Originally Posted by Fishbed77 (Post 2247645)

This is a fantastic point, and I am in the same boat as well.

Don't get me wrong - I love my recently-purchased 2013 FR-S in Whiteout, but there are far fewer choices today if you want a newish sports car (that can also be a daily driver) with low mileage, maybe a warranty, and a reasonable cost of ownership. Even more recent cars like the S2000 have already slipped out of this threshold. 350Zs are still out there, but un-abused low mileage cars are slipping away, 370s are still expensive and full of compromises, and V8 Mustangs and Camaros are overpriced for what they are.

Originally Posted by MJones_RB (Post 2247944)

I've watched enough car auctions on TV to realize that a car's value is determined by mileage and condition. You want a GT86 worth something in 20 years? Buy a Series 10 or Series 1.0, park it in your garage and never drive it. In 20 years put it up for sale and then you'll have something. I've seen 60's era Mustangs in great shape go for peanuts because of either too many miles, non-original paint or non-factory add-ons. Very strange standard, this collector car world.

Originally Posted by vividracing (Post 2244982)

Just my opinion but it depends on the rarity and condition and it's influence on car culture.

Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaros and other muscle cars from the 60's are in such high demand these days because people in their 50's-70's want the car that they grew up with, either their dad had one or it was their first or second car they owned.

More than just the performance of it, they became legendary cars, the example for their genre of the muscle car, and muscle cars were a big hit back then.

You have to keep in mind what cars are here with us today to what will be around 30 years from now. Will the GT86 be a big get? Well it has a few things going for it. One, its a niche car, only 9700 BRZ's were made to US/Canada spec in 2013, and only 4500 in 2012.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2012/05...s-figures.html

I have a 2013 BRZ, Limited, Automatic, in Galaxy Blue.

Do some math...

9700
1/2 were Limited trim (= 4850)
1/3 were Automatics (= 1616)
8% were Galaxy Blue (= 129)
Galaxy Blue was discontinued for BRZ after 2013.
I can't remember where I heard the stats for trim, trans, and color but that's what it was.

My car is in a group of only 129 examples for 2013, and were not made again (at least with that color). If I include the same math for the 2012 year, only 60 such cars were made. If you own a 2012 BRZ Limited Automatic in Galaxy Blue, you own a collector car. Do not sell it or trade it. In 20-30 years you will have an auction level car.

I don't intend on getting rid of my car, I will keep it as long as I can as a future investment, and see what happens. I'll store it away if I have to.

Back to what makes a car valuable in the future, another big consideration is rarity. If 30 years from now, a car that only had 60 produced in a year, and 129 the year after that, and were discontinued in that color after that, that means only 189 examples were EVER made. How many of them would be in a good enough condition to sell then? Maybe less than 50 of them? If you own one of them in pretty good condition by then, that's a rare car, and collectors buy that like crazy, regardless of what it was. You never hear of a rare Honda Civic. Why? Because Honda made millions of them since they started. The only rare one would be #00000000001, or a manufacturer special edition, limited runs like the Mugen RR, but even those aren't as rare because they were intentionally made rare by the manufacturer.

Unintentional rarity from limited manufacturing or discontinuing something makes a car so much more valuable because it wasn't intentionally made rare. Does that make sense?

I honestly believe that BRZ's and FRS's will be collector cars, depending on who the buyer is. Corvettes have sold a few million since they started? That means there's a few million prospective buyers of a rare Corvette, and they will clamor over each other to get it. The FRS/BRZ only has what, less than 100,000 for US spec made? Not many buyers.

If they keep making the BRZ for the next couple decades, then yes there will be enough buyers to increase the value.

Originally Posted by 86MLR (Post 3266281)

Hey, my 2017 is special

Only 60 2017 Limited Editions were released here

All manual
All with PP
All solar orange

Mine has:

MCA coilovers
RPF-1 rims
AVO Turbo
Bushings up its wazzo
Window tint
Numerous scratches on the front bar
Some swirl marks on the roof from when the Mrs took the car to a "car wash" place (bloody monkeys)

Sure, I could have left it stock and hoped that it appreciated in value (which it wouldn't), albeit with the additional cost of storage and insurance, but, why, the car hasn't won any world class races to give it that edge, the car is a massed produced cheap sports coupe, hell, I honestly cannot see it holding together for 20 years, even in stock form.

The twins have actually a questionable history, recall, boxer engine, rods, frontbar droop, gearbox.

Will someone want a twin in 20 years, yeap, just like people want a MGB, or a old MX5 or a AMC Pacer.

Me, I'm putting miles and scratches on mine and enjoying every minute.

This is like what I'll be driving in 20 years >

Originally Posted by Mr.Impreza (Post 2248176)

Who cares about the car becoming a collectors, enjoy it, but also take care of it, so in 20 years you will still have it and be able to enjoy it!

Originally Posted by chaoskaze (Post 3266312)

But I think a very low mile Brz tS will have zero problem getting some pretty numbers @ Barrett Jackson in 30 years....

Originally Posted by extrashaky (Post 3266413)

Inflation usually averages around 2% per year. That means if you walk out the door having paid $30K for a BRZ and keep it for 30 years, you'll have to get $54K at auction just to pay for the inflation.

But that's not the only cost of owning the car. There's insurance, registration, maintenance and carrying costs like the cost of the space it takes up. For example, it might cost you more to own a house with a garage to protect it than it would to rent some place that doesn't even have a carport. You have to consider it all.

Let's be conservative and say you just put it in storage for 30 years and took it out periodically for the basic maintenance necessary to keep it from rotting, and somehow that only cost you $1000 per year. (It would cost you more than that, but let's say you're a wizard who can do magic.)

Now you're up to $84K that you'd have to get at auction just to break even.

This is why people who understand finance generally don't buy cars expecting a capital gain. The people who make money at Barrett Jackson are not the people who held the cars for all those years. If you store your car and sell it at auction, you'll lose money. The only people who make money at Barrett Jackson are the ones who can spot a deal that someone else paid the carrying costs on, pick it up at a discount and resell it at auction.