Excerpt from a recent report on Edmunds.com :
**********************************

Top 10 Cars With the Best Residual Value for 2004

Want to buy a car that really holds its value? ........Below we show the percentage of its original value that each vehicle is likely to retain after five years with an annual mileage of 15,000. .....quick scan of our list shows that import nameplates rule when it comes to retaining their value.....

Porsche 911

 

I usually think of selling my car before it hits 100,000 miles. I only buy Hondas so they have always been running well still at that point. My'98 Odyssey van has over 117,000 miles on it now and will be 8 years old in November. If I didn't get a second S2000 last November, I would probably be selling the van soon. But it still runs fine and shines up nicely, so I guess it stays.

 

That is good to know but does not matter much to us besides the realibilty aspect, because we drive them until they drop. First off, we dislike car payments, but especially that here in the Commonwealth of Virginia one gets to pay personal property tax on one's vehicles EVERY YEAR for the pleasure of owning them. Here in Fairfax County that is 4.56% of the "Blue Book Value" (last I knew) EVERY YEAR.

 

I'm the same way. I drive to work most mornings in an eleven year-old Integra. The S2000 is a '00. And I'm kind of challenging myself to see if I can go 10 years from now without buying a car. That would put $400-500 per month more into the retirement fund if I can make these two last that long...

 

I'm right at 33,000 smiling miles on my '02 and plan to drive it for at least another 9 years. By that time I will have made up my mind about keeping it

 

I like to drive a car till it drops. I still have a 90 Legend coupe with 150 K miles on it. It is my daily driver.

It's nice to know that our S is desirable and it will retain its values longer.

Cheers,

 

This is why I have a love/hate relationship with Hondas. I have trouble getting rid of a perfectly good running 13 year old Civic despite almost 200k. So I'll drive her til she drops, which could be another 5 years. Meanwhile, I want a new car for my daily driver. I love/hate having this problem especially with a residual value of $500 maybe.

 

I'm still in awe of the fact that an 01 S2k on the local dealer's lot last month was priced at the same price we paid for mine almost four years ago!!! WOW.

 

Residual value doesn't mean much to us, as we tend to keep cars for many years and when it does become time to replace them the value is close to zilch. Longevity and reliability is important to us for that reason.

We plan to keep both the 03 S2000 and the 04 Accord for as long as they run reliably, or until the maintenance becomes way more than it's worth to keep the car. In the case of the S, that probably won't be a consideration, as it will eventually become our "classic old sports car" much like the MG/Triumph/Jaguar types are today.

Hilly has said that if worse comes to worse, and I lose the battle with cancer (which I don't plan to, but we still have to consider that posibility) she will definitely keep the S and continue to drive/maintain it as if I was here. She also said she will continue to attend as many Vintage meets as she possibly can.

Tom

 

That's OK, Tom. She's always welcome. She was the only one we really wanted to see anyway!

OK, just kidding (sort of).

Rt. 26 awaits you anytime.

JonasM