Hyundai Introduces Trade-In Guarantee

By Kelsey Mays, Cars.com

Hyundai’s Assurance program adds a new provision beginning May 1: guaranteed trade-in value. Buy a new Hyundai, and your dealer will guarantee a trade-in value over a two-to-four-year window from the time of sale. Should you want to trade in your Hyundai three years down the road, you’ll receive at least whatever was originally guaranteed. If it’s worth more than the guarantee, you’ll get the higher value. Hyundai ended its Assurance program’s job-loss protection last month.

Hyundai calculates trade-in values using forecasts from ALG, a popular residuals tracker. The automaker’s cars are on the upswing. ALG pegs a 2011 Sonata’s 36-month residual value at 51 to 55 percent, depending on trim. That beats the Toyota Camry (49 to 53 percent) and nearly matches the Honda Accord sedan (53 to 59 percent).

The trade-in guarantee comes at no cost; however, it doesn’t apply if you lease a Hyundai. The automaker says it will roll out the fine print in a couple weeks, but we expect the policy to include some common-sense limitations. For example, if you put 25,000 miles a year on your new Elantra and accrue a few dents along the way, you probably won’t receive the guaranteed trade-in value come 2014.

Hyundai did share one stipulation that a few shoppers may find onerous. When trading the car in, you’ll have to show proof of regularly scheduled maintenance at an authorized Hyundai dealership, which means you may not be able to get your car serviced at your favorite independent shop. A dealership can’t threaten to void your warranty if you get your car serviced elsewhere, but doing so could void the trade-in guarantee.

The automaker isn’t concerned so much with elective maintenance as it is with scheduled services, which Hyundai spokesman Chris Hosford said are usually required every 7,500 miles.

“If a customer wants to change their oil every 3,000 miles, and they do that on their own, that’s fine,” Hosford said. To keep the trade-in guarantee intact, “any required maintenance has to be done at a Hyundai dealership.”