Holy depreciation!

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay) 01/21/2015 at 23:08 • Filed to: None

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I have had my eyes on an Abarth for a while, so whenever one pops up without a reserve on eBay I usually throw in a low-ball bid, you know, just in case. Well I saw this one a few days ago and threw up a bid of $7K, and it took until the last minute for anyone to outbid me. I actually thought for a few moments that I might win it.

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People in the FR-S/BRZ scene complain all the time about depreciation (I think because many of them are kids who haven't bought a new car before), but here is a fairly low mileage Abarth, that went for just under $30K new and is fully optioned, selling for a third the original price two years later.

Now excuse me while I go cry in a corner and wish I'd entered 7800 as my max.

PowderHound > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:15

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*Goes to look up BRZ prices*

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:16

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Holy fuck! That actually makes me very excited! My next car in two years is going to be an Abarth Cabrio!

Decay buys too many beaters > PowderHound 01/21/2015 at 23:17

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15K on the low end with a dirty title, 18K with average miles. Not a bad depreciation curve at all

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:19

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WTF? kbb has a 2014 in fair as 11.8K.

Decay buys too many beaters > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 01/21/2015 at 23:19

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Right? This is an INSANE value for money. Ebay history shows a bunch of them going for the 10-12K range, but I think the cabrios are holding up a bit better.

Decay buys too many beaters > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/21/2015 at 23:20

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And that's a trade in value!

PowderHound > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:20

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still a bit much for me. Guess not being in the market for a car helps keep that number extremely low.

Decay buys too many beaters > PowderHound 01/21/2015 at 23:22

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Also take it from an owner, there is no such thing as a babied 86.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:25

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Damn, those R53s I have been looking are less tempting now. Can't wait to see an Abrath in my price range.

PowderHound > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:26

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that's almost fine. I just want to add a supercharger and beat the living hell out of it...

Milky > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:26

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Thats not depreciation, someone got that for a steal.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:27

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I was curious to know how much the non-Abarths were going for. Did a quick Kijiji search, and was not disappointed.

Decay buys too many beaters > Milky 01/21/2015 at 23:30

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Granted this person got an amazing deal, but on eBay there is a history of them going for 10-12K, and I'm willing to bet this one helps to drive down prices a bit overall. After all, people will be less inclined to pay, say, 9K for one if it's a thousand more than the last one that sold.

Decay buys too many beaters > PowderHound 01/21/2015 at 23:31

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Doesn't need a supercharger for that, just Chinese tires!

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:33

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Keep watching it, the bids that outbid you may have been from friends or family of the seller, so it may be relisted. I bought an ATV from ebay that I'd lost in the auction to a higher bidder. Within an hour or so I got a notification from ebay saying the winner had pulled out or something similar and that I was the next highest bidder. It just felt suspicious to me but it was cheap enough so went through with the sale. It's a known problem on eBay and is known as 'shill' bidding where the seller has a fake account or friend place bids to push the price higher, if the friend wins the auction it doesn't matter as the seller won't give neg feedback.

Steve in Manhattan > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:34

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There will be others. Remain calm, all is well.

Decay buys too many beaters > Steve in Manhattan 01/21/2015 at 23:36

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But I need that exhaust note in my life!

PowderHound > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:38

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to the tire cartel!

The Real Dacia Sandero > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:38

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I was looking at going to a newer Miata, but if these really are going that cheap I may have re-found my next car. It's not at the top of my list, but that exhaust sound atones for a hell of a lot...

Decay buys too many beaters > The Real Dacia Sandero 01/21/2015 at 23:41

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This was an outlier, but with the wide exposure eBay offers, I'll bet this is where the market is heading rather than some freak occurrence.

Decay buys too many beaters > PowderHound 01/21/2015 at 23:43

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Some add power, I prefer to subtract rubber.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:46

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I totally want one for commuting, I have to park in garages a lot, small spaces. I see two in the garage pretty often.

DrScientist > Decay buys too many beaters 01/21/2015 at 23:48

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are the abarths all manual?

Decay buys too many beaters > DrScientist 01/21/2015 at 23:50

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I know the first few years were, think they may have an auto now.

The Real Dacia Sandero > Decay buys too many beaters 01/22/2015 at 00:00

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I'm at least 9 months away from buying something, so waiting is even better.

I think the 500 is in a good spot. It only comes in a manual, so that rules out most of the poser buyers. But, against the other enthusiast offerings(Miata, 86 twins, STs, GTI, WRX) it doesn't quite stack up. So, it's not that desirable. Now, it's still a great car and the exhaust alone pretty much makes it worth purchasing. But it doesn't get the forum worshiping that keeps demand and cost high. For the enthusiast without much money who is willing to compromise on some potential performance, it's a hell of a deal.

If I could get one for $6-8k, I'm seriously interested. My driving right now rarely ever is on the fun roads that got me into the Miata. A runabout with good power(more than my NA has), turbo fun, awesome exhaust, and still decent handling in a car that's only a few years old so I don't have to deal with the maintenance hunger of a 10+ year old car(which is what I'd be in the market for otherwise) would be a really good choice.

Decay buys too many beaters > The Real Dacia Sandero 01/22/2015 at 00:08

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Maintenance hunger of a 2 year old Italian equals maintenance hunger of a 10 year old Japanese :)

I'm hopefully around 7 months away from buying a house, otherwise I'd have bid here much more aggressively. I honestly think the Abarth (or to a lesser extent, the 500 in general) would make just about the best city commuter money can buy. I will own one someday, and if this is an indication of where the bottom of the market lies, it will be sooner rather than later.

Ferrero1911 > Decay buys too many beaters 01/22/2015 at 00:48

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I have a 2012 with almost 20,000 miles and the highest I could probably sell it for would be 13k, and only then because I have a binder full of records for it and it's never been through an automatic car wash. So I think the 10-12k history is pretty spot on. I don't car though, because I plan on keeping it forever!

Ferrero1911 > DrScientist 01/22/2015 at 00:49

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2015 is the first year they'll be available in auto. I don't know if they've started delivering yet though.

Decay buys too many beaters > Ferrero1911 01/22/2015 at 01:05

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You sir, have an awesome little car with the best sounding exhaust south of $60k. I will own one someday. In my opinion it's just about the best city commuter available at any price point, and I get a big dumb grin every time I see (or hear!) one drive by.

Ferrero1911 > Decay buys too many beaters 01/22/2015 at 01:26

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I still catch myself smiling when I drive it. I dare say it's even fun to drive in LA traffic, if a little leg cramp inducing. And that would be ma'am to you ;)

Decay buys too many beaters > Ferrero1911 01/22/2015 at 01:41

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Apologies m'lady! That was rather presumptuous of me.

Ferrero1911 > Decay buys too many beaters 01/22/2015 at 01:50

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Haha, no worries. I think my username may be a little misleading, but I can't change it now, it's too established.

The Real Dacia Sandero > Decay buys too many beaters 01/22/2015 at 08:03

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True... But this is more Chrysler Fiat than traditional Italian... Wait, that's not helping.

That's what I was thinking. I'm thinking about moving to downtown Richmond, VA next year and even in the Miata I don't like parallel parking. I'm good at the technical aspects, I just have issues judging distance sometimes that makes doing so difficult. I don't know if it's issues with my vision or what.

So, having essentially the smallest car on the road would make that nice. Plus the turbo and exhaust would make the stop and go city driving actually fun. Hearing the exhaust pops and crackles echoing off the buildings... my body is ready