rai

OK I'm not talking about common cars like a Civic, but rather more exclusive cars that seem to hold value even when they're 8+ years old. I mean cars like 911 Turbo's and NSX's and Ferrari cars.


For example take an ordinary 10 year old car it's probably only worth 10-20% of it's new price but NSX's are worth 30-40%


So to get to my point what's the best time to pick up a NSX or 911 turbo (used) but after it's depreciated a good deal? Is there a good time in general or is it a case by case basis?

steve c

Case by case.

Price to performance ratio for the NSX, 97 wins out.

993 turbos are a bit harder to pin down because of the two year run, but they have stopped their massive depreciation at this point.

996 Turbos are a bit tougher. The first year hit is about 25k, then it seems 5 for the years after. I don't see them (and I hope this pans out) going much below 80k anytime soon.

Some markets are more affected than others. Ferrari's have been hit hard recently, especially the 456 and 355 market.

Edmunds is a good resource. I dumped all of their data into excel and ran graphs on the LS400, Legend and a couple others recently when looking for a big beater. The Legend was the best deal in terms of depreciation and the Lexus the worst. Guess which I got anyway.

rai

Steve C, that's what I wanted to know, I think I've seen a Ferrari 550 for near $100K.

I'll have to check out Edmunds.


What do you mean by 97 NSX being the best price performance? How can you tell? Do you look at each year and see when the depreciation is the least percentage of the selling price?

bjohnston

'97 was the first year for the 6-sp and 3.2l, I believe. They haven't changed much since.

steve c

Correct, first year for the better motor and transmission --honestly I would never consider the pre 97 cars, not that they are bad, but why settle for second best when for a few grand more you can get the best.

The depreciation curve seems to flatten out around 97 nicely, they are losing maybe 3-5k a year at that point and that will slow to 2-3 in a couple more years.

If you have the cash to buy it outright and keep the miles reasonable you could own one for a couple years and spend 6-9k (not including insurance, gas etc).

Mister2

What about the Twin Turbo MKIV Supra?? I've seen those cars go for more than used NSXs. Some late model sellers think they can still ask for close to MSRP!!!

I love those cars, don't get me wrong, (Speaking from a Toyota fan!) but I refuse to pay that much for a 5-7 year old car when I can get a NSX for the same, if not cheaper price.