Anyone about to order an executive saloon without an optional satellite navigation system should think again. Not having this desirable option could seriously impair its resale value and potential.Fitting sat-nav to luxury cars has been essential for decent resale for several years now but it’s fast becoming as much of a must-have option as metallic paint on smaller saloons. The BMW 5-series (right) is just one of the cars where ordering sat-nav could actually make you money come resale time. Add the cheapest £1185 guidance option to a new 530d, for instance, and the trade price guides indicate that it will add £1500 to its trade-in value.This sort of gulf is reflected on the forecourts, too. We went shopping for a nearly-new version and found two near-identical 530ds on the same forecourt. They were both autos, with leather, silver metallic paint and 9k on the clock, but the sat-nav car was going for £31,995, a grand more than the other model.Likewise two near-identical 53-plate Mercedes E320 CDi saloons that we spotted differed in price by £1200 depending on whether it was fitted with the COMS pack.Away from exec saloons, it pays to order sat-nav on other high-image models. Specifying the sat-nav option on the Mazda RX-8 should make you more when you sell it on. Although it’s still early days for used examples of the £22,000 four-door coupé to be on the forecourts, you’ll get all your money back if you’ve spent £1500 on the sat-nav. And salesmen are reporting that a sat-nav equipped model will fetch the same £1500 more in part-exchange, too.
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