fuzy24

It’s been years since I’ve owned my two S2000’s, however I still find myself coming back here for ideas and content. I’m in the market for a car, my wife’s approval in hand, and need direction. I’m looking for something that I can simply put sticky tires on and have fun with on the weekends and at night. Budget is flexible, though depreciation and relative value are the number one and two concerns. Meaning - I don’t want a car that after three years of ownership has depreciated more than say, $30k. Porsche GT3 is on the upper end of that spectrum. This rules out anything more exotic / higher priced, as they seem to depreciate more. Relative value means, a used BMW M2 at 45-50k gets bonus points relative to a used Porsche 911 4S at twice the price.

Short list of things I’ve considered (s2000 excluded in this exercise) - all slightly used. GT3, GT4, Carrera T, Merc AMG GTS, BMW M2. I’ve owned s2000’s, Evo X, M4, M Roadster, Civic SI, and prefer manual where possible.

GT3 is my absolute world beater car, however I find it hard to justify the current prices for manual 2018 examples, especially on a relative value basis to cars way cheaper.

rwheelz

How about Viper ACR, used corvette, elise/exige.

white98ls

I had pretty similar requirements and while I would like to try an F430 Spider someday, I got my Elise for now because, well, it's an uncompromised barrel of fun that is somehow also a decent financial proposition (no depreciation, low maintenance costs, even consumables are cheap). The 8-page thread on FerrariChat with countless people chiming in to say it was the most fun car they've driven/owned helped seal the deal for me.

Besides that, others on my watch list include Mustang GT350, 981 Boxster Spyder (reportedly a slightly better road car than the GT4), and 997 GT3, among others. Keep in mind that for street use, faster and more capable does not necessarily equal more fun, and can instead just become frustrating...

JonBoy

Why look at such a new GT3? An older GT3 will still hold value well, has a much lower up-front purchase price and is arguably more of an analog car (more of a "driver's car"). A 997 GT3 is a bucket of fun, cheaper, looks good and sounds great.

mosesbotbol

How about a Ferrari California or Aston Martin V12 Vantage? Both are in good places on the depreciation curve.

Chibo

I agree with this. 996 GT3s appear to have bottomed out around $40k and are on their way back up now

s2000ellier

Camaro 1SS 1LE or Camaro ZL1 1LE

waltk88

Where are the $40k 996 GT3s? I’ll take 10.

There are 8 996 GT3s listed on Autotrader. The asking price range is $69,800 to $125,000.

Chibo

I said that they bottomed out in the 40k, not that they are still 40k.

superchargedk20

I second this