How does a used car DOUBLE in value over time? If Service Ontario does the appraisal
Richmond Hill resident Brian Presement says Service Ontario has overvalued his 2011 Scion tC — certainly a non-collectible car — making it difficult to sell due to tax implications.
Normally, cars — unlike, say real estate — make for a terrible investment. Indeed, the nanosecond you drive a vehicle off the lot, the depreciation factor kicks in. Well, apparently not always… at least not when the government gets involved.
Case in point: Brian Presement of Richmond Hill, Ont., was planning on selling his 2011 Scion tC. But he might just end up sending it to the scrapyard because Service Ontario has somehow deemed that the value of this high-mileage chariot has somehow more than doubled in the past six years.
That means the tax threshold will make this car a tough sell indeed. (Service Ontario is responsible for issuing driver's licences, vehicle permits, and licence plates.)
Here’s the skinny: Presement purchased the 2011 tC in 2018. It was seven years old, and it had 130,000 km on the odometer. Service Ontario valued it in 2018 at $7,000.
The car served him well, but Presement decided the time had come to part ways with the Scion. He was planning to sell it, some six years after he purchased the vehicle — for $3,500. Of note: the mileage in the meantime has doubled in the ensuing six years, the Scion now shows 260,000 km on the odometer.
Yet, somehow, some way, Service Ontario has appraised the car’s value at $15,000! In other words, that 2011 Scion tC is now worth more than DOUBLE than what it was appraised at in 2018!
How can this be?
Certainly, Service Ontario’s appraisal does not coincide with what the marketplace is dictating, especially given that this Toyota brand was discontinued in 2016. As well, we highly doubt that any Scion model will emerge as a collectible or even a quasi-collectible in the years ahead.
Presement says he searched Scions for sale online in Ontario and there was only one other 2011 Scion tC listed. It had about half the mileage — 138,000 km — yet the asking price on CarGurus.ca was only $9,999. A 2013 Scion tC with 225,000 kms was selling for just $5,995.
And when Presement ventured onto Clutch.ca, the website’s best offer was $1,500.
Rebel News reached out to the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (which oversees Service Ontario). No response was received.
Baffling…
David Menzies
Mission Specialist
David “The Menzoid” Menzies is the Rebel News "Mission Specialist." The Menzoid is equal parts outrageous and irreverent as he dares to ask the type of questions those in the Media Party would rather not ponder.
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