CP

John,

Here's my side of the story.
1981 MB 380 SLC: bought new for $49k. 10% investment tax credit, full tax depreciation in 3 years (yeah those were the good old days). Sold in 1984 for $46k.

2000 M5: bought 4-01 for $57k. Totalled in 4-01 by a red light runner. Total insurance pay out received: $77k. The car alone was $54k.

I hope my RUF will retain it's value if and when I sell as well.

BTW, when you're ready to sell your Seal Grey Cayman S, can you let me know? I like your liquidation prices.

CP

mooty

CP, remind me around august when GT3 is out ;-)

CP

John,

Will do.

August would be real early delivery for the 997 GT3. I thought it'd come a couple months after the 997tt. But that's no issue for me, I have time.

CP

fast1

I agree with you regarding depreciation, but all I'm saying is that maybe the best cars to buy from a depreciation aspect, are the ones that the Dealers don't discount. For example I have a friend in NJ who bought a C6 Z06 at MSRP about two months ago, and he got a call from his Dealer last Friday, and they were willing to buy the car back from him at the price he paid.

mooty

i know what you mean, fast1.
i was saying it in jest as i am out so much $ on dep'n, it's not even worth talking about it anymore.
sure, if your buddy were able to get a c6z06 at msrp, he can EASILY flip it even for profit. just like you can do with F430 if you get one at list.

BiggerTwin

LOL but so true. I constantly tell people a car is an expense and not an asset. Once you understand the basics, selling at a "loss" isn't quite so painful.

Alan

shmark

I've had a thing against buying a new car for a while now, just because of depreciation. My last 911 was the cheapest car I've ever owned. Drove it for two years, put oil, gas and 25k miles on it, sold it for $500 more than I paid. That's my only issue with buying the Cayman. The one I want is stickered around $67k. You know it will take a 10k hit as soon as I drive it off the lot, so getting it for 60 would almost be all right.

Nicolaasdb

I checked out the Cayman at the LA autoshow....sat in it.....talked to a Porsche dealer about the handling of the P...and it rocks!! I like it much better than the Boxster, but even the new boxster looks much better than before!
The only reason i have a 911 is the seats in the back..because of the kid! Porsche made themselves another billion dollars.......in Europe (holland/england) where it always rains..nobody wants a cab!

Jim Michaels

Mark: New car depreciation is the only reason you won't buy the car you want? Try to look at it another way, and buy the car you want. Yes, there's usually an immediate theoritical depreciation (not even half of $10k though), but I assume you wouldn't be selling the car soon after you buy it. You won't experience any depreciation until you sell the car.

fast1

I was interested in a Boxster S, and saw a new '05 on the Dealer's lot with around 70 miles on the odometer. The Dealer was willing to knock $8K offf the price which reduced it to around $55K. It sounded like a decent price to me, until I went to KBB and checked out what a Dealer was likely to give me for an '05 Boxster S with 100 miles on the odometer. KBB showed a price of $43.6K. The $55K price didn't seem so good anymore.

Lots of readers are probably thinking that this level of depreciation applies to all cars. Well my daily commuter is a G35 coupe that I purchased last June. The sticker was $36.5K and I bought it for a tad under $34K. I now have 4500 miles on the odometer and KBB shows that the Dealer will pay over $31K for a G in excellent condition equipped the way mine is. So that's less than 10% in over 8 months for the G compared to almost 20% for a day's drive in the Boxster.

So if the Cayman follows the same depreciation curve as the Boxster, it will make a great car to buy used. As I posted earlier, it seems like two seaters don't hold their value very well.

BiggerTwin

I think there is more to it than meets the eye. I had a two year lease on a 740iL and when I wanted to get out of it after one year I was shocked to find out how much the car depreciated in one year. The dealer told me that somebody who can buy a new $70,000 luxury car isn't that concerned with saving $10,000 to buy a used one. I think a similar thing goes on in the sports car market. These are emotional not rational decisions and those who can afford sports cars aren't usually looking to save a few bucks on a used one when they can afford to get just what they want and buy new.

To most people a car is transportation and there is a waiting market for used cars. Luxury sedans and sports cars aren't in the same market. Let’s face it, a Chevy Cobalt can get you to the grocery store just a well as a Mercedes or Porsche and the average used car buyer isn’t looking to pay a premium for mere transportation. We are the lunatic fringe of automobile buyers and there are far fewer of us looking to buy used.

Alan

fast1

Alan - That's an excellent observation, but I wouldn't think that it would apply to my lowly TT. That was the worse depreciating car that I ever had and it was no where near the price of your 740.

bet

If you look at used car prices you will find that in general Audi's depreciate horribly. There are some exceptions like the RS models (and to a certain extent some of the S models) but generally speaking they are terrible (especially initially).

BiggerTwin

I agree. My S4 is about to come off lease and it is worth substantially less than its residual value. I am very happy I didn't buy it.

Alan

shmark

Put it this way, I usually get bored with cars after a couple years, which sounds like a great lease right? Problem is I really like to drive, so I obliterate any lease mileage very quickly and then the lease costs me a fortune. I just know me. So I drive the Cayman, get bored and want a 997. After two years the trade in value is well below the balance owned, and I'm taking a big hit.

Or. Buy a 993. In two years it's substantially paid for and the balance is reasonable. It's also held value pretty well so I'll end up doing just fine to sell it and go for that (now 2-year-old) 997.

But I really like the Cayman. Grrrr.