[Closed] Depreciation free car? Can it be done?

My experience with classic cars is that they hold their value fairly well but you just spend what you would have lost in depreciation in extra maintenance costs...

Yes if somoeone gave it to you free, or you won one!

It can be if you have a crystal ball.

I paid £1200 for my '72 VW camper many years ago, then sold it for £1500 3 years later.

If I'd still got it, in the same condition, it would be worth £5-6000 nowadays......

It can be done with an older low / cheap maintenance model - oldish MX5 anyone?

Find a cossie that hasn't been thrashed though.

And how much would you have had to spend on it in the intervening period if you were also using it?

buy a crap car for under a hundred quid and i reckon that would be pretty depreciation free.

would cost you a fortune to keep it running though?

If it’s got wheels or tit it’s gonna cost you.

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linky [/url] Hammond shows two cars worth mentioning. VW Corrado VR6 (3 door coupe though) and a Merc 190E 2.5 (4 door and pretty quick with a cosworth engine) 🙂

And how much would you have had to spend on it in the intervening period if you were also using it?

Thats the bit that worries me slightly. Every other Cossie/ Scooby you see advertised has had new/rebuilt engine fitted recently as if that's a good thing.
An old Merc should be a pretty reliable old beast though. I tend to do most repair/service work myself which is also another reason for going older. Newer cars are just getting so complex to work on.
Apparently many cars now can't even have the brake pads changed without hooking up to the computer 🙁

I bought my midget at just the right time (even if you don't count the big discount I got off my parents),

Advertised for when I bought it; £3700 (at the low end of what its worth IMO)

BMH put up the prices of re-shells about the same time upto £7k (they used tobe 4k, so scrap midget for £300 + £4k re-shell gave you a £4k car, not too bad for a hobby. so now there'll probably be no 'new' midgets untill their value catches up, I've seen ones in much worse condition since going for £4k!

I'm hopiong for 5years of it paying its own insurance at this rate, as long as I can keep the rust at bay 🙂

Merc cosworth is also one that has been a lust object for a while...

Don't know about more classic cars, but we bought a 2yr11mth old Merc C-Class Diesel estate (leather, sports pack etc) with a full Merc stamped history, 12 month MOT etc, near perfect condition and just over 80k on the clock for £7000.

I think it's still worth today what we paid for it 15 months ago, so we've had a period of 'free' motoring.

We'll probably now keep it for another few years, so it will obviously depreciate in value, but as long as it doesn't start costing money on repairs, it will be a very cost effective car.

FWIW, I've also heard that the VW Corrado and VR6 golf are future classics and should at some point start increasing in value!

you bought a minicab?

There was a mint (and probably highly tuned) sierra cosworth for sale near me, I've kicked myself ever since for not buying it. It looked utterly mental!

PP is right - the people I know who've made money on cars have normally had it happen as a happy coincidence, they didn't buy to speculate. If you are, then the time to buy is when they're at their least desirable - which generally means the time when you'd not really consider buying too. Then they spend a while in the doldrums and have to be forgotten about to be rediscovered, or for the people who were kids dreaming of owning them to grow up and have enough spare cash to indulge themselves. Cosworths have been through all that already, hence finding a good original one needs a lot of spare cash - all the teenagers who dreamed of owning one at the time are in their mid-30s now. The whole "drift" scene pulled up the prices of just about all RWD cars too.

It's the "looking after it" that costs. For the Cosworth it's a 20-year old car. Stuff will break. Driving it through winter will make it rust unless you're fastidious about cleaning it. You'll be too paranoid to park it anywhere because every scrote knows what it is (and probably how easy they are to break into). You'll avoid supermarket carparks because you care too much about people opening their doors into it.

That's not to say that you couldn't (or shouldn't) look at something older than the usual mainstream 4-5 year old stuff for that money. There's some lovely bigger-engined stuff that is pretty cheap right now if you don't mind paying a bit more for fuel. I have a soft spot for 4+ litre "sleeper" cars so things like the Passat W8 (there's a nice estate on autotrader for £5.5k), Audi S6/S8, Mercedes E55s would be worth a look and need not be ruinously expensive to run.

[i]thisisnotaspoon - Member
you bought a minicab?

[/i]

If that was in response to my post, no, it was from a company and the person who had it was their fleet manager so he spared no expense on everything for his own benefit - and now ours!

I still fancy an old BMW 635 - the proper old shape, but 'er-in-doors' doesn't agree!

Old 911 - Thats what I'd get

Only Mugs and the very rich buy cars as an “Investment”.
Unless you’re going to keep it in an Air conditioned Garage and do no more than 1000 Miles a year I doubt you’ll make money let along break even on a “Modern Classic”….

What you’re trying to do is turn your main family transport into an investment, it’s just not wise as you’ll be running it day in day out and while you might not abuse it, using any car properly puts the miles on the clock and adds wear...

What happens if the missus prangs it or some bugger shunts you on the motorway? The Insurance company sees a paper value of £6K and writes it off without a 2nd thought, Investment lost back to square one.

You might be better to dabble with “Bangernomics” (that’s the second time I’ve used that phrase this week) buy low value older cars with Minimum 6 months MOT/Tax and see if you can keep them on the road, there’s plenty of bargains about, especially if you have a bit of mechanical gumption to keep it running…

The fast fords are getting rarer and stabilizing in prices some even going up in value, most have been ragged or overly tuned so finding an unblemished and low mileage one can be a challenge. Ive been searching for a nice XR3I for a while now.

bedmaker, I can't see that a Golf VR6 will ever go up in price they love to drink and even on paper are barely any quicker than the ABF 16v Engined 2.0 one of which was advertised on here recently for £400.

A friend has a G60 Corrado but its far from plain sailing and he only got it as a result of the charger in his mk2 Golf G60 converted car smashing itself to pieces 8000 miles after Jabba rebuilt it and said it was one of the best condition they had ever seen, he also had a meltdown after 1000 miles of putting it in the car.

Old cars are more fun but in reality are a long long way from cheap.

Having said that I don't believe E36 M3's will get any cheaper, you can get a good coupe for around £4k now and they are potentially 10 years newer than the Cosworth with 100 ponies more in original tune.

Corrado VR6 has been tipped for ages to go up but a lot of seemingly good ones go through ebay for about £2k.

Or a Volvo 850 or V70 T5 but I doubt they will go up in value which the beemer might.

My view....a restored classic car chosen sensibly will be the best value. What about Honda NSX? Bullet proof, prices going up!!! Yes insurance is a bugger but miles better car than a cossie and much more reliable and faster!!!! Other optinons: BMW m3 E30, Renault gta v6, TVR....

The 20-year-old Sierra will cost you a lot more in maintenance surely?

If you're really fixated on beating depreciation, maybe just drive a hard bargain when you buy your car and then sell again after a year?

Has worked for me before.

"modern classics" are still dropping, just very slowly. The value of my fun car is about £200 less than it was 3 years ago.

I can recommend "Bangernomics" but only if you're prepared to do simple spannerwork yourself or can be bothered to search out spare parts specialists. I currently run an old 3 series BMW estate which cost me £700 last year - 170k on the clock. Problems since buying it have been restricted to a burst cooling hose and replacing the ancient rear tyres. As long as it's got an MOT I don't anticipate it losing much value, and the most it will ever depreciate is 700 quid... 8)

Beats my Dad's Golf Tdi which has lost 10 grand and needed a new gearbox and camshaft since he bought it brand new!

At slightly the other end of the scale a McLaren F1 road car (the one with 3 seats and you sit in the middle one)was new 10 years ago for £500k now worth £2.5 million according to Top Gear and they're always right!

My philosophy is never to spend more on a car than I would on a bike.

My current C5 estate I bought on here a year ago with 62000 miles and one owner and FSH. I paid £1500, and have clocked up 18000 miles in a year. Only problems were a heater control unit, (easy diy repair) and an alternator pulley, (again easy diy repair). Sailed trough its last MOT. Perfect for my needs. It should last another 100,000 miles.

My last Citroen XM estate was bought for £600. I did a similar annual mileage for two years without any real hassle.

I figure while it might not be depreciation free, that's pretty cheap motoring.

Nissan Figaro! I wanted one after I passed and they were 2k now they're 3-5k. All micra parts so easy to run.
EDIT : seems the going dealer rate is more like 6.5k (for the naff colours)

vw t5 or maybe t4, get it lined/floored and shove some rear seats in. hold their value like crazy.

If the nature of my business changes i.e no tools and deliveries I might look at MGB GT's
I can weld, spray and spanner.

However, my old Discovery has come in usefull lately. And 'real' Landrovers don't do too bad price wise.

This months Evo magazine has an article about this very thing. And states there are 2 ways of avoiding depreciation: "don't buy a car in the first place, or only buy cars that have done most of their depreciation already and might even appreciate over time."

It then lists 5.
1. Porsche 996 GT3 Mk1 starting @ £36k
2. Ferrari 550 Maranello starting @ £45k
3. TVR Griffith 500 starting @ £13k
4. Sierra RS Cosworth starting @ £8k
5. Lotus Elise Mk1 starting @ £8k

Of the Cossi it states that it has to be standard and well looked after. As started above that's when the problem starts.

Of course at the other end a 500 quid car will always be a 500 quid car............

i bought an old merc estate for 600 and 4 years later sold it for 720 but it did cost on average 300 for each mot

but my vintage cars are the best
1936 austin 7 special 3k to buy sold three years later for 5k i did some mork on it lots of hours but little on parts
1926 amilcar bought for 10k offered 16k but refused
1928 ford model a 11k imported from NZ worth 12 to 13k

so my advice would be to get yourself a vintage sports car join the vintage sports car club spend the summer racing and doing hill climbs and the winter doing trials then run it for a few years then buy something better

ade ward + 1 for vintage loveliness, here's mine

http://picasaweb.google.com/mcmoonter/1932MorrisMajorSix#5420017996780264258

Hi Have a friend who trials a modified morris major it runs triple su carbs and a very modified body he does very well in it

my old Austin 7

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What about an old Toyota Supra for all the kids who grew up with Fast Furious?

Blimy ade that looks like it was build from old aeroplane parts, in a nice way lol

Blimy ade that looks like it was build from old aeroplane parts, in a nice way lol

that was the look i was after thanks very much

Ade

Triple SUs you say? Got to be a worthwhile mod. A single 1 1/8 SU seems under carbed for a six.

I'd love to see a pic of a Major in trials spec.

Not necessarily after a mint condition, standard car and not looking to make money on it while it stays in a garage either. Just something that can be used most days and still be worth the same in a few years.
ANY car will go wrong and need fixed regardless unless you get brand new with warranty, but you are paying for that with crushing depreciation and having to keep up a dealer service scedule.
Checked with my local Audi dealer a few years ago how much for an oil, filter and fuel filter service just for a laugh. £250 😯

Done the bangernomics with my last car, well almost. Cav TD for £1000 did five years and 60,000 miles and still ran well when I sold it but was rotten.

Any big estate car for £250 off ebay Citroen Xantias, Passats that sort of thing. Better if they are not Ford/Vauxhaul as for some reason they seem to break more!! Buy for £250 run for a year spending as little as possible and then sell before MOT or try and get new ticket and sell for what you paid. Estates are good because you get ex trades [chippies, painters, plasterers] and dog walkers. Not normally too pretty but mechanically reliable is what you need. For me the ideal vehicle to transport me and a bike plus all your gear.

Running cars depreciation free is pretty easy in my experience. It's all about buying the right car at the price. It doesn't matter if it's a £1k or £8k car if it's cheap when you buy it you can make some money out of it. I've been doing this for the last 5 years and haven't sold a car for less than I paid for it in that time. My last car will have cost me £300 in a year and 10k miles for everything apart from insurance and fuel (and i mean everything tyres, servicing, repairs, mot, tax, selling advert etc). That's on a 55 plate car too.

You just need a bit of time to find the deals and a not to be specific about what you want.

Old BMWs with 100-150k on the clock and full service history (not necessarily main dealer) 728i from mid 90s is an almost indestructible car with sensible electronics and a fantastic auto gearbox. Will do 35mpg on a long run. Pay about 1500 to 2k, run for a year, maybe 2 and sell for at least 1k. A hardtail mountain bike with wheels and seatpost off will fit in the boot of one and it will shut as well! You can sleep on the rear seat. The sound system is awesome. It's quiet at speed. I once AVERAGED 60mph from Rugby to Arisaig in one.
Big BMWs scare people with servicing costs and stuff but they don't cost any more than equivalent cheaper cars to fix and DON'T GO WRONG AS OFTEN!

They're also fun to drive.

Alternatively, get a Chrysler Grand Voyager from about 10 years ago. Get the manual diesel and enjoy 40mpg and total comfort. All the seats come out of the back and you can turn it into a camper or comfy van. They're hard wearing and reliable. DON'T buy the 3.3 auto!!! Even with LPG fitted.

My first car lost £140 in 12,000 miles.

Bought it for £200, scrapped it when the first big thing went wrong (head-gasket), got £60 for it from the scrappy.

Had to spend £40 on a new tyre for it during the course of ownership though. Pronton Persona 1.6XLi by the way, not bad for a first car.

My classic W123 Mercedes has recently begun to gain value, it's gone over the curve. It'll be quite a while before it's worth much, mind you. And I ain't selling, no matter what!

In my opinion, I'd go for an old Omega disel estate (BMW engine) or a Ford Scorpio, both well equipped cars and cheap enough to run/service yourself.

Use them until they break/become too costly to repair then start again.

Kit car, mine cost about £4500 to build, ran it for 2 yrs and then sold for £5k and it was brilliant fun (although not so good for bikes)

land rover defenders. Keep it in good nick, and make sure that you have an engine without the spider chip. Can't remember what the engine was called, but it was early 2000, easy to fix (All mechanical) and easy on the diesel too

good luck finding one like that tho, our landy was stolen and sent off to the middle east

Ade

Triple SUs you say? Got to be a worthwhile mod. A single 1 1/8 SU seems under carbed for a six.

I'd love to see a pic of a Major in trials spec.

didn't exactly make money, but didn't lose much on an '03 320d touring. bought it at 2 yrs old with 50k on the clock for £12750, chopped it in 11 months later with 99,985 miles on. got £12500 for it 😯

should really add that it was px'd against a spanking new beemer, don't think they'd have offered that against a ford ka 😉

just to clarify - i'm not knocking ford ka's

Yep.
The forthcoming Morgan at maybe £125k will make money for its owners.
The new Porsche Sport (?) at about £135k will, in time too.
Some Ferraris have made money.
If you have your name down for the forthcoming 458 or the McLaren you'll make money on the purchase price as long as you sell it after not too long.
But these are expensive, often short or limited runs.

Some cars hold their price very well once the initial depreciation is over. POA.