Two For One

If you missed last month’s Market Report you certainly weren’t alone. We missed it as well. So this month’s report has numbers for both October and November. Two for the price of one.

We decided to take this opportunity to officially change the way we name the report so that November’s report (this one) will have November’s numbers.

Not to make excuses, but the truth is, we’ve been pretty busy. The number of iLUXCARS members is up slightly and their activity has increased as well.

We’re starting to see activity levels on the system return to their pre-crash levels. In general, this is reflected in the numbers.

Overall average depreciation for the last 6 months is a comfortable .25%. We actually had to re-run our calculations as we didn’t believe it. Comfortable.

What this means is that in June, July, August, September, October, and November prices are more or less flat. You may all breathe a collective sigh of relief. We’re nearly, dare we say, optimistic.

Remember that in June, for the first time in the history of this report (17 months now), prices actually went UP.

The July through August story was slightly different than June, but still a very reasonable month. Of the 87 models, 29 had a drop in value (33%). There were 3 models where prices rose, again.

In November, all of the Rolls Royce models have fallen (average of 3%). Bentley had some models drop, (Arnage, GTC, GT Speed), but nothing terrible.

The average isn’t all that meaningful, but it’s an interesting gage. While some models dropped 4% or more in a single month, the vast majority of the models we track didn’t change at all.

Remember, iLUXCARS gathers the data and publishes this report directly from the iLUXCARS System. In other words, this is not our opinion. The Market Report prices, while intended ONLY as a guideline, do represent the real money on these vehicles today.

Our goal is simple and consistent – help you make more deals. Something we’ve been doing consistently well, according to our users, for over 5 years.

Like we keep saying – Faster. Safer. Better.

Resiliency

We realize this is becoming a bit of a habit, but we’re a little late again on this month’s report. However, this time it’s on purpose as it has been less than a month since the pricing guide numbers were recalculated.

We think you’ll be glad we waited.

First, we’ve added 6 new models to the report – Bentley GT Speed, Bentley Brooklands, Aston Martin DBS, Maserati Gran Turismo S, and Mercedes SL 63. We add new models when we’ve seen enough of them to have good data to use when calculating the report.

Second, we’ve added prices for several of the 2009 models to this month’s report. Again, we do this when there are a reasonable number of cars going through the System so that we can calculate the numbers with some degree of accuracy.

We’re also doing something that we haven’t done much since we started publishing the report – we’re raising prices on several models.

That’s right – you didn’t misread that – prices, at least for 10 of the 87 models in the report, have risen an average of 3.7%. You’ll see this in the Average Depreciation column as a negative percentage (-3.7%).

What’s more, the majority of the models in the report haven’t fallen. No change at all. Of the 87 models in the report, 64 (73%) have stayed exactly where they we’re last month. Like we said last month, this is very good news.

The iLUXCARS Network is a small, but specialized marketplace. It isn’t a complete bellwether of the overall economy, and we certainly can’t predict what’s going to happen to the overall car market. But we can say with some certainty that the luxury and exotic market is showing signs of true resiliency.

The world, at least our world, is on the road back to normal. Resiliency.

Remember, the idea of this report is to give you a general guide to the current wholesale market. If you are in the process of making a deal then you need to submit your car to the system. Every time. There is simply no reason to risk it.

Look, if you are in the luxury and exotic market then iLUXCARS should be the tool you use to manage your wholesale trades. Period.

Like we keep saying – Faster. Safer. Better.

No News

We’ve just published the June Market Report and we’re very happy to report that prices, at least, haven’t moved substantially in the last 6 weeks.

So, while most of our battered industry continues to struggle, our little segment – luxury and exotic wholesale – has been thankfully quiet. This lack of bad news is, at least in our opinion, very, very good news indeed.

Many of you have been using the iLUXCARS System successfully since we’ve started. While we’ve been saying that iLUXCARS is the best way to manage wholesale luxury, the fact that we’re still doing it, nearly 4 years since we started, is testament to how right we are.

iLUXCARS works for three very simple, very important reasons:

Reason #1 – The Network always knows the current value of a trade. You may know your local market, but you can’t possibly know the market in the entire country. The Network is never wrong.

Reason #2 – When you sell your car through iLUXCARS you get paid every time. WE write the checks. Every. Single. Time.

Reason #3 – iLUXCARS removes the risk associated with buying. Times are tough, especially in our business. The one thing you don’t need is more risk.

For almost 4 years – Faster. Safer. Better.

April Delay

Yes, we managed to publish the April report almost three weeks late this month. The result of this is that several of the new values (marked Mar-09) actually reflect about 8 weeks worth of depreciation versus 5 weeks. We will make a solid attempt to be on time for next month.

Also, we have eliminated the iLUXCARS Appraisal from the submission process. This means that every car you submit will immediately be broadcast to interested dealers nationwide. This was a highly requested feature and after much thought and discussion we’ve decided to try it out for a while.

Just as a reminder, this market report was created to be used by dealers as a quick reference to what cars are doing on a national scale. Our appraisal function did the same thing on an individual car basis, but for many of you, it was a hassle.

Most of you were treating the appraisal number as a buy bid anyway – at least those of you who have been part of the network for a while, and the rest of you were either confused or annoyed by the extra step.

Starting today you won’t need to go through this extra step. When you enter a vehicle it will automatically be a Live Trade. When you get a bid it will be real money.

Faster. Safer. Better.

Our Mission

In the nearly 3 years since iLUXCARS was founded our mission has stayed remarkably simple: Help you make more deals.

Everything we do, everything we've built is focused on this single purpose. We help you by providing you a rich set of services and information:

• Direct access to a full-time, professional, expert account manager. 
• A complete infrastructure for managing every transaction you do with us. 
• A 100% risk-free environment for your trades. We cover everything from the time the car is described until it arrives at your dealership. Payment, Shipping, Condition. All risk-free.
• The iLUXCARS Market Report - the only pricing guide available with real values on luxury and exotic vehicles.
• An unlimited number of iLUXCARS Appraisals. The only safe way to start your deal with a real number to give your customer.
• Access to a nationwide network of luxury and exotic Live Trades. 

We do all of this to get a chance to make a deal on your trades. Of course, in order to make money we have to do a transaction. We have to get you to buy or sell a car.

So if we make money on transactions then why are we charging a monthly fee? One really simple reason - we want your commitment. We want your trades. Because we know that if you give us a chance at your trades we WILL make a deal.

Here's the good part - we're so confident that we're going to be successful together once you commit to using iLUXCARS we'll ONLY charge if you don't do a deal. Do a deal and it's free.

Yes, we're charging. But only if you don't use it. One deal a month. One trade across the finish line. One purchase. That's it. One deal and its totally free.

Faster. Safer. Better. And, if you use it - completely free.

Internet Time

We're not sending a paper version of the January Market Report this month. Don't panic, we're still writing the report and you'll still be able to read it. 

Given the volatility of the today's market we felt that we couldn't send you numbers that were even a little bit out of date. When we print and mail the report, by necessity, the numbers are at least a week old. In the case of some vehicles, a 7 day old number is enough to cost you money.

We updated this month's numbers at literally the last minute - the afternoon of the last day of the month - December 31st, 2008. We'll send the report to you via email as soon as the final proofreading is complete - probably by the end of the day on Friday, January 2nd.

If you have problems reading or downloading the email attachment the report will be available for download on your homepage.

In the mean time - Happy New Year from iLUXCARS. 

Real Value

We've been at this long enough to understand the real value of iLUXCARS.  We've spent a significant amount of time, effort, and money on all aspects of iLUXCARS. The result. we think, is real value beyond just the individual parts.

While it's absolutely critical to the business (we are an internet company, after all) - the system is only part of our real value. And, even though it's absolutely critical to your business, the real value in iLUXCARS isn't just the Market Report.

The core of what we do is actually really simple - we manage your risk. Think of iLUXCARS as a complete risk management solution. Complete. 

Payment - our money, our guarantee, our risk. Shipping - all iLUXCARS. Condition - same thing. Title - all us. Collection - still our problem.

Face it, given today's financial climate, managing your risk is your number one priority. And if it isn't then it should be.

iLUXCARS - the complete risk management solution. Real value.   

Recent Updates

For those of you who don't get or (worse) don't read our email you should know that last week we updated values in the online version of the Market Report. It is available to download from your home page. To read it you'll need to log in and click on the large, friendly text that reads: "December Market Report."

Note that this update is available exclusively to iLUXCARS members. 

If you aren't a member or aren't reading the report then you should really think about changing that. Among other things, you are increasingly in the minority of professional dealers in the country.

Even if you aren't dying every month to read the informative and entertaining content in the report, you are certainly in need of the data. For example, In the 3 weeks between the time we printed and mailed the December issue to the last online update overall average depreciation - averaged across all models - has accelerated to over 5% (in 3 weeks). That's critical information.

We arrive at the numbers by analyzing the hundreds of millions of dollar's worth of luxury and exotic vehicles that are submitted to the iLUXCARS System every month. It isn't, in other words, our opinion. 

Look, even if you know everything there is to know about your market you still need to be safe. Especially today. Really knowing may just save you money. Hey, it may save you a bunch of money.

Faster. Safer. Better.

Turkey Time

Except for the Big Meal nationally planned for Thursday, the entire iLUXCARS team - Sales, Marketing, Development, Logistics, Accounting, (even Art!) will be working all Thanksgiving weekend. We, like most of you, are prepared for a big, successful Black Friday. (And Saturday, and Sunday.)

The iLUXCARS.COM site, of course, is always available (we're an Internet Company) and if you enter a Live Trade or an Appraisal even in the middle of pumpkin pie, the System will be working on it.

Some of your cars may have expired when you get back to the office on Friday. You'll need to look in the 'My Expired Vehicles' list and click Re-Open to turn them back into Live Trades. Simple. Fast.

Remember, if you start any deal without iLUXCARS then you are taking a serious, unnecessary risk. Start your deal right. We're here to help you make money.

Even while we're eating turkey.

Interested?

One of the most frequently asked questions we get typically starts with "What ever happened to that..." 

To address this, we've added a new feature that allows you to view and express interest in recently expired Live Trades on the site.  To view the list, click on "Recently Expired" under "My Account."

If you see a car you are interested in, click on the "I'm Interested" link at the right of the list:

When you do this, a notification is immediately sent to your account manager. Your account manager will call the seller to see what state their deal is in and, if possible, re-open the car if it's still available.

A bunch of you are already using this feature - many successfully. Let us know what you think, and, as always, we welcome your feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions.