I8 values in free fall....Why?

[ravon]

Been spectating on the Classic Monte Carlo rally in mine this week, i8 has been exceptional, rushing from stage to stage on slippery mountain passes, being able to park effortlessly on snow filled car parks thanks to its four wheel drive ( and winter tyres ). It's still a joy to own and drive after almost two years, couldn't be happier ! Drove home from South of France yesterday, effortlessly covering the 900 plus km and recording 39.6 miles per gallon for the trip. Good luck to anyone that picks up a heavily depreciated bargin car, if my experience is anything to go by, you won't regret it !

[Gandahar]

To me it seems the ultimate car expression of a computer coding Gosub routine which multiplies a niche on a niche. The Germans have this routine running 24/7 nowadays.

I'm not saying it is a bad car, the principles seem fine. Does it just need big fat tyres, something the Gosub routine might have forgot? Formula1 is heading that way. Have any i8 owners really gone to town on tyre and performance mods? Would be interesting to hear the difference.

[BigO1977]

Bought my i8 in April 2015 privately, sold it yesterday after 20,000 miles of fun and futuristic ownership. Can't say I loved every minute - the doors and cills are annoying and the EV novelty wore off after the first few months. I'm proud to have owned one and now looking forward to getting back into a rear wheel drive, manual 991. No comparison. Like someone else said, if you can afford the depreciation, there are worse hobbies. I always went to bed at night thinking how cool the i8 looked and how advanced the technology was, but without fail dreamt about owning a 911 again. They really are the best sports cars Money can buy. No, I don't work for porsche.

[Maxxsirrah]

The i8 is depreciating in exactly the same way as most cars in its class and price point. I've just done a search on Pistonheads for 2015 cars between £50k and £70k and come up with this list:

Car / Used Price / New Price / Depreciation

BMW i8 / £67k / £104k* / £37k (but BMW UK give £15k discount, so really £22k)
AM V8V / £69k / £90k / £21k
F Type V8 R / £60k / £87k / £27k
Maser GT / £67.5k / £92k / £24.5k
991 S / £70k / £88k / £18k
Merc SL63AMG/ £70k / £115k / £45k
BMW M6 conv /£53.5k / £98k / £44.5k

I appreciate that you will get a discount on a number of these other cars too (e.g. the Merc SL and the M6), but I would also add that the i8 is very well equipped as standard, with very little options available. Any Aston, Maser or 991 buyer will likely add £5-£10k of options to the base price, often more.

So in reality all of those cars are seeing a depreciation of between £23k and £35k with the i8 towards the bottom end.

[erics]

BigO1977 said:

Bought my i8 in April 2015 privately, sold it yesterday after 20,000 miles of fun and futuristic ownership. Can't say I loved every minute - the doors and cills are annoying and the EV novelty wore off after the first few months. I'm proud to have owned one and now looking forward to getting back into a rear wheel drive, manual 991. No comparison. Like someone else said, if you can afford the depreciation, there are worse hobbies. I always went to bed at night thinking how cool the i8 looked and how advanced the technology was, but without fail dreamt about owning a 911 again. They really are the best sports cars Money can buy. No, I don't work for porsche.

I would not have a vanilla 991 to replace my i8. At the time when i bought it i considered spending a bit more money and going for a 991 turbo s. But i thought, what it the point of doing the same all over again? I had 964rs, 964 c2, boxtser s, 993 c2s, 996 gt3, 996 turbo and turbo s before that.
I found the idea of owning another Porsche very unexciting.

[IMI A]

erics said:

BigO1977 said:

Bought my i8 in April 2015 privately, sold it yesterday after 20,000 miles of fun and futuristic ownership. Can't say I loved every minute - the doors and cills are annoying and the EV novelty wore off after the first few months. I'm proud to have owned one and now looking forward to getting back into a rear wheel drive, manual 991. No comparison. Like someone else said, if you can afford the depreciation, there are worse hobbies. I always went to bed at night thinking how cool the i8 looked and how advanced the technology was, but without fail dreamt about owning a 911 again. They really are the best sports cars Money can buy. No, I don't work for porsche.

I would not have a vanilla 991 to replace my i8. At the time when i bought it i considered spending a bit more money and going for a 991 turbo s. But i thought, what it the point of doing the same all over again? I had 964rs, 964 c2, boxtser s, 993 c2s, 996 gt3, 996 turbo and turbo s before that.
I found the idea of owning another Porsche very unexciting.

And is the idea of owning an i8 exciting? You need shooting for selling some of those air cooled and turbos. For me the Porsche brand has become very uncool with halo models by invitation only etc and woeful staff with high turnover in Porsche Retail Group but to be fair they still make the best cars in the world (for the chosen ones).

[AW10]

Are there any years of the i8 to be avoided? For the i3 I've read to get a 2015 or newer car with black mirrors as opposed to body coloured - that signified some sort of subtle upgrade/improvement point. Anything analogous for the i8?

[robm3]

I actually think the i8 will become a modern classic. It will bottom out over the 3-6 year period, then hold steady till it's about 10 years old. Then climb upwards.
There'll be a couple of Indies specialising in it by then, think electrical power and battery upgrades etc..

What are the total numbers produced btw?

[Wills2]

I don't get this thread, go buy a 100k 911 and see what the OPC bids you after 2 years or any "regular" 100k sports car.

They lose money especially in the first 2 years, the i8 is no different but it's no worse.

[Maxxsirrah]

T6ruffles said:

well, I bought one last week, and loving it so far. One surprise was insurance. I was braced for a significant increase over my old XKR due to the carbon tub, but all my insurer wanted was an extra £36 for the next 8 months.

Who are you insured with if you dont mind me asking? Gonna start getting quotes tomorrow....

[erics]

IMI A said:

And is the idea of owning an i8 exciting? You need shooting for selling some of those air cooled and turbos. For me the Porsche brand has become very uncool with halo models by invitation only etc and woeful staff with high turnover in Porsche Retail Group but to be fair they still make the best cars in the world (for the chosen ones).

Best of the lot was a humble 964 c2 manual. The rest did not live up to the hype. I mean some did but at today's prices it makes no sense whatsoever imho.

I wanted a 991r, could not have one, so moved on to other things...

[steve-5snwi]

I like the i8, I don't like the fake engine noise, it sounds really fake as if there is just an artificial soundtrack.

I do like how easy it is to drive though.

[405dogvan]

Talking to a (reasonably recent) owner of one of these recently, he said he'd gotten a VERY competitive deal on his new/leased but he'd actually set-out to buy a used one, as the first of the 2-year-leased cars were coming into the market so values were falling (as happens ofc)

They're stunning in the flesh, genuine 'concept car on the road' stuff, but they're clearly priced WAY above what people value them at and they were never going to have 911 residuals - I don't think ANYONE bought one new expecting that.

Some people point to the engine rather than the electronics - the same engine as a MINI in a car which has a 6-figure pricetag is a hard sell and no amount of 'engine noise in speakers' will get around that.

Not directly comparable but many believe the fact that all Peugeot RCZs have the same engine (despite a massive range of prices) gimped sales - when people spend money, they expect lots of engine so this may also affect the Giulia - 6 cylinders in a market segment which usually offers 8??

I was surprised when VW dropped the 'better engine' from the Golf R - I didn't think they'd get away with it being a GTi+ but it seems to have done so??

p.s. the NSX seems to be floundering in the US (some people asking premiums alongside a LOT of car for-sale at-list suggests all is not well) - maybe people don't want all this hybrid st in a sportscar?

[jamoor]

MrOrange said:

at the moment.

5 years ago I never considered one. 3 years ago I had a quick (sic) drive of a Tesla MS. 1 year ago I ordered an i8.

Times do change. 20 years ago no petrolhead wanted a diesel; smelly, slow & unrefined. (although that trend might have gone full circle)

An i8 is exactly the type of electric car people don't want

Built in small numbers without the simplicity of an electric car, instead it has the Complexity of both systems.

It's values are reflecting that, especially as they get older. These aren't throwaway money eithe

[johnnyreggae]

Maxxsirrah said:

Who are you insured with if you dont mind me asking? Gonna start getting quotes tomorrow....

I'm told Bmw's in-house insurance via Allianz can be very competitive for i8

[Liftman1970]

The reason is that BMW like many have flooded the fleet market with probably good deals on the I8 with a 10k deal, so now they are starting to come back onto the market and not many people want to shell out £100k for an electric car possibly 3 years old. I was at the services yesterday and there were 3 in the car park so guess all lease cars. In the end £70k is probably about right as they like all cars will take a hit and not rare or special enough or over inflated like certain Porsche models so depreciation will be severe, just look at any 7 series or similar costly car and you would be mad to pay the full price and expect to not lose a big chunk. Be interesting to see how the Tesla models fair, as also these are being pushed on low cost leasing deals as well, and they don't have the luxury of a petrol engine, only a battery pack that has a limited life... however as with all cars unless your very lucky they all lose money. Well everyone ive ever bought has!!

[MarshPhantom]

erics said:

chrisgreen88 said:

Happens with all expensive BMWs - look at the Z8. Horribly over priced when new, depreciated faster than a laptop - now over £100k for one. The fact it's a hybrid or a 'new generation' sort of car makes no difference

Edited by chrisgreen88 on Wednesday 1st February 14:24

Nail on the head.

I also think the Z8 is massively overpriced.

Does the Z8 also have a 1.5 litre engine?

[BigO1977]

IMI A said:

erics said:

BigO1977 said:

Bought my i8 in April 2015 privately, sold it yesterday after 20,000 miles of fun and futuristic ownership. Can't say I loved every minute - the doors and cills are annoying and the EV novelty wore off after the first few months. I'm proud to have owned one and now looking forward to getting back into a rear wheel drive, manual 991. No comparison. Like someone else said, if you can afford the depreciation, there are worse hobbies. I always went to bed at night thinking how cool the i8 looked and how advanced the technology was, but without fail dreamt about owning a 911 again. They really are the best sports cars Money can buy. No, I don't work for porsche.

I would not have a vanilla 991 to replace my i8. At the time when i bought it i considered spending a bit more money and going for a 991 turbo s. But i thought, what it the point of doing the same all over again? I had 964rs, 964 c2, boxtser s, 993 c2s, 996 gt3, 996 turbo and turbo s before that.
I found the idea of owning another Porsche very unexciting.

And is the idea of owning an i8 exciting? You need shooting for selling some of those air cooled and turbos. For me the Porsche brand has become very uncool with halo models by invitation only etc and woeful staff with high turnover in Porsche Retail Group but to be fair they still make the best cars in the world (for the chosen ones).

And this is where the real 'cringe' comes........ I sold the 997 GT3 CS to get the i8!! What a muppet. Admittedly, got a great price, but very difficult and expensive to replace now.
The i8 is a cool piece of kit, but the excitement (for me) ends there. I don't care about carbon fibre tubs and 40mpg. I want the visceral, linear, emotive experience of driving a rear wheel drive, naturally aspirated, manual 911 - I know there are plenty of Porsche haters out there (don't get me wrong, posrche service isn't a patch on BMW, who are excellent), but thankfully 911 owners don't tend to have to spend much time with the main dealers anyway. On the note of BMW customer service - Rybrook in Warwick have been exceptional - OK, I spent over 100k on the i8 so you'd expect good service, but in the last 2 years they've loaned me....... M5, M3, M4 (coupe and convertible, manual and DCT), 640d (coupe and convertible), old 730d, new 730d, new 730d LWB, new 740d, oh, and lots of different i8's. I've worked out that in the last 2 years I've driven 20k in my i8 and about 5k in their own cars! Also, while I was waiting for my i8 to be delivered, the dealership loaned me an M4 convertible (manual) for a month!! You'd never get that from Porsche.

[ChawenHalo]

erics said:

I would not have a vanilla 991 to replace my i8. At the time when i bought it i considered spending a bit more money and going for a 991 turbo s. But i thought, what it the point of doing the same all over again? I had 964rs, 964 c2, boxtser s, 993 c2s, 996 gt3, 996 turbo and turbo s before that.
I found the idea of owning another Porsche very unexciting.

Agreed. Bar 911 GT3's most 911s are far more GT than sports cars and contrary to pop opinion not exiting to drive in the slightest (unless you're a driving god that can get it to move around). This is especially true of the latest 991 gen.

In that context the i8 makes a lot of sense, there is just nothing like it on the road. Whilst other performance hybrids have incredible performance stats, dare I say it a bit of an "overkill" in the real world... I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to sports cars but having tried both i3 and i8, I'm just blown away - it does feel like the future and BMW should be applauded for having bought out a sensibly priced beautiful and fun car to the market whilst the infrastructure is still on its infancy.

[Wills2]

MarshPhantom said:

Does the Z8 also have a 1.5 litre engine?

LOL, stick to spouting rubbish on the NP&E section.