Most fun car with least depreciation

[RtdRacer]

What's the most fun car (not necessarily fast), or the best car you can buy with the least depreciation - secondhand obviously. And let's avoid the £500 stter - that's an easy answer.

I'll start:

Early Porsche 996 - you can get them for £9-10K these days - are they really going to drop much lower than that??

[robmlufc]

Caterham

205 GTI

Elise S1

Edited by robmlufc on Tuesday 15th January 09:26

[g3org3y]

E36 328i, close to 200bhp, rwd, good chassis. Costs a grand, I suspect it isn't going to lose much of that!

[Bear Phils]

I can't see E36 M3's dropping much more, such start appreciating in a few years.

205 gti's are also not going to lose money.

[StottyZr]

On a small budget the obvious answers are Mx-5 or a 106GTi

On a larger budget I'd be looking at an Elise

[RtdRacer]

g3org3y said:

E36 328i, close to 200bhp, rwd, good chassis. Costs a grand, I suspect it isn't going to lose much of that!

Now that E36 M3s are around £2K, that might not be a bad choice either...

[kambites]

The Elise is pretty good. I paid 16k for mine five years ago at three years old; I could sell it for 13k today (possibly 14k if I was willing to wait for the right buyer). In another five years I suspect I'll still be able to get 13k for it.

Depreciation on a 996 might be zero, but other running costs could be painful.

[RtdRacer]

kambites said:

The Elise is pretty good. I paid 16k for mine five years ago at three years old; I could sell it for 13k today (possibly 14k if I was willing to wait for the right buyer). In another five years I suspect I'll still be able to get 13k for it.

What, a 13 year old Elise will be £13K? <quick look> Bugger me, look how expensive they are! We need another thread on overpriced cars... ;-)

[darreni]

As the OP's title:



Job done.

[kambites]

RtdRacer said:

kambites said:

The Elise is pretty good. I paid 16k for mine five years ago at three years old; I could sell it for 13k today (possibly 14k if I was willing to wait for the right buyer). In another five years I suspect I'll still be able to get 13k for it.

What, a 13 year old Elise will be £13K? <quick look> Bugger me, look how expensive they are! We need another thread on overpriced cars... ;-)

Just supply and demand I guess. The number of Elises in the UK is collapsing as continental Europe starts to catch on - I suspect something like a third of Elises that appear privately on the second hand market end up going abroad. If it carries on, I think S2 prices will start to rise, S1 prices are already rising slowly.

[Captain Muppet]

RtdRacer said:

kambites said:

The Elise is pretty good. I paid 16k for mine five years ago at three years old; I could sell it for 13k today (possibly 14k if I was willing to wait for the right buyer). In another five years I suspect I'll still be able to get 13k for it.

What, a 13 year old Elise will be £13K? <quick look> Bugger me, look how expensive they are! We need another thread on overpriced cars... ;-)

Do we need another thread to discuss the current prices of early Escorts?

Both my cars are worth about the same now as when I bought them 4 or 5 years ago.

[RtdRacer]

darreni said:

As the OP's title:



Job done.

Dunno - I think the E46 prices have some way to go - they're about £6-7K for an early one. I can see that being £3-4K in a few years time...

[Agrispeed]

slow, but very good fun!



Appreciates (is that a word?) too.

[Chris71]

robmlufc said:

Caterham

Not the most cosseting all-rounder, but few things beat a decent Caterham for outright driving thrills and they're virtually impervious to depreciation. Far cheaper to run than TVRs and Porsches too - in 18 months of sustained abuse all mine needed was basic oil changes and a new relay for the alternator.

The S1 Elise is slightly more civilised, but doesn't give quite the same sensation of speed as a Caterham. It also has less potential for RWD hooliganism if you're that way inclined.

[kambites]

RtdRacer said:

Dunno - I think the E46 prices have some way to go - they're about £6-7K for an early one. I can see that being £3-4K in a few years time...

That's a CSL which is worth a lot more than 6-7k and probably always will be.

[g3org3y]

RtdRacer said:

g3org3y said:

E36 328i, close to 200bhp, rwd, good chassis. Costs a grand, I suspect it isn't going to lose much of that!

Now that E36 M3s are around £2K, that might not be a bad choice either...

Can you get decent ones for that price bracket though? From what I can see decent (well maintained/non barried examples) are around the 4k mark.

Regardless, even at 4k, they aren't going to lose money and if properly looked after will only appreciate imo.

[RtdRacer]

g3org3y said:

RtdRacer said:

g3org3y said:

E36 328i, close to 200bhp, rwd, good chassis. Costs a grand, I suspect it isn't going to lose much of that!

Now that E36 M3s are around £2K, that might not be a bad choice either...

Can you get decent ones for that price bracket though? From what I can see decent (well maintained/non barried examples) are around the 4k mark.

Regardless, even at 4k, they aren't going to lose money and if properly looked after will only appreciate imo.

Yeah, I think you're spot on there - keeping them nice is the key. I regret selling all five of my E36 M3s! :-)

[Tuvra]

StottyZr said:

On a small budget the obvious answers are Mx-5 or a 106GTi

On a larger budget I'd be looking at an Elise

Thats if the MX5 doesn't rust into the ground first

I would suggest the following:

• Audi TT Quattro Sport
• Alfa Romeo 147 GTA
• BMW Z3M Coupe
• BMW Z3M Roadster
• Ford Mustang GT
• Ford Focus RS MKI
• Lancia Intergrale
• Maseratti 3200 (depreciation may be offset by maintenance here)
• Mitsi Evolution VI or VII
• Mercedes CLK55 AMG
• Renault Clio V6
• TVR, any mint TVR within budget

[kambites]

The Z3M Coupe is a good call.

[robmlufc]

Impreza P1

DC2 Integra