche. You know, the previous generation of rear-drive 2 series is BMW in 2013 based on the F30 generation 3 series platform to build a model, mainly to please car fans. In 2014, the 2 series was listed in China, priced at 320,000-517,000 yuan. In terms of power, the start-up model is the 220i with a 184 hp 2.0T engine, while the 517,000 version is the M235i with a 320 hp 3.0T N55 straight-six engine. In the era when the M2 was not yet released, the M235i was the king of BMW's performance in the steel gun market.
In 2016, BMW replaced the 2 Series with a new B series engine, of which the M235i was upgraded to M240i, the powertrain was changed from N55 to B58, the maximum power was slightly increased by 20 horsepower to 340 horses, and the 0-100km/h acceleration was also increased from 4.8 seconds to 4.6 seconds. And after a slight upgrade in performance, the price of the M240i has dropped to 498,000 yuan, which is close to 150,000 yuan cheaper than the price of the M2 of 640,500 yuan in the same period! Because of this, the M235i and M240i have become the most worthwhile versions of the rear-drive 2 series, because they are the same platform model as the M2, and they all have BMW's classic straight six engines, which is nothing more than a gap in extreme performance. And when it comes to daily driving, the M235i/M240i is not as manic as the M2 personality, and it will be much easier to drive. Nevertheless, the price of 500,000 yuan and the positioning of the small size of the two-door Coupe have made the six-cylinder 2 series an extremely rare existence, even lower than the ownership of the M2.
In the second-hand car market, the rear-drive six-cylinder 2 series has a fairly good retention rate, the current M235i in 2016, can still sell to more than 250,000, if it is equipped with a B58 engine M240i model, the price is more than 300,000, 5 years can still maintain more than 50% of the residual value, for an extremely niche imported coupe has been very good!
In recent years, Lexus can be said to have unlimited scenery in China, relying on the hot sales of ES, NX, RX and other models, and its popularity has been greatly improved. But when it comes to the Lexus GS, I'm afraid that users other than fans have hardly heard of it, because compared to the people-friendly ES, the Lexus GS is a rear-drive sports car, and the competitor is the BMW 5 Series with the standard shaft. More importantly, the GS is an extremely perfect model that balances sportiness and comfort, with precise steering and excellent suspension support, enough to meet the user's handling needs; and the solid and thick chassis texture, as well as the crisp and clean shock filtering ability, make it comparable to the comfort of executive cars.
Unfortunately, because the GS is a pure import model and has not been extended for the Chinese market, the rear space is very cramped, coupled with the high price of 400,000-700,000, it has not received too good sales, and even a few people know its name. But it is such an extremely unpopular luxury rear-drive car, but it still inherits Lexus's consistently strong retention rate.
Currently, the most highly owned GS in the used car market includes the 2.0T GS200t (GS300) model, the 2.5L V6 GS250, and the 2.5L four-cylinder hybrid GS300h model. But no matter which version, the current 5-year second-hand car is still more than 300,000, and if it is the version before the mid-2015 redesign, it will be at least 20 tens of thousands. To tell the truth, spending more than 300,000 yuan to buy a second-hand GS, although the cost performance is not high, but it is definitely a very tasteful and stylish choice, driving on the street will inevitably be able to gain the attention of car fans.
As a car fan, I believe that no one will refuse a Porsche 911, the classic shape design that has been passed down for nearly 60 years, and the benchmark track performance of the previous models have made it the darling of the sports car market. Although for Porsche, the 911 is the symbol of the entire brand, in fact, the 911 is not high in terms of sales, last year's global sales only ranked 4th among the Porsche brand, lower than Macan, Cayenne, Taycan. For the Chinese market, 911 is even more unpopular.
In addition to the unpopularity, the biggest feature of porsche 911 is the rich optional functions, which also makes it completely impossible for 911 to buy at the "official guidance price", and the model with a price of 1.5 million must be selected at least about 200,000 to see it. After the vehicle completes the optional order, it has to go through months of scheduling, transportation, and import procedures, which makes many users who are anxious to drive a new car hungry and thirsty, and turn their eyes to the second-hand quasi-new car of the 911. So this also directly leads to the fact that the price of the second-hand quasi-new car 911 is usually more expensive than the new car guide price, after all, this includes optional configuration and time cost.
For example, the quasi-new 992 generation Turbo S, its new car including tax price of 2.5433 million yuan, but the second-hand price reached 3 million! The GT3 RS and GT2 RS models, which are more inclined to the track, are even more expensive. For example, the 991st generation GT2 RS in January 2019, the new car price of about 4.23 million including tax that year, now 3 years have passed, it can actually sell for 5 million, which is more expensive than the new car of that year!
In the off-road vehicle market, the Land Patrol, Prado, and Wrangler must be the most widely known existences, but for some users who pursue personality and feelings, Land Rover Defender is one of the more sought after. Of course, land rover defenders are famous not because of their off-road ability to beat the Wranglers in seconds, or because the reliability is comparable to the Land Patrol, but because whether it is the first generation of defenders born in 1990 or the second generation of defenders born in 2020, they can give people a very unique style at the design level, which is unforgettable and unforgettable.
In particular, the current Defender born in 2020 has a very sci-fi design, more fashionable than the Wrangler, younger and avant-garde than the Land Cruiser, not only can travel the world, but also can shuttle through the city's reinforced concrete without any sense of violation. In addition, The Guard also provides two body specifications, the 90th edition of the short shaft and the 110th edition of the long shaft, which further meets the needs of the rich for personalization.
In terms of price, the latest Guard provides three power specifications of 2.0T, 3.0T and 5.0T, with a price range of 698,000-1,618,000 yuan. However, due to the lack of production capacity caused by the global epidemic, Land Rover Defender has been in short supply since its domestic listing in July 2020, so it basically has to increase the price by about 100,000 yuan to pick up the car, a phenomenon that has not been alleviated until recent months.
The hot price increase of new cars will naturally make the second-hand car water rise. Since the new defender has only been listed in China for less than 2 years, most of them are quasi-new cars, so the current market is very exaggerated, and it is difficult to find a second-hand car that is cheaper than the new car guide price at that time, which is enough to prove the degree of its popularity.
As for the old guards of the previous generation... This price can only be said to be more than everything!
For most users, the sports car itself is a very unpopular and niche category, and the manual transmission and ultra-lightweight trot can be called a niche product in the sports car. When it comes to lightweight hardcore trots, Lotus Elise is definitely one of the most iconic products. Elise is a small sports car released by Lotus in 1996, using a one-piece aluminum alloy chassis with a fiberglass body, with a wheelbase of only 2300mm, a length of about 3800mm, and a length of even 20cm shorter than the fit.
More importantly, in order to enhance the lightweight driving experience of the vehicle, Elise removed all the configurations that were not related to driving, for example, the interior of the vehicle did not have any leather coating, and the aluminum alloy body was directly exposed; in order to reduce weight, the basic version of Elise did not even have air conditioning, and the configuration of power seats and central control screens was even more impossible. Because of this, the basic version of the Elise weighs only about 860kg, and even the high-end model of the convertible is only 920kg, which is more than 100kg lighter than the familiar manual fit GK5! Although the Sparrow is small and complete, elise as a sports car, in terms of hardware specifications is still very pure. For example, the suspension uses a front and rear double wishbone structure, and the steering system is purely mechanically connected, without any assistance, and the road feel is amazingly realistic.
In terms of power, the early Elise was equipped with Rover's 1.8-liter self-priming engine, with a maximum power of 122 horsepower and a maximum torque of 168 N·m, with a 5MT transmission. Later, in the 2007 redesign, Elise was replaced with a 1.8L self-priming and 1.8T supercharged engine from Toyota, of which the self-priming version has 192 hp and 180N·m, and the supercharged version covers the 220-253 hp range according to different performance specifications. Although the parameters don't look very eye-catching, don't forget that the Elise's weight is very light, so the horsepower-to-weight ratio of the vehicle is very high. For example, the 253 hp Elise 260 version weighs only 862 kg, which is equivalent to a thrust-to-weight ratio of 293 hp/t, a figure that has even surpassed the AMG A45S (251 hp/t) and the Porsche 718 Cayman S (252 hp/t).
It is a pity that such a pure, hardcore sports car, because of its niche positioning, has not received too good sales since its listing in 1996, and as of last year's official suspension, its cumulative global sales in 25 years were only 35,124 units. As for the price part, Elise had introduced domestic sales in 2011, when the new car was priced at 700,000-870,000 yuan, and even though the price of the 2015 model was later reduced to about 500,000, it was still very expensive. Therefore, the supply of Elise cars in the second-hand market today is very small, and the price is very strong, even more expensive than the new car of that year. From a rational point of view, only a small number of people can appreciate the good of Elise, but if you really buy such a car, it will definitely have a supreme position in the hearts of the fans around you.
If you want to choose the most unisex car in the world, MINI must be the most recognized answer. Because no girl can refuse the round shape of the MINI square; for male users, MINI's long history of more than 60 years and the excellent driving experience of the past models can also make themselves the wind-chasing teenager who loves to drive go-karts anytime and anywhere. However, after all, MINI is a pure imported car, even the lowest model price is about 200,000, and the positioning of the two-door small size is also the opposite of the domestic car purchase orientation of great beauty and pragmatism, so although MINI is well-known, it is not a mainstream car in China.
Although the MINI includes three-door Hatch, five-door Clubman, cross-border SUV Countryman and other versions, for fans, the most classic is of course the three-door Hatch model, after all, "small" is the essence of MINI. The currently on sale mini is BMW's 2013 model based on the UKL platform, the three-door version codenamed F56, and underwent a major overhaul in 2018 and 2021. In terms of power, the entry-level model provides a 1.2T three-cylinder and 1.5T three-cylinder engine, while the high-performance COOPER S uses a 192-horsepower 2.0T engine, and the latest domestic price starts from 269,800. The harder-core version of the JCW uses a 231 hp 2.0T engine and is priced at 341,800.
Because MINI is a niche imported car, coupled with non-limited production, the quality reputation in the early years is not very good, so the overall retention rate of the MINI car series is not high. But for the F56 COOPER S and JCW equipped with 2.0T engines, its retention rate is even similar to that of Toyota Highlander, which is a 7-year-old model that can still have more than 50% residual value, and if it is a new version with a 2-3 year age, the current price is more than 250,000 yuan.
As for the higher-positioned JCW version, the retention rate is also higher because the output is less than that of the ordinary COOPER S. Used cars with a age of 6-7 years generally have more than 60% residual value, and if they are 1-year-old quasi-new cars, it is almost the same as the price of new cars.
Previous generation R56 quotes
Perhaps some friends will be curious, what is the price of the previous generation R56's MINI second-hand price? At present, if the previous generation of R56 models is a non-convertible version, the price of used cars is generally within 100,000. However, due to the fact that the vintage has been more than 10 years, and the quality of the previous model is really not very reliable, so we do not recommend that you buy this kind of elderly imported car, although the price is cheap, but it is not only expensive to clean up after getting it, but also very expensive.
Although we always say that aesthetics is a matter of opinion, what is truly beautiful is usually recognized by most people. The Mercedes-Benz CLS hunting version is a existence that is recognized by most fans and is often even often hailed as the most beautiful hunting car in history. It can even be said that the CLS hunting version alone relies on its appearance, which is enough for consumers to spend hundreds of thousands, or even millions, to pay for it.
Since its birth in 2004, the CLS series has launched three generations of models, all of which have been introduced to domestic sales. Of these, only the second-generation CLS from 2011 to 2018 offers a Shottingbrake hunt. In China, it is the three annual models of 2013, 2016 and 2017 that provide hunting vehicles to choose from. In terms of power, the 2013 CLS Hunt only provided CLS 350 models, equipped with a 306 horsepower 3.5L V6 engine, matching a 7AT gearbox, which was priced at 918,000-96.80 million yuan that year. The 2016 and 2017 models are the mid-term revamped version, the entry-level model is CLS 260, equipped with a 211 hp 2.0T engine, with a 7AT gearbox, priced at 718,000 yuan; and the high-end CLS 400 model, equipped with a 333 hp 3.0T V6 twin-turbo engine, matching a 7AT gearbox, priced at 988,000 yuan.
Due to the high price of clS new cars that year, coupled with the fact that the hunting car itself is very small, most of the market is the early 2013 CLS 350, which is currently priced at about 360,000-440,000 according to the different conditions, mileage and age of the car. The 2016 2.0T CLS 260 model, although it is only a four-cylinder power, but after all, it is a remodeled model, using the Star Dot Matrix net, which was very popular in Mercedes-Benz at that time, plus the car age is relatively short, so it is also more than 330,000.
It should be noted that Mercedes-Benz did not provide a hunting version of the model when it released the third generation of CLS currently on sale in 2018, which also made the hunting version of the second-generation CLS a masterpiece, resulting in the price of second-hand cars rising. But I have to say that the current CLS more fierce front face design, it is indeed not good with the round and elegant hunting car shape, Mercedes-Benz designers are probably aware of this, only did not launch a hunting version of it.
When it comes to Nissan's sports car, the first thing that comes to mind must be the "Toei God of War" GT-R, but the GT-R, which is worth more than a million, is obviously not something that most people can afford. In fact, Nissan also has a relatively popular sports car, which is the 370Z. However, compared with the world-famous GT-R, the popularity of nissan Z series sports cars is limited to fans.
The biggest highlight of the Nissan 370Z is that it is equipped with a Nissan generation of divine machine VQ37VHR, 3.7L V6 high-speed naturally aspirated engine, the standard version of the 370Z has 328 horsepower, 363N·m, and the high-performance Nissmo version provides a power output of 344 horsepower and 371N·m. Paired with Nissan's 7AT gearbox and a weight of only 1.5 tons, the 370Z can perform well whether it's off the track or drifting.
In fact, friends who know the Nissan engine code should be able to get a lot of information from the "VQ37VHR", of which VQ refers to the V-type 6-cylinder engine, 37 represents the displacement of 3.7 liters, V represents continuous variable valve lift (VVEL), and the final HR represents high speed (High Revolution) and high response (High Response). Therefore, the biggest feature of the VQ37 engine is not only powerful, but also has a sustained high speed power output, as well as excellent response speed, which is difficult to compare with today's small displacement turbines no matter how optimized, the experience.
As for the price part, 370Z has provided 2013 models and 2015 models in China, and the price of the year is about 52.50-66.80 million yuan. However, due to the scarcity of used 370Z vehicles, the price of used cars is more than 400,000. That is to say, if you originally bought the 525,000 2015 370Z Coupe model, and now it has been open for 7 years, you can sell it for more than 400,000, such an amazing retention rate, even more exaggerated than the Toyota Land Cruiser! In fact, 370Z can have such an exaggerated second-hand price we are not surprised, after all, similar positioning of JDM performance cars, usually face the new car no one to buy, used cars are particularly expensive.
The new Nissan Z
As a fan, in fact, we are looking forward to the new generation of Nissan Z overseas can be introduced into the country, the new generation of models have a very retro design, and even a bit of cyberpunk flavor. And in the power part, the new Z is equipped with a 3.0T V6 twin-turbo engine with a maximum power of 405 horsepower, a maximum torque of 475 N·m, and a 6-speed manual and 9AT transmission option, which is no worse than the Toyota Supra in terms of performance and purity. After all, now the 3.0T Supra has been speculated to 700,000 or 800,000, and if the new generation of Nissan Z can still maintain the pricing of about 600,000 or so of the previous 370Z, I believe there will still be a certain market.
For many people, buying a car is a rational thing, and everything should be practical, so that the family can travel comfortably. For a small number of people, buying a car is a sentimental thing, a design, a history, an engine, a feeling, are enough to become the driving force to swipe the card to pay. The price is set by others, but the value comes from one's own heart. Today's 11 unpopular cars may be outrageously expensive in the eyes of ordinary people, but for those who really understand them and love them, the value in their hearts has long been immeasurable.