depreciation - its normal in the real world

[turboT]

In the current air cooled climate we probably sometimes forget that rising car values is not the norm. Just did the figures on on my 2010 (Gen2) 997TT. I had thought i had noticed a slowing in depreciation, but needed to remind myself that 'this' curve is slow and steady, not hour by hour. So did the calcs and it has depreciated by a steady 8-8.5% a year. In the world of depreciation this doesn't sound too bad. With 996 TT's sitting around $80k and 997 TT's (Gen 1) getting into the $150k - $170k range clearly I have a way to go. Probably the last time I will buy a car less than 10 years old (it really is just a massive waste of money). 

 

[Dreamr]

I think you hit the nail on the head with your last sentence ....

Just because it's "normal" , doesn't mean that it's not stupid.

I would rather buy a used 996TT for $90k and get exactly the same enjoyment from it than buy it new for $250k plus and sell it for, well $90k.

I'm not sure who decided that this was a good idea all those years ago, but somehow they convinced the masses that losing such large amounts of money was a good idea .....

Now some may say .... tax deduction, nothing like owning a new car, yadda, yadda ..... but the only ones that benifit from new car depreciation are the next and subsequent owners.

My $0.02c only .....

[ANF]

If no one bought these cars new there would be none to buy used. So someone has to put the coin up first, otherwise.......

Coming from someone who will never afford a new Porsche so come on everyone buy up big so the used market is flooded and cheaper in years to come

[Coastr]

Probably the last time I will buy a car less than 10 years old (it really is just a massive waste of money). 

buying new vehicles is the sport of kings and the fastest way for a young person to end up in the poor house.  When you are starting out dropping $30k on a new car to sell it 5 years later for $10k or less, plus $5k in interest, well, that's $25k backwards in a short amount of time.

The motor industry has a dirty little secret that buying a new car is probably the worst financial decision you can make, yet they paper over this with 'new car feeling' and so on.  The ultimate kick in the goolies is when people find out new cars aren't always the reliable dependable things they dreamed about.  Probably the only worse thing is buying cheap furniture on 'interest free' deals, but the damage is usually limited.

it takes a lot more effort to hunt down a good quality used vehicle, but the hourly pay of doing so vs driving down to the dealership and taking a new one off the lot is some of the best work some people will get paid for.  These days I am overjoyed at the selection of vehicles under $20,000 with less than 120,000 km - many of which originally retailed for $100-$200k.

i envy those who have sufficient income to burn it on new vehicles and thank you for your service to those who don't see the value.

[turboT]

Personally I am completely converted. I have way more fun in my old cars now they are all driveable after a few years of neglect. As soon as the lease is up on the 997 (yes I am also paying interest..), it is out the door.

So  - if any one is planning on purchasing a 2010 (gen 2) 997TT in 2016 let me know. It is black on black, will have less than 30,000kms on it. It is probably the fastest, most driveable daily car you will ever own. Only just over 5000 made so who knows, maybe one day I will kick myself for getting rid of this rare specimen

 

[tazzieman]

I always think , your smile can be this big  and occasionally the car will make you feel  but there is a limit to the size and amount of  and  , so spending  a huge amount may be a  to your neighbours, however when all the  &  are done , you are faced with the reality of  & . When your wife finds the bills you may feel and 

 

Mind you,  that can be the same with buying an old car 

[firstone]

I own a Porsche, thanks to depreciation. 

[edgy]

Tis a good thread... and something I am struggling with lately, we would like to order up a new Macan but the depreciation will "get to me"  geez, it gets to me thinking about it.... 

It is bad enough on our Audi!  Not sure we can go through it again.... 

 

Personally I am completely converted. I have way more fun in my old cars now they are all driveable after a few years of neglect. As soon as the lease is up on the 997 (yes I am also paying interest..), it is out the door.

So  - if any one is planning on purchasing a 2010 (gen 2) 997TT in 2016 let me know. It is black on black, will have less than 30,000kms on it. It is probably the fastest, most driveable daily car you will ever own. Only just over 5000 made so who knows, maybe one day I will kick myself for getting rid of this rare specimen

 

Now you know we spoke about this.... I'm keen pending buyout. 

 

 

 

[Coastr]

Some days the family wagon drives me nuts.  I can't stop a power steering slow leak whcih occasionally leaves a drip on the he floor.  I just went through the ac evaporator nightmare. But I paid $14k for it when it was ten years old, the original sales receipt was there for $120k.  It's now 15 years old and has another 60k on the clock and is probably worth $7k, maybe 8 on a good day.  It has probably cost $1.5k per year in maintenance all up.  So probably $12k all in for 5 years of motoring.  The original owner ate that much the moment he drove it off the floor, and the only difference in enjoyment is that his neighbours looked on with envy rather than pity, as mine do.  In the subsequent years that followed, the original owner lost more cash than my 911 cost me to buy.  Maybe he was a rich guy, I don't know.  But he did get a bum deal.

All in all, I'd rather the occasional oil drip on the floor over a torrent of cash out of my account.  Even SWMBO has come around, as long as I keep it clean and shiny to keep up with all the new X5s and Prados at the school drop off.

[Scott930]

 

So  - if any one is planning on purchasing a 2010 (gen 2) 997TT in 2016 let me know. It is black on black, will have less than 30,000kms on it. It is probably the fastest, most driveable daily car you will ever own. Only just over 5000 made so who knows, maybe one day I will kick myself for getting rid of this rare specimen

 

Hmmm, it depends how much it has depreciated by then.

[firstone]

I've done the New car thing a couple of times.

Expectation and reality are far apart.

I've found a sweet spot that suits me. Old enough that I can diagnose and repair myself, not so old that I'm chasing my tail.

Cars are fancy tractors. Some these days so fancy even the technician can't diagnose correctly immediately.  These are the ones you may be best to take the depreciation hit rather than the repair costs. The tech reads the fault, consults the advise, which often lists more than one likely fault but directs them to a first step remedy. 5k later, no? Then try step two and so on. 

Nissan where replacing fuel rails as the book said. But the real fault was an entirely different thing. Not even listed among the likely causes.

Punters on a forum diagnosed it correctly.

In a warranty claim it may mean the inconvenience of repeated visits.... but YOU don't have to know you're vehicle.

After warranty, without the benefit of the personal knowledge, or that of a forum brains trust it could cost inconvenience and lots of bucks.

A personal equation really.

[tomo]

As I understand it from my son in law, We were havin a couple of beers one day so I broached the question, How come you always spend big bucks on your cars and not buy a couple of good 2nd handys,  Save $1000's I says. He reckons its the lease agreement,Got to be a new car ,And that if he did not waste it on the cars he would be giving it to cigar smoking Jo and we both agreed that he has enough of his own. 

[clutch-monkey]

i don't have anything younger than twenty years, so i am always ahead of the curve haha.

Buying cars new is for rich people, i'll live with the sloppy seconds  

[tazzieman]

Buying cars new is for rich people, i'll live with the sloppy seconds village bike 

[Mike D'Silva]

please stop telling the public not to buy new cars!

We had a shocker of a month last month.. I really cannot afford to have another this month!

[Coastr]

please stop telling the public not to buy new cars!

We had a shocker of a month last month.. I really cannot afford to have another this month!

Sorry Mike for talking down your market.  But in this dark corner of the internet I don't think we'll change anyones mind.  The young people hooked on $25,999 drive away nothing to pay should still come in.

I've done the New car thing a couple of times.

Expectation and reality are far apart.

I've found a sweet spot that suits me. Old enough that I can diagnose and repair myself, not so old that I'm chasing my tail.

Cars are fancy tractors. Some these days so fancy even the technician can't diagnose correctly immediately.  These are the ones you may be best to take the depreciation hit rather than the repair costs. The tech reads the fault, consults the advise, which often lists more than one likely fault but directs them to a first step remedy. 5k later, no? Then try step two and so on. 

Nissan where replacing fuel rails as the book said. But the real fault was an entirely different thing. Not even listed among the likely causes.

Punters on a forum diagnosed it correctly.

In a warranty claim it may mean the inconvenience of repeated visits.... but YOU don't have to know you're vehicle.

After warranty, without the benefit of the personal knowledge, or that of a forum brains trust it could cost inconvenience and lots of bucks.

A personal equation really.

What's the sweet spot for age/kms?  I'm thinking its 7-10 years and 90-120,00 kms.  Cars at 105k sell cheaper than those at 97k.  If you've got more cash to burn 3-6 years and still in factory extended warranty probably works for some.

There is no doubt that the existence of enthusiast forums, international parts shipping and aftermarket diagnosis tools makes looking after relatively late model cars feasible in a way unthinkable 10 years ago.  But don't buy anything without an enthusiast following.  I suspect this means no Audis, which any thinking person would already be avoiding

[clutch-monkey]

Sorry Mike for talking down your market.  But in this dark corner of the internet I don't think we'll change anyones mind.  The young people hooked on $25,999 drive away nothing to pay should still come in.

i once had a gf who bought a brand new barina for $19,990

 

i couldn't understand it myself, and we broke up soon after 

[MFX]

At least buying 2nd hand Porsches (compared. To say a second hand Toyota Camry) is that the Porsche will always have a value, where as the Camry will depreciate till it is only worth scrap. There is definitely a sweet spot for the best value fun car. I am thinking that 996s are probably there now. As long as you maintain it I don't ever see them dropping a huge amount further than they are. My guess is they would bottom out at around $30k. 

[1q2w3e4r]

In the current air cooled climate we probably sometimes forget that rising car values is not the norm. Just did the figures on on my 2010 (Gen2) 997TT. I had thought i had noticed a slowing in depreciation, but needed to remind myself that 'this' curve is slow and steady, not hour by hour. So did the calcs and it has depreciated by a steady 8-8.5% a year. In the world of depreciation this doesn't sound too bad. With 996 TT's sitting around $80k and 997 TT's (Gen 1) getting into the $150k - $170k range clearly I have a way to go. Probably the last time I will buy a car less than 10 years old (it really is just a massive waste of money). 

 

Good points, why I no longer buy brand new cars and I've never leased/financed a car.  No point paying interest on a depreciating asset IMO.

[Coastr]

i once had a gf who bought a brand new barina for $19,990

 

i couldn't understand it myself, and we broke up soon after 

I knew someone who bought a brand new Kia Rio - the one that looked a bit like a wagon. $20k.

less than a year later, decides to go overseas.  Sells the rio in a hurry -gets $9k.

was driving that crapheap for 11 months worth $11k?  Rhetorical question.

[Dreamr]

I have seriously never understood the theory / sense behind buying a new car .....

As Coastr said above .... lose $11k in 1 year .... still don't understand it.

We are currently looking for a '04 / 05 Cayenne and personally can't wait to own and drive a $150k car for $25k.

Keep buying new cars people ..... I look forward to buying my next $150k car cheap.

[BJM]

I bought my ute off an 18 year kid who ordered it in black & had to wait six months for it to turn up. In that time he lost his licence. 

The car was six weeks old with only 150 km on the clock & his old man made him sell it.

I paid $6k less for it then he did. 

$1000 a week in deprecation. 

[spiller]

I had a new car on order once, paid my $1K deposit and got sick of waiting so I threw it in and went and bought a 2nd hand Exige that the previous two owners had eaten a collective 100K on. On top of the aforementioned burn up of money associated with buying new cars, it's a bit of a boring experience. Ok with a Porshe you get to tick some boxes on the website so that probably adds to the allure. Personally I really enjoy everything about buying used cars, the hunt for the right car, trying to understand everything about its history and lastly making the deal. Although if money was no object ignorance would be bliss :D

[Coastr]

I bought my ute off an 18 year kid who ordered it in black & had to wait six months for it to turn up. In that time he lost his licence. 

The car was six weeks old with only 150 km on the clock & his old man made him sell it.

I paid $6k less for it then he did. 

$1000 a week in deprecation. 

Nice work if you can get it!

[DJM]

Obviously a lot of people don't agree.  1 million new cars sold every year in Australia,  plenty of people turn over new cars every few years and re-lease the next one.  There are a lot of things in life don't make financial sense but doesn't stop people doing them.

having said that, I paid $4k for a Datsun 1600 track car with 275hp turbo engine a few years ago and had an absolute blast passing mega dollar cars on the track.  Cost nothing to maintain (except for grenading the engine and my brother putting in into the wall!). Somehow going fast in the cheap arse, untidy shitter is so much more fun!