Where are you located? Are saying 45k dollars or pounds? Have you priced an R8 local to you?

 

Welcome to this great forum.

Oooh. How I hate to see the word investment applied to virtually any car purchase. Sure there a several amazing examples to prove me wrong, but there are thousands of examples telling you otherwise. While I love my R8, and personally* believe I own a near unicorn, I’m not foolish enough to think I see my car going up in value anytime soon. I may have (at best) a car that will have more marketability down the road.
Unless you are trolling, you have not done much if any research. $45K does not get you anything you’d want to own, or certainly doesn’t entertain the word investment.
Good luck, or......thanks for the troll! Good one.

 

45k
I am eating popcorn and waiting.

 

Move over, I'm joining. Love the "investment" talk when said buyer wants to buy the cheapest possible example out there.

 

Maybe he's been reading this: https://www.goodwood.com/grrc/colum...-trent/2017/7/Dan-Trent-The-Audi-R8-V10-manual-is-a-future-investment-supercar/

 

Ha, that is literally my car. I bought it from Pescara a few months before this article came out and about a year before the father and son that ran Pescara disappeared after stealing £2m worth of cars they had on SOR...

 

The OP is obviously from the UK. R8 prices have plumbed significantly for the past months possibly due to the whole Brexit situation.

Tips for new members: Please don't forget to put down your location to prevent confusion.

 

This rule of thumb applies to most cars; not just R8's...the cheapest example today will likely be the cheapest example when it comes time for you to sell. The cars that get the highest prices have limited production (so maybe the GT would qualify), are in pristine condition, and have significantly lower than normal miles. While others may disagree with me, I don't see the R8 experiencing high appreciation even 20 years down the road. Too many made and likely too many will still be in circulation by then.

 

I'll respectfully disagree.

Manual R8s were not made in high numbers and when you get down to V10s, Face lifted V10s [2014/15], and V10 Plus models, those dwindle down to figures that would make some of the rarest Porsche's appear as common as Sunny Day.

 

I've posted this before on another topic on here but I agree with the link to the Dan Trent piece. I think a low mileage manual v10 series one is a good place to put ya money.

 

Being an avid watcher of Mecum here in the US, I noticed that outside of limited production models, features such as manual vs. auto have less impact on value than say "first production year of...". As an example, the Corvette coupe that fetches the highest price is the split window 1963 coupe. That was the first production year Chevy made a Corvette coupe and the only year the coupe had a split rear window. Using that logic, a first production year R8 would be worth more than say a manual 2011 R8. Also part of the equation is the cult following of a car. Corvettes, Mustangs and 911's, while produced in large quantities over time, have huge followings that positively affect the value of older model cars. I'm not sure how large of a following the R8 has. Just one man's opinion.

 

What you're referencing is true with many older cars, but that is not the case with most modern cars. Case in point, the saying "if the top goes down the price goes up" does not apply with many modern cars in which the Coupe variant fetches far more money than the convertible variant.

 

Like others have commented, the OP may be located in the UK and his figure is in Pounds, which could make sense for a higher mileage V8.

In any case, as others have correctly stated, using the word "investment" in combination with a car purchase is usually a gamble. If you're intent on owning the car to enjoy it, and you have a suspicion it may also pay off down the road, so be it. But I'd certainly avoiding buying a car simply because you think it'll appreciate - or if you DO, make sure it's the equivalent of speculation funds you might also be using to buy something like a speculative stock.

Fact is, speculation does have a place in a portfolio, but most people don't tend to be disciplined about it. Let's say you have a $2M portfolio, and you're going to speculate with 5% of it - well, then spending $100k on a car you hope will appreciate down the road could suffice. But just make sure you remain disciplined that you've now MADE that speculative investment, and the remaining 95% should be invested in a more sound way.

But back to the R8. Personally, I do believe we'll see the R8 go up in value. There are a dozen reasons why I believe this... but I'm not counting on it. In fact, if it ever went up SIGNIFICANTLY in value, it would be a bit disheartening as (a) I'd probably feel bad about it driving it as much, and (b) it might force me to re-think whether I'd hold onto it indefinitely... my current plan. But my own personal forecast is that we'll likely see moderate appreciation. It's a first supercar from Audi, historically important racing heritage and pedigree, soon-to-be extinct large NA high-revving engine, etc, etc. Again, I won't go into all of the reasons for my belief, but suffice it to say there's more than a few. I wouldn't be surprised to see R8's trading at 0.8x - 1.2x original MSRP within the next decade. There's also the possibility we could see that go considerably higher depending upon other forces - such as how quickly electrification takes off, how quickly other NA engines die off, the larger world economy, etc.

As far as "investment" goes, though, I'd put a dollar into the S&P 500 any day of the week before putting a dollar into an R8 (or almost ANY other car). Even some of the most impressively appreciating cars struggled to beat the S&P 500 (and usually didn't). So, the most you can probably hope for is a situation where you get to drive a fantastic car for free... or while even seeing your car's value go up a bit. But all things considered, it'll be rare to ever wake up and say, "Wow, that car really whipped the S&P!"

 

X2 @Barefoot, A clean titled V10 with a manual is the safest bet if I had to make one.

 

The only return on your car investment that you can count on is the pleasure you derive from using and enjoying it. Any other return is highly speculative and foolish.

 

The problem I see with the r8 being an investment in the future is EVERYONE is talking about them being an investment, especially the gated 6s. Nobody knows which car will bring a crazy 10x return on investment 10 or 20 years from now unless that car is a limited edition ferrari or has a crazy following like porsche...

Watch a low mile R-tronic v8 in stock be worth more than a v10 manual just due to the fact that everyone overlooked it.

 

Be interesting and surprising to see that. Looking at Autotrader UK:

- 93 V8's for sale and 58% of them are R-tronic
- 88 v10's for sale, 11% of them are manuals

 

Interesting statistic from Webmotors Brasil.... 46 R8's for sale..... NO MANUALS!!!!!!! cheapest is £66k for a 2009 V8 and the most expensive a 2018 V10 Spyder for £247k !!!

 

2018 V10 Spyder for £247k !!!

Blimey that’s an insane amount of money! Could get a brand new Performance Parts R8 in the UK for only £187k...

 

I've never bought a car and thought about it as an investment. Whatever it is, it will not likely produce anything in my lifetime. Even if you stepped in crap and bought something that turned out to be highly sought after 30 years later, it still has to be maintained. It would also be nice to enjoy my "investment" and drive it once in a while. If you really want a great investment, buy a boat.

 

If you really want a great investment, buy a boat.

LOL!
Your sarcasm isn't wasted on me.

BOAT = bust out another thousand, a hole in the water you pour money into, the two happiest days, etc. etc.

 

Forget appreciation of value
If i can drive my car another 5-6 years and sell it back for 50K
I would be insanely happy

 

This is my expectation as well. Bought for $85k. Drive for 6 years. Sell for $50k.

BUT if you keep it for 12 years, it might even come up in value. I think they will "go lower before they go higher". I'm thinking the old NSX value curve. I think the R8 will follow that curve.

 

LOL! Too true!
You only have to experience those two days once.

 

I am going to go on the back of some of the comments on this forum and my thoughts as well. Especially when you look at the 911's it was the first year first generation models which appreciated greatly. The fact the first generation Audi R8 ticks so many check marks on must have's and classic features, I really think in 4 to 5 years these will begin to appreciate in value.

I had to make a video talking more in depth about it and to put my thoughts out there for these cars

 

Nice work! All points were spot on.

 

I'm 100% in agreement with this video opinion.

 

Being a realist I can only hope what Sonduren states in his video becomes well, er, a reality. I did not have the money to buy the V10 manual when I went shopping but while I love my high revving V8, 6 speed I too believe the one to own for the future will be a highly optioned V10, 6 speed. The market is fickle and moves to its own beat. Look at the recent increase in interest in the 90's Toyota Supra. Not many spoke of it becoming a sought after car. Its not quite gotten in the highly collectible league as yet but its certainly got a foot hold.

I put about 4K-5K miles on my car each year and every minute behind the wheel is a thrill. I'm an enthusiast like so many others and I hope that future enthusiasts will be willing to pay for an "old school" thrill but I'm not banking or betting my financial future on it.

Drive it and enjoy it. If it goes up in value great, but if not then think of the fun you're having!

 

I owned a nsx for 10 years and I can see gen 1 R8 following the same appreciation curve in a few years. Just my opinion

 

jvong2, I agree. At least I hope so...

Just having a little fun as I look at the thermometer reading 14 degF outside. A heatwave compared to yesterday. This downtime for some of us also gives me time to think about what I'd like to do next to the car. While I do miss driving it, I also somewhat like the fact that I don't drive it all year round. Keeps it special and I look forward to the Spring.

CharlieNJ, where in NJ?

 

Just having a little fun as I look at the thermometer reading 14 degF outside. A heatwave compared to yesterday. This downtime for some of us also gives me time to think about what I'd like to do next to the car. While I do miss driving it, I also somewhat like the fact that I don't drive it all year round. Keeps it special and I look forward to the Spring.

 

This is my first winter with an R8, it is also the longest winter I've ever experienced in my life and it's not even halfway over yet (weather wise).

 

Another Jersey guy here! Glad to see others that feel my pain of cold and ****ty roads.

 

I'm thinking the manuals will appreciate better. It's similar to the E46 M3. yes they made many but a clean low mileage manual went up in value. The v10 manual wil likely have a better appreciation curve. All speculation.

 

This is my first post, but I've been reading for a while so I decided to register.

I picked up my V10 Competition in September of 2018. It had a little under 6,000 miles. I paid what I thought was a very favorable price considering I'd been following the market for years. I put over 1500 miles on the car in the following month before the snow came down. I do not drive my cars in the winter, so it's a fair weather car.

All things considered, I did not buy it as a garage queen to go to one car show a year, but the value of the car is still there. Any naturally aspitrated car is going to hold it's value fairly strong when it's a somewhat low production car.

I do think that the Gen 1 R8, regardless of transmission, is going to hold value and creep up eventually. Not sure of timeframe, but it will.

My best advice is the put the miles on it, enjoy it, and that's going to be more worthwhile than any resale value in the years to come.

 

Welcome to the forum and fantastic first post.

 

i just paid £55k for a v10 spyder, manual with 23k miles. Im now too scared to drive it hahaha