Infographic: Enthusiast-Oriented Cars that Should Retain Their Value Quite Well

Kinja'd!!! by "Adrian" (adriangc)
Published 01/22/2017 at 14:20

Tags: infographic ; depreciation ; enthusiast cars ; audi ttrs ; Acura nsx ; toyota camry ; BMW 1M ; porsche 911 ; Honda S2000
STARS: 3


I recently found five fun cars (note: external link) I thought were absolute steals to own, like the sleek and elegantly designed Audi RS5 or the reliable and fun IS F. It quickly became my most popular article to date and many emailed and Facebook messaged me asking to come up with other rides.

Challenge Accepted. I also took it one step further. In an effort to try something new, I wanted to put more enthusiast oriented cars in infographic form.

I’m hoping it’s easier to read, share, and enjoy. I’m absolutely opened to feedback.

Kinja'd!!!

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Replies (18)

Kinja'd!!! "djmt1" (djmt1)
01/22/2017 at 14:27, STARS: 3

Man those drawings started out well and got worse very rapidly.

Kinja'd!!! "Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
01/22/2017 at 14:31, STARS: 2

You’re taking into account one year of depreciation of a new Camry instead of considering an actual span of 5 or 10 years of ownership. A new Camry will not depreciate $6,500 each year. On the contrary, the prices will probably be sticky for a few years after the first hit while costing near nothing to maintain the first 5 years.

Kinja'd!!! "not for canada - australian in disguise" (for-canada)
01/22/2017 at 14:33, STARS: 4

That is a very tragic looking NSX.

Kinja'd!!! "Adrian" (adriangc)
01/22/2017 at 14:36, STARS: 1

It’s ‘lightly used.’

Kinja'd!!! "camarov6rs" (mren2011)
01/22/2017 at 14:37, STARS: 1

So what this tells me is that if you want a decently fun car that won’t be worth 5 packs of gum after 3-5 years you have to purchase in upper $40k to $60k (besides the S2000)? Sad times...

Kinja'd!!! "Adrian" (adriangc)
01/22/2017 at 14:38, STARS: 0

True - but over 5 years, the Camry loses ~$14k. That’s a lot of maintenance to endure if you go with the Porsche or NSX.

On the Audi and BMW, it may be a different story.

Kinja'd!!! "Adrian" (adriangc)
01/22/2017 at 14:41, STARS: 0

Not necessarily, the WRX and GTI seem to hold their values relatively well. The depreciation, according to CarGuru’s long term price trends, depreciate about 8 - 10% per year. It’s on a lower base, but high in percentage terms than the above.

Kinja'd!!! "Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
01/22/2017 at 14:42, STARS: 0

But the Porsche you listed costs $30k more than the Camry... Even if you lose half the value of the Camry in four years, the Porsche is still far more expensive to own.

Kinja'd!!! "Adrian" (adriangc)
01/22/2017 at 14:45, STARS: 0

From a cashflow perspective, absolutely. If you can’t afford the monthly payments or have bad credit, the Camry comes out ahead.

Let’s say the cashflow is not an issue and you have $25k cash on hand. Your projected depreciation for the 997 is likely ~$5k over the next five years and your interest cost is about $2k (@ 3.0%, $25,000 loan). That’s leaves about ~$7k in maintenance costs to break even with the Camry.

Kinja'd!!! "camarov6rs" (mren2011)
01/22/2017 at 14:48, STARS: 0

Tried for a bit of sarcasm with my post but, totally agree!! The WRX in my area has stupid prices, if I see one more moron pay to transfer an STI to buy it at MSRP from Carmax I might lose it!

Kinja'd!!! "Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
01/22/2017 at 14:49, STARS: 1

... What? No.

Porsche: $25k down + $25k owed + $2k interest + $5k depreciation = $57k to own over 5 years.

Camry: $25k down + ~$14k depreciation = $39k

Kinja'd!!! "Adrian" (adriangc)
01/22/2017 at 14:51, STARS: 1

You may be forgetting that when you sell your car, you’ll get back the value of the car you paid minus depreciation.

Example:

Pay $50k for Porsche in 2017.

You sell Porsche in 2022 for $45k.

You’ve paid off the loan (assuming 5 year payment) and now have $45k back. You’ve lost $5k.

Camry:

Purchase for $25k in 2017.

Sell Camry for ~$12k in 2022. You’ve lost $13k.

As an aside, it’s really hard to predict what most of these cars will be worth in 5 years. The examples above are really for 1 - 2 years of ownership

Kinja'd!!! "Adrian" (adriangc)
01/22/2017 at 14:55, STARS: 1

Haha, I’m in the SF Bay area and it’s the same story. There’s gotta be demand for them because people keep listing them at those stupid prices. More power to them, I guess.

Kinja'd!!! "Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
01/22/2017 at 15:04, STARS: 2

Hang on there.

Porsche over five years (and this is WITHOUT costly maintenance): $25k down, $30k financed (I forgot you have it listed at $55k, not $50k), $2k interest, sold for $45k — the losses are $12k, again without even taking maintenance into account.

Camry over five years: $25k up front, sold for $11k — the losses are $14k.

A difference of 2K — probably less, if not negative, with Porsche’s upkeep — seem to just be splitting hairs here. Unless the argument is “Why buy a new Camry when it costs a similar amount overall with a used Porsche if you sell it exactly after five years?”

Kinja'd!!! "camarov6rs" (mren2011)
01/22/2017 at 15:08, STARS: 0

My guess is the pretext of reliability with your sporty car is greater than fit/finish and solidarity.

Kinja'd!!! "dogisbadob" (dogisbadob)
01/22/2017 at 15:23, STARS: 1

reliability issues and stolen seats don’t make them cheaper to own than a Camry :p

And of course, there’s always the Accord, which is just as good as a Camry but a little more fun.

The stolen seats are why I’m cool with parts-bin sharing. Because if they were available on every Accord and Civic out there, it’d be less of an issue and they wouldn’t be as expensive.

Kinja'd!!! "Adrian" (adriangc)
01/22/2017 at 15:37, STARS: 0

I think we’re splitting hairs at this point. As mentioned above, 1 - 2 years, you come out ahead for sure which was supposed to be the idea of the above post. I should make that clearer - that’s good feedback.

Kinja'd!!! "gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
01/22/2017 at 18:56, STARS: 0

my neighbor stated 12k mi service interval was 1500 on a brand new 2013. yearly maintenance is @2k.