Average cost of a new hearse $94K to $108K?

Inflation

John Royark JR said:
I dont think they have been in the 75k range since early to mid 1990s. They have been about 90k for many years now.
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I recall seeing new hearse prices being quoted on a dealer's website as recently as 3 years ago. The prices were in the $65K range. Cadillac DTS prices have only increased by about $5K since then.
 
Seems like a brand new coach would be a bad investment. Even with a tax write-off as a business expense, you've got to be taking a beating after depreciation if you sell it within a few years. And I know some firms replace their front line coach with a new one every couple of years.

Can someone in the business explain it to me? Obviously there's a reason, otherwise the coachbuilders would keep dying off and prices would drop, but I don't get it. I've actually always wondered this...
 
Adam Borkat said:
Seems like a brand new coach would be a bad investment. Even with a tax write-off as a business expense, you've got to be taking a beating after depreciation if you sell it within a few years. And I know some firms replace their front line coach with a new one every couple of years.

Can someone in the business explain it to me? Obviously there's a reason, otherwise the coachbuilders would keep dying off and prices would drop, but I don't get it. I've actually always wondered this...
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This is why most new funeral cars are now leased.
 
The last few years that my uncle owned his funeral home near Pittsburgh, he RENTED hearses. He said it was way cheaper in the long run. The cars would arrive the day they were needed, had their own driver and were always clean. By renting them, he didn't have to take time to wash and clean them, he didn't have a hearse payment, no maintenance bills, no insurance bills, etc. Seeing the price of the things, I guess it did make sense.
 
The price of a new hearse will vary greatly from one manufacture to the next. Also, the "extra" items add up quickly on a new hearse to increase the price (leather vs cloth, extend tables, etc). A few years ago, I found the price varied by over $45,000 from one to the other. S&S was always the highest priced. Federal and Eagle being lower cost.
 
makes the money put into restoring a old car a vary good investment doesn't it. you could have two top notch restored older cars for the price of one. if you were handy you could have 3 or 4.
 
Tony Blair said:
I recall seeing new hearse prices being quoted on a dealer's website as recently as 3 years ago. The prices were in the $65K range. Cadillac DTS prices have only increased by about $5K since then.
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Are you sure they were new cars? Considering a 1995 Superior Crown Sovereign retailed for $70,732.00 and they are no where near the price of an S&S would be.
 
Margins above factory invoice

Bill Carlin said:
I found the price varied by over $45,000 from one to the other.
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This doesn't surprise me. I also think there are very large profit margin differences among funeral coach dealers around the US. I still don't believe the average negotiated price or MSRP on a hearse nowadays is north of $94K. I'll bet the Masterpiece, Crown Sovereign and Echelon are the only models that fetch a price approaching $100K.
 
Not used

John Royark JR said:
Are you sure they were new cars? Considering a 1995 Superior Crown Sovereign retailed for $70,732.00 and they are no where near the price of an S&S would be.
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Yes, they were new cars. The listing of the coaches included the odometer miles. All the coaches had less than 100 miles on the odometer.
 
I ran my own funeral business north of Green Bay from 2000-2009 and always rented a hearse. Only doing 25 calls, the types of car they would send were at most two years old. They came with a very helpful driver and the car was clean. At $220 per time, couldn't beat it. Currently helping my father-in-law in eastern Iowa. They have a 2002 car and no talk of updating at this point.
 
New hearse prices

I think you have to look at the price of a new hearse, or anything for that matter, in comparison to what everything else costs. A new loaded out Chevy Suburban or GMX Yukon is going to run $55,000 to $60,000. Look at how many of these are driving around these day and for the most part they are personal vehicles. In other words, they are not generating any income for the owner, it is strickly an expense.

Now compare that to a new hearse, and yes a new commercial glass hearse is going to cost $100,000 or more. The hearse is a revenue generator for the funeral home. If the funeral home charges $250 for the use of the hearse and they use it 100 times per year, that's $25,000 per year in income. If they keep the car for five years, that's $125,000 in revenue, plus they have the trade in value on it. Maintaining the car should be limited to basic oil changes etc. since the warranty will cover any other repairs.

And keep in mind, if no one bought new hearses, there wouldn't be any old ones either!
 
Chad Oolman said:
I think you have to look at the price of a new hearse, or anything for that matter, in comparison to what everything else costs. A new loaded out Chevy Suburban or GMX Yukon is going to run $55,000 to $60,000.
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i was just going to post a very similar response. 75k is the price of a new fully loaded escalade.
 
I see they cut corners on this one. It does not have the beefed up wheels, so most likely the suspension is not either so it will not last as long. I wonder what else they cut corners on, after all it is a Federal.
 
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