How to get the best resale value – Honda Amaze

While the legendary Honda City is the favourite of many buyers, not everyone can afford to spend over Rs. 12 lakh to buy this premium mid-size sedan. Realising this, the Japanese carmaker launched the Honda Amaze in 2013. The compact sedan soon became one of the best-selling sedans. Over the years, when Honda’s line-up was contracting, the Amaze accompanied the City to pull significant volumes. Like the City, the Amaze is known for its reliability, durability, and unmatched premium experience. All these qualities help it claim a good resale value which has always remained a less-mentioned but essential aspect of any car in India. Therefore, in this article, we put forth some tips that will help you get the best resale value for a Honda Amaze if you want to sell one.

Factors Affecting Honda Amaze Resale Value

Condition

Generally, a used car buyer is worried about the expenses that a car might demand in future, if it has not been maintained adequately. The most obvious signs of poor maintenance are scratches, flaking paint, rust, and other blemishes. Cracks in the plastic parts, and dents – especially big ones, put a huge dent in a car’s resale value, given they indicate that the car has met accidents in the past. This can also be a deal breaker in many cases. All these faults are easy to spot and are the first checkpoints of a buyer who examines a used car.

Make sure your Amaze does not have any scratches, dents, or any other visual faults. You can also have your car repainted and detailed. Moreover, ensure all switches, controls, the battery, and features of your Amaze are properly working as it reflects your sense of responsibility and diligence. Meanwhile, keep your service records of your Amaze handy and well-organised; it builds trust for the buyer. All the same, if your Amaze is under warranty, it will go a long way in commanding a high resale value.

Odometer Reading

The odometer reading is one of the first details that a buyer asks while considering a used car. Essentially, an odometer is a gauge that records every metre the car travels throughout its lifetime and displays the total distance covered on the instrument cluster. So, the more your Amaze is driven the lesser is its resale value. However, since Amaze holds a reputation as a durable car, an Amaze with high odometer reading can claim a significantly better resale value than many other cars which have the same odometer reading. All the same, when you plan to sell your Amaze, some mechanics can advise you to tamper the odometer reading and reduce it. Do not fall for this, it can cut down the resale value to the lowest possible prices and can also lead to the possibility that your Amaze never gets sold.

Number of owners

There is a mentality that a car which has been used by multiple owners has been roughly treated at least at some point in its life. No matter how true or false this mentality is, it exists. Moreover, a car which has not been sold more than twice is assumed to be relatively more reliable. Therefore, your Amaze will get the best of the resale value it can claim if it has been used by two owners at most.

Model popularity

When Honda launched the Amaze in 2013, Indians were already in love with Honda’s i-VTEC technology engines. The Amaze came with an i-VTEC petrol engine and an i-DTEC diesel engine. As an affordable alternative to the more premium, Honda City, the Amaze was an instant hit. Today, the Japanese compact sedan is more than 10 years old for the early models and close to 6 years old for the later models of that generation. Even the oldest models of Amaze can claim up to Rs. 3.5 lakh resale value, thanks to its trustworthiness.

After a minor facelift in 2016, Honda launched the second-generation Amaze in 2018. The car received a complete design overhaul on the outside with new headlamps and tail lamp assembly. The sedan looked far more premium than the earlier model and that design is pretty much the same as the current model. Along with the new design, the new Amaze got a new touchscreen infotainment system and a CVT automatic for the diesel engine, making it the only car which offered the combination of a diesel engine and a CVT automatic. Since the 2021 facelift has not changed the Amaze much, the demand for this model is still strong and you can expect a great resale value for 2018 – 2021 models of the Amaze.

Age

The moment a new car is driven out of a dealership, it loses its value by 10 percent. With each passing year, its value drops by nearly 10 percent and thus a 5-year-old car can fetch only half of the price that was paid when it was a brand-new model. Nevertheless, the durability of Amaze does come into play when considering its age. Even a 10-year-old well-maintained Amaze can claim around 30 – 35 percent of its original value.

Accidental status

It all depends on the severity of accidents. In a country like India where you need to steer your car through traffic jams and park your car in tight spaces, small dents and scratches are almost unavoidable, especially if you are a novice driver. Whereas, major accidents can damage important components. Meanwhile, it is important to remember that whether it is a minor accident or a major one, every damaged part can be fixed and the car can be restored to its original shape and form. Yet a buyer does not trust a car which has met a major accident in the past, and even if he does, he tries to settle the deal for nominal prices. While you can easily hide most of the damage done by an accident – all it needs is a good repairman, it is best to be honest. Because, if you are not and the next owner of the car finds out that the car has undergone serious repair after a major accident, it can get you into serious trouble.

Powertrains, Transmissions, and Colours

When launched in 2013, the Honda Amaze came with a 1.2-litre i-VTEC petrol engine and a 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine. At the time, along with a manual gearbox, the petrol engine had the option of the torque converter automatic, while the diesel engine was available with a manual gearbox only. The facelift in 2016 replaced the torque converter automatic with a CVT automatic which was also available with the diesel engine. Since the Amaze had been the only car to offer a diesel engine with a CVT automatic, the diesel-powered Amaze with CVT is a unique offering and commands an attractive resale value. While the Honda engineers kept updating both its engines with evolving emission norms, the engines were never replaced by newer engines, and they did not even need to for the quality they delivered. However, Honda discontinued the diesel engine on the Amaze last year with the advent of BS6 phase-2.

All the same, it is important to remember that in regions like Delhi NCR, the scrappage for diesel cars is 10 years and 15 years for petrol cars, and this makes diesel cars claim lower resale value as compared to their petrol-powered counterparts.

As far as transmissions go, the automatic transmission is costlier than the manual one. Therefore, the automatic Amaze gets more resale value than the manual one. Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that both of Amaze’s automatic transmissions, whether it was the torque converter automatic or the on-sale CVT automatic, have been the best automatic transmissions in its segment.

Silver and White are the preferred colours with the Amaze. However, they usually ask for a minuscule premium over the other colours.

Expected Resale Value of Honda Amaze

While the resale value of a Honda Amaze is derived from several key factors which we have already explained, here is the list of the expected resale value of your Amaze. Do remember, that these prices can vary depending on the vehicle’s overall condition.

Best Time to sell your Honda Amaze

We advise you to sell your Amaze within five years of purchase. Once your car is more than five years old, it can lose more than 50 per cent of its worth. Meanwhile, if you sell your Amaze within five years of its life, it is easier for the buyer to finance it if needed.

Summary

One of the perks of owning a Honda Amaze is a great resale value. While its durability is what favours it the most while claiming a high resale value, factors like condition, age, accidental status, odometer reading, and model popularity are sure to play their innate role in deciding the worth of a used Amaze. With all this, it is recommended to sell your Amaze within five years of ownership if you are looking to sell it at the best possible prices.

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