iLuxCars Blog

Quarterly Report

2011-11-23T10:58:00.001-08:00

First, we apologize for the fact that our monthly report has become a quarterly report. This was not, we assure you, our original intention. Our plan going forward is to never start another note to our network members with “we’re a little behind on the market report.”The first thing you’ll notice is that this report has a slightly different format and covers significantly more data. We’ve expanded coverage from model years 2000 – 2012 (Note that some vehicles do not have data for all model years). You’ll also notice several new luxury and exotic models that we are covering.We’re up to 162 vehicles covered in the report across 12 model years. Our plan is to add several more over the next few months.While we aren’t making excuses, it is interesting to note that over the past 3 months, prices on average across all luxury and exotic models covered in this report have remained largely flat.We continue to strongly suggest that using the iLUXCARS system on every vehicle to establish a up-to-the-minute market value for your vehicle is still the best practice.Among the new vehicles are Bugatti, Fisker, Koenigsegg, Pagani, and Tesla. We will continue covering these models over the coming months. We’ve also added coverage for a few BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz and Lamborghini.Why expand now? Simple, really, we’re growing. The iLUXCARS Network is in its 6th successful year. This market report is over 3 years running. It remains the single wholesale pricing authority on late-model luxury and exotic vehicles. Our commitment continues to be providing our members with accurate, actionable information gathered from live transaction data and experience. Remember, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.We’re the only complete and guaranteed solution to real-time management of your luxury and exotic trades. Our goal is simple and consistent – help you make more deals. Something we’ve been doing for over 5 years. So, if you’re not already using us to value every single trade, this is a great time to start.Like we keep saying: Faster. Safer. Better.

April and May

2011-04-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

This month's Market Report is the combination of both the April and May Market Report. The actual pricing numbers represent a period of about 6 weeks overall. Both March and April numbers are included but are identical.

The Market Report relies on the data from live transactions that take place within the iLUXCARS network through the iLUXCARS System. In most cases, prices can be established using standard statistical methods and iLUXCARS established pricing algorithms, but sometimes we look at individual deals to make sure that the transaction is a representative transaction.

We do all of this to ensure that the prices in the report are much more than simply accurate, we want to be certain that this report is essential. While we make the report available to iLUXCARS Network members, we understand that both the distribution and the influence of the iLUXCARS Market report is much more widespread.

The important point of all of this is for you to understand that the reason we have published this report for the last 3 years is to help our Network members do one very important thing: make more deals.

The iLUXCARS Network continues to expand its membership. We've added iPhone and Andriod support that more of you are taking advantage of every day. A surprising number of our members took advantage of last month's iPad promotion (if you haven't received your iPad yet please be patient, we're working getting them all shipped out).

For the most part, prices this month continue the comforting trend of not doing anything. We did see some fairly large drops in 2 Bentley models and the Maserati Quattroporte Automatics.

In both cases we believe that these shifts represent reasonable adjustments in current market conditions and we don't expect large changes to happen over the next several months.

Remember, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete and guaranteed.

Our goal is simple and consistent – help you make more deals. Something we’ve been doing for over 5 years. So, if you’re not already using us to value every single trade, this is a great time to start.

Like we keep saying: Faster. Safer. Better.

The iLux iPad Promotion

2011-03-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

This month, along with the slightly late March Market Report, we're officially launching our first ever iLUXCARS Promotion. We're calling it the iLUX iPad.

As usual, it's simple – Sell a Car, get an iPad 2! No contest, no raffle, and no competition.

The iLux iPad.

Works like this:

List and sell at least one car valued at $50,000 or more on iLUXCARS
Complete the transaction (deal accepted) by Monday, April 4th 2011

You can submit as many cars as you want. Our strong suggestion is that you use the iLUXCARS System for accurate, up-to-the-minute research on every single deal. Make sure you describe the vehicles accurately, poorly described vehicles do not typically sell.

The offer is limited to one iPad 2 (16GB with Wi-Fi + 3G) per account on iLUXCARS. Promotion not valid for cars already listed on the network as of Wednesday, March 16, 2011.

We're a little late with the Market Report this month. (We were all wrapped up dealing with your new iPads). Prices were calculated on March 17th, so depreciation changes are over the last 6 weeks (vs. 4 weeks).

The good news is that some of the vehicles tracked by the Market Report went up over the last 6 weeks. For the most part, those vehicles that didn't move up stayed completely flat, another bit of good news.

Overall, prices shifted in a positive direction. (Aston Martin had a particularly strong month.)
Remember, the Market Report prices, while intended ONLY as a guideline, do represent the real money on these vehicles today.

iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete and guaranteed.

Our goal is simple and consistent – help you make more deals. Something we’ve been doing for over 5 years. So, if you’re not already using us to value every single trade, this is a great time to start.

Like we keep saying: Faster. Safer. Better.

Technology Advantage

2011-01-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

Until iLUXCARS, establishing a legitimate value for a luxury trade was largely guesswork. Cross your fingers and hope your customer was flexible. The typical process involved a call to a friendly (and sometimes competitive) dealership and ask for their opinion.

iLUXCARS changed the entire model. Because of the advantage of our technology, you can get much, much better than an opinion about what your luxury trade is worth – you get a check writing number.

The even bigger advantage – you get your check writing number from the largest network of professional luxury buyers anywhere.

This month, with the exception of a few vehicles, prices were completely flat. We saw prices drop substantially on Mercedes Benz S63 and Porsche Panamera (12%).
We also saw drops in 9 other models – Ferrari, Bentley, and Aston Martin.

Compared with last month, overall average depreciation across ALL models is lower. Last month, overall average depreciation was 0.58% vs. 0.77%.

Just like last month, we don’t interpret any of the depreciation numbers as ominous. In fact, given what we’ve all witnessed over the last 2 years, we’re feeling more and more optimistic.

Remember, the Market Report prices, while intended ONLY as a guideline, do represent the real money on these vehicles today.

Average numbers are a helpful trend, but absolutely no substitute for careful research. Which is, after all, why you’re reading this report.

Also, even though this report is a great research tool, our strong suggestion is that you use the iLUXCARS System for accurate, up-to-the-minute research on every single deal.

Remember, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete and guaranteed.

Our goal is simple and consistent – help you make more deals. Something we’ve been doing for over 5 years. So, if you’re not already using us to value every single trade, this is a great time to start.

Advantage: Technology. Faster. Safer. Better.

Year in Review

2010-12-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

It’s been an interesting year. The good news is that the scary price slide seems to have stopped. We’re in a recovery period, certainly. We use average depreciation as a barometer on the roughly 100 models we track in this report.

For example, if you compare the average monthly depreciation across all tracked models from this year (0.44%) to 2009 (0.81%) and 2008 (2.1%), you can see that the trend is moving in the right direction.

Over the last 4 weeks (the time between the last market report and this one), luxury prices on 16 of the 96 covered vehicles fell. The other 80 vehicles saw no statistically significant drop. Overall, average depreciation across all models was 0.77%.

Again, the majority of the vehicles stayed flat (83% had statistically insignificant changes). The 17% that did fall, however, fell over 4%. (This is about the same as October.)

Compared with last month, overall average depreciation across ALL models is lower. Last month, overall average depreciation was 1.0% vs. 0.77%.

Just like last month, we don’t interpret any of the depreciation numbers as ominous. In fact, given what we’ve all witnessed over the last 2 years, we’re feeling more and more optimistic.

Remember, the Market Report prices, while intended ONLY as a guideline, do represent the real money on these vehicles today.

Average numbers are a helpful trend, but absolutely no substitute for careful research. Which is, after all, why you’re reading this report.

Also, even though this report is a great research tool, our strong suggestion is that you use the iLUXCARS System for accurate, up-to-the-minute research on every single deal.

Remember, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete and guaranteed.

Our goal is simple and consistent – help you make more deals. Something we’ve been doing for over 5 years. So, if you’re not already using us to value every single trade, this is a great time to start.

Like we keep saying, Faster. Safer. Better.

Happy new year.

Fall Back

2010-11-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

If you’re like most of us, you enjoy that rare day of the year when daylight savings time affords you an extra hour of sleep – “Fall Back” is great for those of you deep into a sleep deficit due to a frantic work schedule.

Unfortunately, over the last 6 weeks (the time between the last market report and this one), we’ve seen luxury prices on many of the vehicles covered in this report do their own Falling Back. Overall, average depreciation is only 1.0%. However, several models fell significantly over the last 6 weeks.

The majority of the vehicles stayed flat (70% had statistically insignificant changes). The 30% that did fall, however, fell over 4%.

Compared with last month, overall average depreciation across ALL models is lower, but the models that did drop were notable. Last month, overall average depreciation was 1.93% vs. 1.0%.

The largest movers were Bentley (7.19%), Maserati (6.97%), Lamborghini (5.78%), and Ferrari (3.48%).
Just like last month, we don’t interpret the depreciation number as anything ominous. It’s higher than the previous several months, but certainly not out of line with what we have seen over the last several years.

When you factor in the extra 2 weeks and the average overall numbers, the outliers aren’t alarming.

Remember, the Market Report prices, while intended ONLY as a guideline, do represent the real money on these vehicles today.

Like we said last month, it’s normal for prices to go down. Flat values are unusual. Which is, after all, why you’re reading this report.

Of course, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete.

Technology working for you. Even when all you have is your mobile phone.

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.

Helping you make more deals. One commitment at a time.

Faster. Safer. Better.

iLuxMobile

2010-10-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

If you’ve been a member for a while, you already know that iLUXCARS is the largest online network dedicated to helping professional luxury and exotic dealers make more deals. We’re happy to announce that starting today, you can have the power of iLUXCARS delivered directly to your phone.

Give it a try. To get there, just point your mobile web browser to www.iluxcars.com. We’ve tested it on the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. You can do most of the things you can in the full application, including starting your deal.

As always, we love to hear from you, so if you have any suggestions or problems please let us know.
Prices this month have not stayed flat. Overall average depreciation across all models is the largest it has been in several months (1.93%).

The largest movers were Bentley (3.36%), Aston Martin (4.21%), Mercedes (3.6%), and Ford GT (6.79%).
We dropped the Carrera models from the report this month. We felt that these cars were under-represented in our monthly sample. We also added two models, Ferrari 458 and Lamborghini Balboni.

Just like last month, we don’t interpret the depreciation number as anything ominous. It’s higher than the previous several months, but certainly not out of line with what we have seen over the last several years.

Remember, the Market Report prices, while intended ONLY as a guideline, do represent the real money on these vehicles today.

Like we said last month, it’s normal for prices to go down. Flat values are unusual. Which is, after all, why you’re reading this report.

Of course, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete.

Technology working for you. Even when all you have is your mobile phone.

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.

Helping you make more deals. One commitment at a time.

Faster. Safer. Better.

Next To Normal

2010-09-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

The last few months in the luxury car market have been very unusual. Why? Prices have more or less stayed completely flat. This is, of course, extremely good news if you were around during the fourth quarter of 2008.

Prices this month have not stayed flat. Overall average depreciation across all models is less than one percent (0.71%). While this does represent a real change from the last several months, it’s more or less normal depreciation.

Most models held close to prices from last month. The exceptions were Bentley (Brooklands, GT Speed), Porsche (GT2, GT3/GT3 RS), Ferrari (360, Scuderia), and Mercedes (SL65 Black Series, CL65, CL63). Together, these models dropped almost 5% over the last month.

The good news is that 80% of models that we track (out of the 103 currently tracked) didn’t change at all. This means two things: one, most prices haven’t changed in any statistically significant way, and two, nothing is in free fall.

Some of the models that dropped are understandable. For example, the drop in the GT2, GT3, and GT3 RS is typical for this time of year. We don’t interpret this as anything ominous. The drop on Scuderias is probably the most interesting (just under 5%), mainly due to the fact that this is the second straight month for that sort of drop for the Scuderia.

Remember, the Market Report prices, while intended ONLY as a guideline, do represent the real money on these vehicles today.

Like we said last month, it’s normal for prices to go down. Flat values are unusual. Which is, after all, why you’re reading this report.

Of course, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete.

Technology working for you.

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.

Helping you make more deals. One commitment at a time.

Faster. Safer. Better.

Back To School

2010-08-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

As the saying goes, “everyone has an opinion.” At iLUXCARS, we’re are certainly no exception. However, this report is NOT based even one little bit on a single opinion. This report is 100% fact. We’re the messenger.

We’ve been at the iLUXCARS message and system for over 5 years. This report is the 24th issue of the iLUXCARS Market Report. Over these many years and many reports we’ve developed some very strong opinions, but never about the numbers in this report.

This month we’re continuing a very positive trend: we’re BARELY changing prices.

Just to emphasize this – our analysis of prices last month, and the month before could not find any real statistical differences between them. This month, prices overall were slightly lower, but only slightly.

At iLUXCARS, we have two very strong opinions: First, helping you make more deals is good for our business. Second, there is no place for our opinion when it comes to the Market Report – we just report the numbers.

Our core value to your business is simple: when you’re educated, you make better decisions. For example, if you had held onto some trades a bit longer than you like over the last 3 months, you’re probably not that far off where you started. Prices have been so flat, even though you normally wouldn’t want to keep your trades for 90+ days, these last 90 days have been survivable.

However, and this is NOT an opinion, the current pricing trend, even though we dropped prices a bit this report, is not going to continue. Which is, after all, why you’re reading this report.

Of course, iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete.

Technology working for you.

Remember, 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.

Help you make more deals. One commitment at a time. Faster. Safer. Better.

More Good News

2010-07-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

This month we’re continuing a very positive trend: we’re not changing any prices. If you’ve survived the last few years in our business then this is about the best thing you could hope for.

Just to emphasize this – our analysis of prices this month could not find any statistical differences between this month and last month.

At iLUXCARS, our entire business is 100% focused on exactly one thing: help you make more deals. That’s it. We don’t have a showroom, a service department, or an advertising budget. We do exactly one thing – buy and sell trades.

Our value to you is simple – we’re there to start your deal. Because in order to close your deal you first have to start your deal. And a good start almost always involves putting the right number on a trade.

Ask yourself this: When you have a real, live customer in your dealership waiting for you to give them a number on their trade, how long can you afford to make them wait?

We think the answer to that is easy: 5 minutes. Make your customer wait any longer than that and you are in serious danger of losing the deal. Permanently.

Here’s our suggestion: as SOON as you have the details on the trade PUT IT IN THE SYSTEM.
Remember, you’ve got 5 minutes.

Also, after you’ve made your deal (with our help, we hope), the true value of iLUXCARS really shines.
iLUXCARS is much, much more than a way to value your trades – iLUXCARS is a complete solution; from the time your customer walks into your dealership, through getting paid and the car off your lot fast.

Complete. Technology working for you.

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.

Help you make more deals. One commitment at a time. Faster. Safer. Better.

Waiting Room

2010-06-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

At iLUXCARS, our entire business is 100% focused on exactly one thing: help you make more deals. That’s it. We don’t have a showroom, a service department, or an advertising budget. We do exactly one thing – buy and sell trades.

Our value to you is simple – we’re there to start your deal. Because in order to close your deal you first have to start your deal. And a good start almost always involves putting the right number on a trade.

Ask yourself this: When you have a real, live customer in your dealership waiting for you to give them a number on their trade, how long can you afford to make them wait?
We think the answer to that is easy: 5 minutes. Make your customer wait any longer than that and you are in serious danger of losing the deal. Permanently.

Here’s our suggestion: as SOON as you have the details on the trade PUT IT IN THE SYSTEM.

Remember, you’ve got 5 minutes.

Here’s the good news: last month (April, 2010) we introduced an important change to the system. The idea is to give you a guaranteed, check writing, starting bid, fast – 5 minutes or less – designed to help you get a commitment from your customer.

We all know that people are better buyers than bidders. Most of the time, your car will do more money once you know the number it takes to make your deal. It takes a commitment to sell a car.

For sellers, this is the most important step to help us get you top dollar for your trade. For buyers, we don’t want to waste your time on cars that can’t be bought.

The way we see it - you’ve only got 5 minutes.

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.

Help you make more deals. One commitment at a time. Faster. Safer. Better.

Improving the Process

2010-05-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

For almost 5 years, the mission of iLUXCARS has remained constant – help you make more deals.

This month we’re introducing an important change to the system. The idea is to give you a guaranteed, check writing, starting bid, fast – 5 minutes or less – designed to help you get a commitment from your customer.

We all know that people are better buyers than bidders. Most of the time, your car will do more money once you know the number it takes to make your deal. It takes a commitment to sell a car.

For sellers, this is the most important step to help us get you top dollar for your trade. For buyers, we don’t want to waste your time on cars that can’t be bought.

It works like this:

Click “Enter a Car”
Select the appropriate option (Start a Deal or Sell a Car)
Enter the vehicle and click submit.
In 5 minutes or less you’ll receive a check writing number via email.
Take the number to your customer and get a commitment.
Convert the vehicle to a Live Trade (Click “Open Bidding” in the “iLuxCars Offer” list), enter the committed number, and open the car to the entire network.
You can accept the deal any time after you convert.

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.

Help you make more deals. One commitment at a time.

Faster. Safer. Better.

New, New Things

2010-04-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

The April, 2010 market report has been updated. You can login to read it now.

The report has several important changes. First, there are 13 new models that we previously didn’t track.

The new models include Ferrari (California and the 16M), Aston Martin (DBS Convertible), Lamborghini (LP670 SuperVeloce, Gallardo Superleggera, and the LP560 Roadster), Mercedes (SL65 Black Series and the CLK63 Black Series), Porsche (Panamera S, 4S, and Turbo), and Bentley (Flying Spur Speed).

The other major change is that we are now tracking 2010 prices on models where we have statistically significant data. We stopped publishing prices for 2003 models, mainly for space reasons.

Of course, iLUXCARS will still give you a check writing number on 2003 vehicles, we just aren’t including them in the report.
These new, new things bring our report to a total of 100 luxury and super luxury models with substantial wholesale price data being tracked and calculated on a monthly basis. All of this data is, of course, free to iLUXCARS customers.

This month’s report, posted on April 7th, has prices through March 31st, 2010.

Average overall depreciation for the month was actually negative (for only the second time in the history of this report). This means that prices actually went up between early February and early April, in some cases, prices went up substantially.

Because this is as rare as a black swan, let’s repeat: prices on several models went UP between Feb 18th and April 7th. Really. Bright green shoots of recovery, if you ask us.

Of course, this is another great reason to continue to use iLUXCARS. The real value in the iLUXCARS Platform is that it dramatically reduces your risk. If you aren’t putting every trade into the system immediately then you are living very dangerously.

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.

Fresh Powder

2010-02-19T17:47:00.000-08:00

Between the remodel of our corporate headquarters and all of the trade activity this month, we fell a little behind with the Market Report. We know, this is becoming a habit.

We also know that there has been some confusion over the fact that we’re now naming the market report for the previous month’s numbers. Last month’s report, released on January 4th, was the December market report. This month’s report is the January report.

Like we said last month, we’re starting to see activity levels on the system rise. The number of new dealers signing up is very high, almost matching our peaks in 2007 and early 2008.

January prices overall were very steady. The only noticeable dips were isolated to 4 makes: Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Rolls. Mercedes and Bentley were something of an anomaly – we saw CL65 numbers down $10,000 in a single month. For Bentley, both the Fixed Head and Drop Head were down, Fixed Heads by over 5%.

Overall depreciation for the month was a modest 0.5% on average – basically flat.

Remember that in June of 2009, for the first time in the history of this report (19 months now), prices actually went UP.

If you’ve been reading this report for the last 19 months (and who hasn’t) the one thing you’ll notice is that every month is a little different. For example, there are some months–December–where you really didn’t want to own a 612. This month, you’ll probably want to sell that CL65 you took in last month.

Of course, this is another great reason to continue use iLUXCARS. The real value in the iLUXCARS Platform is that it dramatically reduces your risk. If you aren’t putting every trade into the system immediately then you are living very dangerously.

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.

A Recovery Year

2010-01-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

It was, to say the least, a very interesting year. The iLUXCARS System saw over $600 million worth of luxury vehicles. We can safely say that this year was a better year than 2008.

With a few exceptions, average depreciation was manageable. In many cases, values actually improved. These were not things we could say about 2008. We’ve breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Like we said last month, we’re starting to see activity levels on the system rise. The number of new dealers signing up is very high, almost matching our peaks in 2007 and early 2008.

December prices dropped a bit more than average for the year – about 2% overall for the month. The bulk of this is across the following models: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston, Mercedes, and Rolls. Lamborghini dropped by almost 4% on average, Ferrari 3.3%, Mercedes 3%, Aston Martin 2.2%, and Rolls Royce 1.75%.

Remember that from June through November prices were more or less flat. We’re nearly, dare we say, optimistic.

Also remember that in June, for the first time in the history of this report (18 months now), prices actually went UP.

We want to point out that in our opinion, December’s price drops are in line with our expectations and we don’t expect for the bottom to drop out again. Basically we’re saying don’t worry. If you take the last 3 months together, the average depreciation was a comfortable 1%.

Of course, if the car you own today happens to be a 612 or a GT2, you may be borderline underwater. Which is another (great) reason to continue to use iLUXCARS.

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, even through our first year of recovery.

By the way, happy new year. Faster. Safer. Better.

Two For One

2009-12-02T11:02:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2009-07-21T14:18:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-22T11:10:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-23T09:19:00.001-07:00

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

2009-01-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-25T18:55:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-11-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

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.