Got a bee in my bonnet

[bernhund]

I'm not in a position to make a purchase yet, but seriously considering a 570s in a couple of years time. I imagine the initial large payout is the hardest part of ownership, but assuming that large pile of cash is available, what is the likely real cost of ownership? My thinking is that once you can get past the initial purchase price, depreciation etc. isn't a big deal over 3 or 4 years before updating/moving on etc. For example, is it likely that having forked out around £130k for a low mileage car, there would still be in excess of £100k residual? (Unless of course I put 50k miles on it!)
Has anyone here upgraded after a few years and calculated their loss? Not that I would actually see it as a 'loss' as such, more like cost per smile mile.

[bernhund]

AinsleyB said:

Honey in your glovebox yet?

Sadly my current car doesn't even have a glovebox!

[bernhund]

Thanks for the info to date. Did any of you owners buy with the intention to replace your model within a certain time frame to minimise your loss? If so, what sort of figures were you hoping to achieve from a sale/part exchange and in what time frame?
I wondered how the figures would compare to buying new on a finance package over a 3 or 4 year period, then handing the car back.
On another note, I currently drive a Noble M12 3R and thought a 570s would be a great natural progression from a driving perspective. Would that follow in your opinion?

[bernhund]

Thank you chaps. Part of the appeal for me, apart from wanting a 'driver's car', is that I'm attracted to rare beasts. I like the fact Lotus is (was) British but I'm not attracted to their look and though I like a driver's car, the look is still important. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I also feel the difference between a well sorted Noble and an Evora etc. is probably not that significant. Most sorted 3R's are running at about 400bhp per tonne. The McLaren is British, rare (Porsches, Ferraris and Lambos everywhere) and a significant step up from the Noble...I would hope. It ticks the boxes for me.
Another thing I must consider is my age and health. I never want to stop driving mad cars, but at 51 and not massively wealthy, I can't imagine there's a long list of cars I could own in the future before money and getting in and out of them causes a problem. I'd need to get it right. Knowing the way I am, though I'd have all good intentions of updating within a few years, I'd probably end up running a McLaren for 10 years and putting 6 figures on the clock! Life's too short you see.

[bernhund]

RamboLambo said:

12C at circa £100k as a car to keep has got to be a strong proposition. Done virtually all of its depreciation, was ahead of its time and is easy to get in and out of IMHO and very comfortable for a supercar

I have to say, there are some very nice 12C's for sale on PH. As far as I'm aware, performance is all pretty much equal across the range of Macs except the big big money models. The 12C looks as good as the later models, but did I read somewhere about a major expense issue they have?