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Why is has the Gen 1 R8 market tanked over the last 6 months?

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18K views 104 replies 37 participants last post by  Highline-Autos.com  
I've always loved that question, "what's it worth?" as the answer is always "whatever someone is willing to pay for it".

I'm not sure all real wealthy buys who own gen 1 want a gen 2 though. I personally just don't like the look of the gen 2. I'm wasting my car money these days on fancy SUV's over getting a gen 2.

I'd still consider a black gen 1 2014-2015 unmodified v10 car with lower Mike's and diamond stitched seats, but have not seen one come up at a decent price. There is one in Boston McLaren but they want like 130k and fidelity warranty was like 10k on top of that. Seems stupid for a bit faster car with a bit lower miles than mine
I'm in that boat. I'm fortunate to be able to afford pretty much whatever I'd want to drive, but I'm really picky about cars. I need to love it. I've now had the R8 for about 9 years, and it's the longest I've ever owned any car. I enjoy and value it more today than when I bought it. While the Gen-2 has improved performance, I just didn't like the look of it when it came out. It's grown on me a bit more since, but it's never been a car I lusted after like the Gen-1.

What's going on with the market? I don't know, I honestly don't track it... aside from a periodic inspection for the sake of a thread like this. But this car is an icon, and time will serve it well. At some point, not far from now, I think you'll find a feeding frenzy because there just aren't many cars out there with 10 or 12 cylinders, naturally aspirated, high revving, in such a complete package... and many are just waking up to the fact that what's built is the end of the line. You'll have hybrid drivetrains for a short while (most with smaller displacement) and then soul-crushing electric.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't get hung up on the market. Be glad you own one and drive it. I enjoy mine every chance I get - which is less often than I'd like. Who knows what the future holds, but now's the time to enjoy it. It's not an investment, but a toy... track the stock market, but drive your R8.
 
I track actual investments nearly religiously - and by actual investments I mean equity markets, real estate, bond market, etc. But, despite being a "market" of its own, I've never gotten into tracking car markets. Perhaps it's simply because they're just not attractive investments. MOST will depreciate, but even those that do appreciate, they fail to even keep pace with the S&P. So, even collector quality cars aren't good investments... they just happen to let you own something that you enjoy without completely losing your shirt on it. But, even then, there's opportunity cost.

I said this years ago when I bought my R8 - I mentally wrote it off as $0 from day 1. Of course it has value, but I'm never going to track it. First, because I don't intend to sell it. But second, because it would be depressing. At the purchase price of $191k (what I roughly paid with taxes), I calculated that the same money simply left in an S&P 500 index would be worth about $2.5M by "normal retirement age" in my case. That's real opportunity cost. The R8 could double or triple in value - which would be amazing AND unlikely - but it still wouldn't hold a candle to what I would have lost simply by failing to invest that money.

So, in my case, I look at as "entertainment." After all, that's what the R8 is for me. It's not a daily driver, I don't need it, and it serves NO purpose other than to entertain. From THAT perspective, I can argue it's a great investment... it's provided numerous smile-filled experiences... but it's an investment in quality of life, not a quantifiable financial outcome. For actual financial investments, stick to equities, real estate, businesses, and other proven wealth building instruments!