Good winter activity is watching car auctions...

Barret-Jackson a few hours ago...

Beautiful 2006 Maserati ( ghibli?), $100k new with $4k in wheels - SOLD $28K

Beautiful 2006 S2000 $36k bone stock - $22-25K ?

Why I watch

 

sorry for the double post , not that smart I guess

 

Ha! That's funny right there!

 

Just delete the other, still smart!

 

Yes, I was watching last night and so many cars that sold for less than what I paid for my S2000.

 

Thats not really particular to s2000s or maserati. European cars depreciate quickly. Japanese dont.

 

Test

 

I think the prices reflect the fact that the upkeep of some of these cars is comparable to that of a house.

Look at the prices for a 10 yr old Bentley that sold for $250k new - $30k?

Many get seduced " wow I can have a Bentley for $30K?" and then find out it costs $5k/yr to keep it rolling, if nothing major goes wrong.

Porsche 928s are another heart breaker. These are awesome performing GT cars that were way ahead of their time.

Ran into a guy at the local convenience store with a beautiful 928 that he got at a great price, few months later saw it his lawn with a for sale sign.

Last week, saw another good looking one in front of a modest home for $6k, probably could get it going for another $10k if you're lucky.

 

It makes sense that the S2000 has held value so well. Even though it's not exactly rare, so many are abused, crashed, etc. that a good one is hard to find. And they are worth more also because we'll probably never see the following again:

1) 9k redline N/A engine, especially in a car that doesn't cost 6 figures or more
2) 2,800lbs (the new Miata, the Toyobaru, and a few econoboxes are that light or lighter, but other N/A sports cars are 3k+++)
3) Manual, and a great manual at that
4) Not full of electronics telling you there's someone in your blindspot or reading your Facebook posts for you

There will never be something like it again. Just look at the new NSX (which I do somewhat like) and how different it is from the old one - turbo, hybrid, DCT, AWD, 800lbs heavier. I want a new S2000 but also realize that it will be so much different due to the regulatory and market climate. If you want a pure, light roadster with sharp handling and a nice revvy N/A engine, what choices do you have other than the S2k? You have Miatas at the low end, and Boxster/Z4M at the high end - that's about it for something fairly modern, and the S2k fills the gigantic price chasm between those.

Tell that to the Porsche 911 (especially 930, 993, GT3, etc.), Cayman R, Boxster Spyder, Carrera GT, a great many Ferraris, BMW Z8/Z4M/1M, Merc SLS, Audi R8, not to mention the countless classics. You are incredibly wrong to generalize like that.

You know what depreciates quickly? European sedans - especially Italian or top-end/complex ones. I bought my 2001 M5 in 2009 and the first four owners paid $1/mile in depreciation alone. Then I drove it for 6.5 years and 29k miles and sold it for $5k+ more than I bought it for.

 

Yeah, I have a pretty well maintained example of a high mile 01 that I paid $10k for. I keep trying to buy an E92 M3, but financially there is no way it will ever make sense. At $40k for a 40k mile used version if I sell it at say 70k mile 3yrs from now, I would be an idiot to expect more than $30k out of it or a $10k loss. I could drive my S2k into a river and walk away and have the same financial hit!!