UberXY

Has horsepower suddenly gone out of fashion?

BMW dealer calls me, says he will sell me a 330HP Z4 M coupe for $10k off sticker (now $48k). Corvette dealer emails me, says he will sell me a 505HP Z06 for $10k off sticker (now $67k).

I'm still waiting for Porsche to call me and offer a GT3 for $20k off. I'll be there with my checkbook in five minutes.

Steve
84 911
00 M5
02 G500

old man neri

High gas prices/sinking US dollar has probably made them a little less desirable.

dsmith

Judging by Steve's fleet, I doubt gas prices enter into his auto buying decisions!

UberXY

No, not worried about gas prices here in the US, which are among the lowest in the world.

old man neri

I am not saying you in particular. However they have risen a lot over the last few years. 10 years ago when one went car shopping they didn't really care how fuel efficient it was. Nowadays it is a much bigger consideration. At least that is my theory as to why some of the bigger sports cars might be struggling to be sold. I could be totally wrong as well.

red67

wonder if there's any lucky venezuelan rennlisters out there?

Peter Zimmermann

I wonder if the weaker housing market and the decrease in available re-fi money has something to do with it...

dsmith

Maybe it's different in Cali, but I don't know of anybody who buys their cars based on their housing sale or financing.

I think it's because the manufacturers are pricing themselves out of the market. The cars increased in cost disproportionately to increases in income. Also, lot's of people who buy a toy like that sometimes quickly find that's really not what they want, so part of the market goes away quickly after the initial surge.

BTW, not even BMW enthusiasts want a Z4 coupe and it's base MSRP is $50k, so that must just be options that are being discounted. Same goes for the Z06. The "regular" vette is $25k cheaper, so that may be a problem too.

Amber Gramps

A quick run into Walter's Porsche in Riverside, CA today for bushings and the car of the day on center stage wasn't the twin turbo anymore it was the green on green on grey GT3 RS normally aspirated (1 of 85) for only $208,000.00. I got to looking at it and found the MSRP was $50,000.00 less. It clearly stated "Walter's" $50,000.00 OK, so not every car got green stitches on the dash and green paint on the door panels but come on, 50K over????

Mike Murphy

You guys are all right on the money. One thing that is making all this so much worse is that foreigners aren't buying American cars. Because the US dollar is so cheap, all kinds of foreigners are vacationing here, buying real estate, etc., but they still think our cars suck. They are not buying them, even at the fire-sale prices that they are right now.

My advice to the US would be "Start manufacturing the highest quality goods you can, charge a high price for it, and foreigners will start buying our stuff." Right now, the US is the 2nd-to-last country with the largest trade deficit in the world. Nobody wants our stuff.

Peter Zimmermann

In CA many home owners will re-fi their house, pull out their "free" money, usually between $25-75K, and use it to either (1)re-model their kitchen, or (2) buy a new car. In my part of the world that new car is usually a BMW, sometimes a Benz, occasionally a Hummer or jacked-up full size pick up truck. The interest on the new note is deductible, and everyone is happy. That said, in the last year there has been a big reduction in new cars with paper plates driving around...

Douglas: Yep, big dealer premium on GT3RS cars.

OhioMark

Red 67:

I assume any Venezuelan Rennlister's have left the country before Chavez'
confiscated their property. A friend of ours has parents and relatives still
in Venezuela, and it's getting hard for those with any sizable possesions
to maintain them etc......

Mark

red67

jeez. i didn't realise. it sounds awful.
i didn't mean any offence - my uneducated knowledge of venzuela was zero (except their fuel prices) up until this present moment.

UberXY

things may improve after yesterday's election.

Steve

Mike Murphy

It happens quite a bit here in Chicago area as well. I personally know a lot of people who bought condos from 2001-2005. Some of those new owners are smart and pay down their mortgage over time, but others take out equity and buy stuff like TVs, cars, etc. The same people who bought TVs are having a difficult time right now. Some are having to give up their condos because they screwed themselves...

EDIT: I think taking home equity out to buy a TV isn't always the wrong thing to do, but I think it's important to have a plan to pay back that "loan" instead of just thinking that it's free money and that real estate will always go up in value.