What car to make money on. One year, max £50k

[rockandrollmark]

An idle thought I've been having lately. For the past couple of years I've been putting money away in savings for a house deposit. For one reason or another I'm not going to be in a position to buy for about another year (current house owned, but relocating and content to rent for a short period once I've sold). So rather thank just keep the money in the bank where it's doing next to nothing my mind has started wondering to what *interesting* cars could be bought, run for a year and then sold for a gain a year later with a budget of max 50k (running costs aside). I know no-one's got a crystal ball but if you'd jumped on the e30 M3 waggon at the right time (or E-types, or 308s, or Dinos... Etc) a fair bit of money could be made in quite a short space of time. (I remember when I was younger, around 1995 maybe, Dinos going for about £15k. Now, double that and put a zero on the end. But that's slightly longer than a year too.

So what interesting cars have reached the bottom of the market? 996s are my first thought. I really doubt they're going to go below the £8k that you can pick up a tired one for now. Likewise I don't see the turbos hanging around for long. Also 360s are beginning to look cheap, but you'd need some brave-pills to buy a £50k one.

[james28]

Maybe still a m3 csl
or a 1m or maybe a mint audi quattro or b5 rs4 plenty of maybes out there tvr sagaris

[ging84]

have you seen the state of the global economy right now?
i don't think any cars will be appreciating over the next 12 months and there's a fairly good chance of losing money if you were to try

[89speedster]

Buy the best Integrale you can find

[CRA1G]

The best Z3 M Coupe you can find..

[hornetrider]

Air. Cooled. Pork.

[mikeveal]

S3 Esprits are steadily appreciating, bit below your budget though.

[balls-out]

if you are buying and selling within a year or so, without loss then I suspect you can't afford to have a dealer involved making their salary out of you.

[Ste1987]

Judging by the comments on this thread, you'd probably make more money putting your savings into an ISA

[ging84]

Ste1987 said:

Judging by the comments on this thread, you'd probably make more money putting your savings into an ISA

or at least lose less of it

[Jasandjules]

I doubt you have much chance of not losing money, however a Sagaris might be in with a shout.

[RobM77]

I was in your position back when 550 Maranellos were sub £50k and I really wanted one. Now they're worth £85k plus, so I could have made £35k, but that's hindsight and to be honest it's a very risky strategy and I wouldn't ever gamble with that high a percentage of my income. As it happened, I saved a bit more and bought a house soon after and that went up in value a lot more than the 550 would have done! If I was in your shoes and really wanted an interesting car then I'd buy something that depreciates very slowly for £20k, like a Caterham, and invest the rest. Boring advice, but it's a lot of money to lose if you make a bad call. Like most things, cars operate on diminishing returns and whilst there are some fantastic cars out there for £50k, there are also some great cars for £20k and you'd probably be 90% as happy and massively more financially secure. I always remember the first time I went in a really expensive car and I distinctly remember thinking it was great, but not twice as good as one worth half the amount.

[ZiggyNiva]

100 £500 4x4's bought now and sold in winter at £1000 each.
Or wait till winter and by 100 £500 convertibles and sell them in summer for £1000 each.

[CRA1G]

ging84 said:

Ste1987 said:

Judging by the comments on this thread, you'd probably make more money putting your savings into an ISA

or at least lose less of it

My low mileage Z3M Coupe has increased by £11/12K in the last year my M3 Evo Cab has doubled and even the 840 Sport has gone up £3/4K all with the added benefit of enjoying them...!

[Leins]

I know this is going to sound very un-PH, but you would be mad to risk your house deposit on a car. You are assuming that certain ones are not going to start dropping in value, and the engine/gearbox doesn't decide to eat itself

I think the best you can hope for with anything <£50k is that it earns its keep and you break even after inflation, maintenance and running costs are factored in

[anonymous-user]

I would say an alfa 4c won't lose money on it at moment.

[Strawman]

ging84 said:

have you seen the state of the global economy right now?
i don't think any cars will be appreciating over the next 12 months and there's a fairly good chance of losing money if you were to try

But in 2008 the financial systems collapsed and in 2009 classic cars appreciated faster than any other asset, more than gold for example. As someone has already said I don't have a crystal ball so can't say for certain that he will make money but doubt he can lose much. I'd spend less than the whole £50k and buy a mint something he likes in the to 30 to 40 year old range, avoiding cars whose manufacturer is no longer around.

[Guvernator]

I think you may have missed the boat as most of nice cars seem to have done their appreciation over the last 5 years. An M3 CSL perhaps might be in with a shout, I can see prices for those only going one way but you'd probably need to wait more than a year to make any real return on it.

[200Plus Club]

M3 CSL or 993 C2S or C4S if you can find one for 50k.

[daniel1920]

CRA1G said:

My low mileage Z3M Coupe has increased by £11/12K in the last year my M3 Evo Cab has doubled and even the 840 Sport has gone up £3/4K all with the added benefit of enjoying them...!

Genuine question, but what are you basing these numbers on? What you're being offered trade in? Classified adds? Or finding out the actual sale price?