Monday 22nd June 2015

£100K Garage: Sam Liggett

Another PHer attempts the 'appreciating asset' £100K Garage formula...

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Name: Sam Liggett
Previously owned: Sheds, Sheds and more Sheds! Ford Escort, Toyota Space Cruiser (for travelling around Europe!) Vauxhall Astra, VW Golf Mk2, Rover 216 Cab, VW Bora, BMW E36 3 Series Cab.
Currently owned: Smart Roadster and Ford Fiesta ST-3
On the shortlist: "Ford Focus ST, Ford Mustang (new one), BMW E90 M3, Audi S5 (very undecided!)

"With my commercial hat on, the theme for this garage is stocking up on depreciation proof/investment cars, with a plan to tuck each of them away only for use on sunny days (cue much debate I'm sure!) and hopefully see some appreciation over the next few years. Man maths at its finest, right? Have some fun and make a bit of money. As long as breakdowns, servicing, insurance and fuel aren't factored in... but hey, this is PH isn't it?! I'll cross those bridges when I come to them."

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Audi R8 (V8)
Cost: £43,950
Balance: £56,050
Why I chose it: "With R8s nearing the bottom of the depreciation curve (I think!) and V8s being discontinued in the new car, this is one car that should definitely be considered. I reckon you could at least to get your money back after a couple of thousand miles."

Porsche 911 Turbo (996)
Cost: £26,500
Balance: £29,550
Why I chose it: "The 996 is perhaps not the first choice for an enthusiast after a 911. However, with 993s already skimming £100K I would like to think it's a pretty safe bet that these will follow suit, albeit perhaps not quite to £100K! This car is a manual Turbo - it had to be a manual."

Aston Martin DB7
Cost: £19,950
Balance: £9,600
Why I chose it: "I can't really see honest DB7s getting any lower than 20 bags. This isn't the most desirable spec with a Marmite interior but it's cheap way to get an Aston on the driveway; they will have to start going up soon!"

Land Rover Defender
Cost: £4,950
Balance: £4,650
Why I chose it: "In the year of the Defender's demise it seems apt to snap one up for the dump runs. I'm a little disappointed to have already missed the Shed money examples (I remember looking at one 10 years ago for around £800 but didn't take the plunge unfortunately!). For the money this seems honest/agricultural enough, though I would definitely swap the alloys for white steelies."

BMW 318i E30
Cost: £2,750
Balance: £1,900
Why I chose it: "Yes, it's a 1.8 and, yes, its not an M3 but it'salso not £87K and this has a fair chance of rising a couple of grand. Rare to see one at the normal ride height with original wheels and no angel headlights and neons."

Jaguar XJ6
Cost: £1,000
Balance: £900
Why I chose it: "I always find it incredible how cheap these barges are. I reckon we'll be kicking ourselves in a few years when we didn't hibernate one and the remaining examples are £5-10K... Who doesn't fancy wafting to the pub in a Jag?"

Peugeot 306 GTI-6
Cost: £850
Balance: £50
Why I chose it: OK, not as good as the Rallye but we won't mention that again (hilarious. My sides are splitting - MB). With the rising prices of 205s (it wasn't long ago a mate bought a perfect grey 1.6 for less than £700; another missed opportunity!) this looks like it should be a good investment and a nice daily driver to boot.

[Zammy]

Yes to all except the BMW and the Pug.

[R2T2]

Why not buy 1 appreciating asset rather than 5?

I can understand the mentality, but buying a car purely because it won't depreciate anymore is (to me) daft.

The R8 and the Aston I understand, but the Pug, the BM and the Landy? No.

IMO, Tidy daily, and a LR for off road.

The BMW would be better as a 325i anyway surely?

[samliggett]

R2T2 said:

Why not buy 1 appreciating asset rather than 5?

I can understand the mentality, but buying a car purely because it won't depreciate anymore is (to me) daft.

The R8 and the Aston I understand, but the Pug, the BM and the Landy? No.

IMO, Tidy daily, and a LR for off road.

The BMW would be better as a 325i anyway surely?

Yep can see your point, one of my colleagues said exactly the same; told me to scrap all of the above in place of this: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f... Although IMO all about spreading the risk and all that!

I have to say it was a little galling opting for a 4 pot E30 but the extra 2 cylinders would have been to the detriment of the Landie http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b... (It appears I’ve missed the appreciation boat a little on these too!) It’s amazing how even keeping to an imaginary budget still isn’t ever quite enough!!

[British Beef]

With hindsight that Ferrari was a fantastic investment 5 years ago. Seems expensive, even for a lightly used 328, I suspect that price already includes the next 2 years worth of speculitive appreciation!!

[Pagoda1966]

Great choice and nothing wrong with having one eye on depreciation / appreciation. Being skinted by running costs plus depreciation adds insult to injury but knowing you're making a few quid to offset your running costs makes running a fast car more bearable and palatable to your other half.

[Gorbyrev]

Good choices. Arguably a manual V10 R8 would be a one car non-depreciating garage or a manual 612 Scaglietti if you needed to take the kids.

[R2T2]

samliggett said:

Yep can see your point, one of my colleagues said exactly the same; told me to scrap all of the above in place of this: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f... Although IMO all about spreading the risk and all that!

I have to say it was a little galling opting for a 4 pot E30 but the extra 2 cylinders would have been to the detriment of the Landie http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b... (It appears I’ve missed the appreciation boat a little on these too!) It’s amazing how even keeping to an imaginary budget still isn’t ever quite enough!!

i get your point. But, to me, with the state of the rounds around here, and how many bad drivers there are, I don't particularly want to spend more than 10k on a daily if need be.
I know if i lived in the Isle Of Man or something with good roads and little limits I would own a proper sports car to use everyday, such as a GT3 or an R8 or something along those lines.

But I think that GTS will either rocket, or stop. I think the Focus RS500 will go the same way as the Escort Cosworth and rocket in value, but for a couple of years of borderline free motoring, i'd go for a V8 Manual R8 or a manual GT3.

Good garage though!

[Munich]

With the exception of the Audi, I think the man maths might be correct (at least to these eyes). I think the Audi will continue to depreciate. The new R8 looks all but identical and will probably be a better car and although the R8 might have been a pivotal moment for Audi (and therefore important to Audi fans) I don't think it will hold any particular important to collectors of the future.

I have been thinking of jumping on the 911 Turbo bandwagon before it gets too expensive (indecision a couple of years ago meant I missed the opportunity of ever buying a GT3.... ) but the 996 Turbo has never floated my boat. I keep telling myself to wait until the 997 Turbo gets a bit cheaper but not sure it will.

[thelawnet1]

R2T2 said:

The BMW would be better as a 325i anyway surely?

323i would be significantly better than the 318i, and cheaper.

[XJR500bhp]

Yes some will appreciate but they still have to be good cars in the first place. That Jag will not appreciate.
996 - agreed / Aston - agreed

[Freegs]

Privileged to have the e30 included in a fantasy garage, decided it's probably staying with me anyway and will get a 6-cylinder conversion next year much to the relief of the PH general public!

Nice choices.

[sideways sid]

So close to perfection…

I like what the OP has tried to do, but have a few minor criticisms:
- I’m not convinced that the R8 is at the bottom of its depreciation curve. 360s were less than £40k a few years ago, and look at prices of Audi’s A8!
- I agree with the choice of 996 Turbo
- The 6-cylinder DB7 wasn’t liked much when it was new. You need the V12 Vantage as it’s more sonorous & enjoyable, and more likely to appreciate.
- Can’t argue with the Landie
- I really like the look of the E30, but firstly it needs to be the 325 to feel special, and I can’t imagine a single time when I would want to drive it over everything else without it feeling a bit naff. An MX5 on the other hand…
- Old Jags get cheap and stay cheap. It will remain wonderful to waft in but unless you find that royalty had an affair in it it will not increase in value (and possibly not even then depending which member of our esteemed monarchy – Fergie probably has anyway!)