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I was going to reply to another thread on Values but my reply kind of got off track of that thread and thought it might make for a thread of its own.
Unfortunately as with many things, the second they are not new, the value goes down.
There is a popular youtuber that discusses the value of a used Ferrari vs new Corvette. He suggests the Ferrari will hold it's value. His example is a 2004 Ferrari 360. Claims you can buy it in the $65K range and drive it for 5 years and sell it for $65K and not take a loss. He continues with if you buy a new Corvette in 5 years it will be worth a fraction of the price.
On the surface it sounds good. What I found after watching more of his videos is while the value of the Ferrari may not go down the cost of maintenance it huge. He documents thousands of dollars of repairs including tune ups, replacing the door handles regularly, windshields and more. All on a car with 50K miles on it. At that rate it will cost more to keep the car running to 100K miles than a Corvette costs! And really we are talking about a 13 year old used car vs newer technology on a brand new car.
To get the "Value" out of a Corvette I am sold on driving the crap out of it knowing it will not cost me 100% of its initial value to keep it running. At 100K miles I'll consider trading it or selling outright for the going cost and starting over. OR driving it another 100K miles (my old vette has 240K miles on it).
The Corvette is a steal vs the Ferrari in cost, value, reliability and long term ownership. Unfortunately in the short term the Corvette takes a big hit making it difficult to own and trade every other year unless the cost is irrelevant to you.
If you do the math on what he states in his videos, the Corvette is a huge value over the Ferrari. If I remember correctly he talks about a clutch job costing $2500 and it needing to be done every 15K miles. He also makes comments like "only cost about $300 a month in maintenance".
What are you thoughts??
If you actually want to see what I was talking about ......
I own both a Corvette and a Ferrari. I've been driving Corvettes for 26 years as daily drivers, amassing more than 600,000 miles in several different Corvette platforms. (C1, C4, C5, C6, and now C7.)
I split the DD duties between the Ferrari and the Corvette. I drive both cars a lot. Iin fact, just got back from a 1,600 mile road trip in the F-car to Santa Fe, Taos, Los Alamos, Albuquerque, and several other towns around New Mexico - I live NE of Dallas.
I wanted a Ferrari from the time I was 12 - I finally got one at age 71. I'm now 75.
I paid $46,900 for my used Ferrari three years ago. I put $20K into it because it sat for a long time and seals and hoses and such dried out - I also had all the systems gone through because I wanted a car I could drive daily if I wanted to. So, I have, about, $70K into the Ferrari. I've turned down $85K twice and that was a year ago. Today I could likely sell the car for close to $100K - yes, even though I'm driving it. I put about 10,000 miles a year on the Ferrari and put about 15K per year on my C7.
The C7 is faster than the Ferrari, has more trunk room, gets better gas mileage, repairs to the Vette are reasonable compared to the F-car - there's little to criticize on the C7... but until I go to Track mode the Ferrari out handles the C7 and the Ferrari is 28-years old - the Ferrari is another world entirely.
I did not buy the Ferrari to make a profit on. I bought it to drive.
Ferrari began building cars in 1947. Since then they have built about 200,000 cars total.
C7 production numbers for 2014, 2015, and 2016 number more than 110,000 Corvettes built in those three model years.
My particular Ferrari was the 76,514th car to roll out of the factory. It is one of but 1,344 328 GTB models to be made total. Approximately 130 of the "B" model cars came to the United States, and it is but one of two in the silver exterior/red interior color combination shipped here.
Ferrari ownership is more than just saying, "Look at me! I've got a Ferrari!" It's about a cachet of ownership of something rather special - almost unique. Many people go through their entire lives and never see a Ferrari unless it's on television or in a movie - there just aren't that many of them in the world.
Where ever I go people want to shoot photos, talk to me about it - women, children, men, young old, and those in-between stop to talk about the car.... the Ferrari gets much more attention than the C7 - though the Stingray certainly gets its share of praise.
I'm not a rich guy - I've been a working stiff my whole life. I'm a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer (journalist) and retired magazine editor.
I'm just one of those guys who has loved cars all his life..... and is lucky enough to be able to walk out to the carport and ask myself, "Do I drive the fun car? Or do I drive the fun car?"
Rob is in the business of moving Ferrari's and other exotics. He will obviously try to market his product.
Obviously when comparing new to new, an exotic will kick the C7's ***, but for the same price range, the C7 is light years ahead of a "used" Ferarri/Lambo (build quality, interior, other creature comforts). Even a fully loaded 3LT Z51 running at about 80k will do circles around a 2007 Gallardo in the 85-90k range.
Only thing the "super car" will hold advantage over is its "prestige" and the initial wow factor of being able to claim you "own one." You can check out "thestradman" on youtube who reviews his used lambo and documents all the problems it has.
He also makes comments like "only cost about $300 a month in maintenance". Perhaps true since no doubt most Ferrari owners probably drive very little!
What are you thoughts??
Your post reminded me of a car buff friend who could easily afford to buy the most expensive Ferrari. He arrived at a meeting we were attending with a new Porsche. I told him I expected he would be driving a Ferrari (he had an ~8 million dollar bonus that year - published info from their annual report.)
He said he wanted something I could rely on to run! When I look at high retained value Ferrari's selling at Barrett Jackson etc, they all have very low mileage! Ones with high mileage don't do very well!! The maintenance required as the mileage increases gets very expensive.
$300/month probably reflects low mileage use!
I typically sell my 4 to 5 year old Vette's and get a good price!
In the second video he claims to have driven the car 8,000 miles and has put in $8,000 in 2.5 years. $1/mile for maintenance. He even says "I drive this car." 9 miles a day is wearing it out.
Decades back, I owned 2 Lamborghinis that I purchased and, many years later, sold for pretty much the same prices. I drove each of them fewer than 10K miles. So, that kind of lack of depreciation speaks for the ownership of an exotic. But...
That means that you have to purchase that exotic at a very advantageous price. That is not going to be likely in today's price-inflated, over-priced environments. It also means that nothing should break on the exotic during your ownership. Try pricing a Ferrari or Lamborghini engine or drivetrain.
Yes, if things work out in your favor, purchasing and driving an exotic could be less expensive than driving a Vette. However, if issues arise... the sky is the limit in expenses. Roll the dice... :-).
I suppose exotics follow the old "pay to play" mantra. Clearly a matter of brand, which Ferrari has meticulously cultivated over its many years, combining race technology and luxury.
I always find it ironic how such pricey cars, as amazing as they are, cost so much to maintain, but worse, show limited reliability. For the cost of a house (your real-estate may vary), I'd want my investment near bullet-proof and I should be able to drive it as much as I want without worrying so much about holding value.
I was researching a 599 GTB (my all time favorite) and even one advertised at 50K miles (2007my) is asking around 130K, yowza!
Decades back, I owned 2 Lamborghinis that I purchased and, many years later, sold for pretty much the same prices. I drove each of them fewer than 10K miles. So, that kind of lack of depreciation speaks for the ownership of an exotic. But...
That means that you have to purchase that exotic at a very advantageous price. That is not going to be likely in today's price-inflated, over-priced environments. It also means that nothing should break on the exotic during your ownership. Try pricing a Ferrari or Lamborghini engine or drivetrain.
Yes, if things work out in your favor, purchasing and driving an exotic could be less expensive than driving a Vette. However, if issues arise... the sky is the limit in expenses. Roll the dice... :-).
what everybody seems to forget is that a Corvette you can drive everyday 365 (pretty much) and you wouldn't worry, try that with a Ferrari without feeling bad. I can put 50k kms on my C7 with minimum maintenance and not bat an eye, can you do that with any Ferrari, used or otherwise? I think you need to have a lot of disposable income to afford some exotics whether they are a good buy or not.
Seems like kind of a crazy comparison to me. You have to be much more wealthy, and have much more spare cash, to drive a used exotic than you do to drive a new Corvette or the like. And due to the maintenance issues with an older exotic, you've got to have time to deal with schlepping it to a shop, and picking it up from a shop, and you've also got to have the stomach for parting with lots of cash every time it goes in. Even if an older exotic wins the depreciation battle, I net most of the time the value is offset by the costs and hassle of maintenance.
It is my understanding that values on exotics drop drastically after 5k miles. For some reason, a Ferrari with 3500 miles is OK to buy as having low mileage but 6000 or so miles is no longer considered as next to new.
I own both a Corvette and a Ferrari. I've been driving Corvettes for 26 years as daily drivers, amassing more than 600,000 miles in several different Corvette platforms. (C1, C4, C5, C6, and now C7.)
I split the DD duties between the Ferrari and the Corvette. I drive both cars a lot. Iin fact, just got back from a 1,600 mile road trip in the F-car to Santa Fe, Taos, Los Alamos, Albuquerque, and several other towns around New Mexico - I live NE of Dallas.
I wanted a Ferrari from the time I was 12 - I finally got one at age 71. I'm now 75.
I paid $46,900 for my used Ferrari three years ago. I put $20K into it because it sat for a long time and seals and hoses and such dried out - I also had all the systems gone through because I wanted a car I could drive daily if I wanted to. So, I have, about, $70K into the Ferrari. I've turned down $85K twice and that was a year ago. Today I could likely sell the car for close to $100K - yes, even though I'm driving it. I put about 10,000 miles a year on the Ferrari and put about 15K per year on my C7.
The C7 is faster than the Ferrari, has more trunk room, gets better gas mileage, repairs to the Vette are reasonable compared to the F-car - there's little to criticize on the C7... but until I go to Track mode the Ferrari out handles the C7 and the Ferrari is 28-years old - the Ferrari is another world entirely.
I did not buy the Ferrari to make a profit on. I bought it to drive.
Ferrari began building cars in 1947. Since then they have built about 200,000 cars total.
C7 production numbers for 2014, 2015, and 2016 number more than 110,000 Corvettes built in those three model years.
My particular Ferrari was the 76,514th car to roll out of the factory. It is one of but 1,344 328 GTB models to be made total. Approximately 130 of the "B" model cars came to the United States, and it is but one of two in the silver exterior/red interior color combination shipped here.
Ferrari ownership is more than just saying, "Look at me! I've got a Ferrari!" It's about a cachet of ownership of something rather special - almost unique. Many people go through their entire lives and never see a Ferrari unless it's on television or in a movie - there just aren't that many of them in the world.
Where ever I go people want to shoot photos, talk to me about it - women, children, men, young old, and those in-between stop to talk about the car.... the Ferrari gets much more attention than the C7 - though the Stingray certainly gets its share of praise.
I'm not a rich guy - I've been a working stiff my whole life. I'm a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer (journalist) and retired magazine editor.
I'm just one of those guys who has loved cars all his life..... and is lucky enough to be able to walk out to the carport and ask myself, "Do I drive the fun car? Or do I drive the fun car?"
Last edited by 4thC4at60; 10-26-2016 at 01:45 AM.
Reason: Clarification
I had a 2007 F430 for two years. Lots of fun but not the best car to own in my area. If I lived in south FL I'd probably still own it. It was one of those itches that needed to be scratched. I put a little over 5K miles on it in the two years I had it. I put $10K worth of mods into it and $7K in maintenance. I would switch between the C6 and the F430. Both cars had their own special place. The Ferrari obviously attracted more attention some of which I could have done without but as was mentioned some people go through life never seeing one in person. It is true that mileage affects resale. The big drop occurs at 20K on newer models. I bought mine with 8K and traded it with 13K. I lost about $14K in two years but it was worth it.
I traded it in Feb of this year for a 2016 Jaguar F Type R convertible. I picked up a new 2017 Z06 coupe over the weekend. Now I can switch between the Jag, the C6, and the Z06.
I do miss the Ferrari and may own one again some day. The next one will be a 12 cyl front engine car (599 or F12).
Many years ago when I was in high school and the Lamborghini Countach was the hottest car I remember having a conversation that went something like this....
friend - "who would spend $200,000 on a car"
me - "someone with nothing better to do with $200,000"
If I had nothing better to do with $100K, I'd probably own a Ferrari. However since I don't I had to have something that would go the distance without breaking the bank. Considering the deprecation of the Corvette, I feel it will be a great value and cost less in the long run.
It's good hearing the real life stories of the Ferrari's above and the positive experiences. The 328 GTB looks amazing as does the F430. Maybe someday I'll get there. Until then I'll love driving the C7 and not worry about a 3rd job to maintain it.
It really depends on the model of Ferrari. I don't remember which was which, but I was researching this very topic by reading within the Ferrari forums. Turns out some need major belt service, clutch service, valve service etc, while at least one model did not. Wish I knew which one. But the more reliable one was actually reasonable to own (considering). Still, these are high strung cars that are designed to achieve a particular goal, and low cost of ownership is not taken into consideration by the designers. They want a car that drives, feels, sounds a particular way, no matter what has to happen to make a car like that.
I looked at Ferrari when I was buying my c6z years back. The giant performance gap was too much for me to get over let alone the maintanence that's crazy expensive.
This is a very interesting thread to me, a guy who needed to save years to buy my dream car. Truly a glimpse into another world! I was never much for amassing things such as cars, fancy homes etc, etc. I feel fortunate I could own this, a car much more beautiful than any of those Lambos or Ferraris, IMHO.
Using the 599 as an example; on paper at least, the GS trumps the Ferrari in every performance metric except top speed (180 vs. 205). Now the 599 to me is a work of art, front engine, and the interior, even for 2007, is amazing. I think it's difficult for some people to accept name over performance; when you say Ferrari, their eyes glaze over, when you say Corvette, they look perplexed.
10-25-2016, 11:48 AM
Cost vs value, used Ferrari vs new Corvette
