ORLANDO -- Massive recalls of Toyota and General Motors vehicles since 2009 produced no long-term damage to those companies’ used-vehicle values. But it’s too early to tell how Volkswagen’s diesel scandal will affect its vehicles’ prices at auction, said Anil Goyal, vice president of automotive valuation and analytics at Black Book.
“Right now we have more questions than answers,” Goyal told Automotive News last week at the National Auto Auction Association convention here. “Is it going to be a recall? Is it going to be a fine? Is it going to be reimbursement to the consumer? Is it going to be trade in your vehicle and we’ll have another one for you? It could end up in a number of ways. We don’t know yet what it’s going to be.”
Goyal said only “a couple” of Volkswagen vehicles with diesel engines were offered for sale at auction early last week and they were no-sales, meaning bidding on the vehicles failed to reach the minimum price set by the seller.
“I suspect most dealers are holding back” from buying diesel-powered VWs at auction until they know more, he said.
Manheim North America President Janet Barnard said her auction company’s policy in the case of vehicles with open recalls, or in the VW case, is “it falls to the seller ultimately to identify those cars, and we pass along” to potential buyers “the information we have.”
