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Originally Posted by DarkSunrise
Actually I didn't weigh in on whether I thought the S2000 was overpriced or not. Reason being it's almost always purely subjective. It will come down to how much you value the unique qualities of the car.
FWIW I think the S2000 was a fairly good value at the time, especially at the discounted prices dealers were selling them at, but the second-hand market seems overinflated now. That's just my opinion. I could understand if someone else (for example, someone who loved the thought of a 9000 RPM redline and wanted a used convertible, and didn't mind the meager low-end torque or barebones/tight cabin) thought they were great values today. Like I said, value propositions are nearly always subjective so I don't think these debates ever go anywhere.
Re. the STI, Subaru has been using the same engine in that car since 2004, so I'm not surprised its price has dropped relative to inflation. Similarly Nissan hasn't updated the 370z since 2009 and its price has dropped relative to inflation as well. Cars that get updated probably tend to track closer to inflation. 2006 Camry XLE V6 was $31,080 inflation-adjusted. It's $31,370 today. From a marketing perspective, it's probably more a matter of targeting a specific segment of buyers whose average disposable income has been increasing over time (i.e., inflation).
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I agree with everything you wrote in terms of resale and aftermarket, but when you consider how much performance and little maintenance a used S2K offers vs say a used Boxster, it is still, for me, a car to consider.
In terms of the inflation argument, we could keep going on but a new WRX is not much more than one from 10 years ago not factoring in inflation and that car is completely different from the ground up. When you factor in all the mandatory safety features now, as well as all the technology it is pretty impressive that you can pay $26K for a base WRX that has a lot of options and features. Same with a modern GTI. The interior of a moderately priced MKVII is almost as good as an Audi and you get tons of tech and way more performance than previous gen for not much more money.
At any rate there are just so many great cars out there right now for enthusiasts. FT86, WRX/STI, Evo (at least for another month or so), GTI/R, new MX-5, FIST, FOST, FOST RS very soon, new Mustang, new Camaro, Genesis Coupe will be redone, upcoming Fiat Spider, etc, etc. I mean so many options for somebody in the $25-38K price range and the performance is ridiculous. The limits on these cars keep getting higher. My Golf R is just ridiculous in terms of features, tech, and performance for the money.
Great time to be an enthusiast.