What vehicle do you drive?

lurkingdirk said:

I guess I should qualify my statement. No car that I ever buy is going to be a positive gain asset. I'm never going to spend six digits on a vehicle, and I'm not jazzed about collecting rare or performance cars. So whatever I buy is going to depreciate immediately.

Now, to some of the other comments, in May I bought a brand new Ford Ranger. It was almost $8k cheaper than all the used vehicles I was finding. I'm told this is just because of the vehicle shortage right now, and it will sort itself out soon. Whatever. I bought a brand new vehicle for the first time in my life because it was cheaper than used ones.

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I don't know man, Geo Metro's are coming up in price again

I got >< this close to buying a Testarossa for €50k 12 years ago, they're 2-3 times that now easily. Still kicking myself over that one.

Fucker said:

The whole car market is nuts right now.

Sorted 328's bringing solid cash. 360-430-458 also solid increases in just a few years....for prime examples only to be sure. If you told me 3 years ago that a low miles no stories 430 Spider could bag $325k I would have had you thrown in the looney bin.

For sure not huge increases overall, but enough to take notice.

911 market is off the hinges right now.

Special edition Ferrari also off the charts. Pista, too..... bringing WAY more cash than original transaction.

I had a DD quality used 550. Bought at $140, sold at $140. Today...worth...$140.

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It really is... My 2018 BMW M3 had an MSRP of 96k and I paid 85k (individual 1 of 16 for the exterior color) . There is a similar used one with a lower base MSRP but listed at 83k right now. Basically the market is at a point where the asking price could easily be higher or equal to the original invoice price. It's very tempting to let go of a more unique car(dealership employees take pictures when they sees 100s of cars come through each day) to nearly break even. I don't know how much this relates to other car makes/models, but having bought another new car this month I think part of the reason for this discrepancy is that newer cars actually are coming with less features than older cars. I currently own 4 BMWs and that is is my primary expertise for recent trends. One of the things that are removed from some current models are touch screen functionality. As someone that uses carplay/android auto with things like Waze/Spotify/Audiable, I can appreciate this is a huge downgrade. Also removed is Wi-Fi hotspot and wireless charging in some recent models along with some of the premium sound system options. To some buyers this may not be important, but to other I can understand it is and they are willing to buy a used car in order to have this functionality where they can't get it in a new car.

Burren said:

Love your style, man.

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I didn't know you were in Texas.I thought you were across the pond or Canada.

Hekotat said:

I didn't know you were in Texas.I thought you were across the pond or Canada.

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Eagle eyes, god damn.

Actually a lot of us here are Texans. I was a little surprised myself.

Any experience with salvage cars other than avoid them usually do to unknown? I would never consider it but it's a 3rd car for inclement weather, only bonus was if it's utility like a truck.

Ordered a maverick at 30k, but perishing local stuff for something cheaper i can live with as a snow car. Can't help but wonder how bad this could be when i can at least see the salvage photos.

Sludig said:

Any experience with salvage cars other than avoid them usually do to unknown? I would never consider it but it's a 3rd car for inclement weather, only bonus was if it's utility like a truck.

Ordered a maverick at 30k, but perishing local stuff for something cheaper i can live with as a snow car. Can't help but wonder how bad this could be when i can at least see the salvage photos.

https://en.bidfax.info/subaru/impreza/10658136-subaru-impreza-limited-2016-silver-20l-4-vin-jf1gjan69gh004161.html

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The chance of getting a water damaged car, on a blind salvage purchase is too high, imo. Search for "flood damaged car issues" and a bunch of stuff comes up on what too look for/problems (Example: Consumer Reports Article)

So one would really need an accident report or some kind of 3rd party confirmation of what the damage was.

Frame damaged cars can have issues too, but at least the engine/computer should start and run fine (to get you around when salts and shit is all over the road). When you are looking at 10k+ vehicles, it may be worth finding a mechanic to do a full inspection on it, before purchase.

Burns said:

The chance of getting a water damaged car, on a blind salvage purchase is too high, imo. Search for "flood damaged car issues" and a bunch of stuff comes up on what too look for/problems (Example: Consumer Reports Article)

So one would really need an accident report or some kind of 3rd party confirmation of what the damage was.

Frame damaged cars can have issues too, but at least the engine/computer should start and run fine (to get you around when salts and shit is all over the road). When you are looking at 10k+ vehicles, it may be worth finding a mechanic to do a full inspection on it, before purchase.

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I agree though this particular one i found the wrecked photos.


We've beat the horse to death, but still depressing seeing anything at our under 20k awd/4w being either 150k miles or a salvage.
Cosmetics don't matter for a blizzard car, but I hate trying to find a beater that isn't pre fucked up. Part of why I usually buy near new still under warranty then run the car down myself.

Sludig said:

I agree though this particular one i found the wrecked photos.


We've beat the horse to death, but still depressing seeing anything at our under 20k awd/4w being either 150k miles or a salvage.
Cosmetics don't matter for a blizzard car, but I hate trying to find a beater that isn't pre fucked up. Part of why I usually buy near new still under warranty then run the car down myself.

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Do you live near a big city? You could try to find some government auctions for old .gov cars and civil forfeitures (Example: City of Denver has 204 cars on auction, right now (Direct Link)).

I feel bad for all the car aficionados that have to go through all the salt damage, like that. I like the cold and the snow, but I will never miss all the vehicle bullshit of living up north. Salvaged cars would be mighty tempting in such situations (in this market, even more so) since older vehicles will have more salt damage, regardless. So you are probably looking at trouble, one way or another.

Not very auction savvy though recently did look at a smaller city auction. Was looking at a police taurus interceptor though it was missing rear seats and torn up. The 3 other ones all had blown water pumps so i got skittish.

Sludig said:

Not very auction savvy though recently did look at a smaller city auction. Was looking at a police taurus interceptor though it was missing rear seats and torn up. The 3 other ones all had blown water pumps so i got skittish.

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It is defiantly a roll of the dice, moreso on a blind purchase of the seized/abandoned cars. With gov cars, you can generally assume that they have a bunch of idle time but they generally have been kept up on maintenance (unless it's a cash strapped (D) city that underfunds their motorpool).

Unfortunately, it might take some time and a bunch of auction watching to get a good handle on. In this market, who know how long it would take to find a "good" deal.

Looking over that Denver auction, there are actually a few decent looking vehicles, but I am sure they will go high.

Lol ya i scrolled thru. The jeep was a riot but already up to 23k. As stand out as it is id have to worry about the guys crew jumping me maybe lol.

I actually thought about the jag as a second beater jag. If it was awd I would have maybe gambled.

Ya, avoid salvage at all costs.

High miles is OK if it has been taken care of and is a Toyota or something.

Sludig , regarding salvage cars, I would say you really have to do your due diligence. In general I would advise against it, but I do want to share a good salvage story.

When my stepdaughter was looking to get her first car, we went to the local auto fair to buy her one. We found a Toyota Corolla with like 10,000 miles on it, but it was a salvage title. We were able to drive it, the guy who sold it told us he was a mechanic that would routinely buy salvage cars and restore them. Anyways, the car ran fine when we test drove it, the car was $6,000 which was dirt cheap for a used Corolla with low miles.

I ended up rolling the dice and bought her the car. She drove that car for 15 years and put over 100,000 miles on it. So my ROI was excellent.

I would say when it comes to salvaged cars you just have to be extra vigilant, be sure to test drive and get a feel for the car and make sure the price on it is good enough where if it does turn out to be a lemon you don't have a lot of regret.