Appreciation/Depreciation and Advice?

This above. I was the sole Ferrari at our "911 society" (I also go out with them in my 997) and we were out on a drive. Guys with the 991 turbos and 992 were conspicuously tight lipped. When we pulled into our designation to walk around in the park, a state police officer pulled in behind us... he "just wanted to see the Ferrari because he's never seen one before". All the 911 crowd laughed. (He didn't give any of the later PCars a glance) I've experienced a little too much of the "The PORSCHE is mine! Please don't touch it.. I just had it ceramic coated!" Dude. It's a Gen 1 Boxster.
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I like Lamborghini people even more if the parties they throw are any indication. I love Ferrari events of course, but I always have a great time at Lambo events too. They've always felt like an even more relaxed crowd.

 

Great picture....I love our State Troopers...heck, I love LOUISIANA State Troopers...LOL!

All of them hiding in the trees west of Port Allen, I see you!!!

 

This trooper was a really nice guy. Totally chilled, conversive, etc. Had a nice time showing the car..

 

I have several hacks that I employ to counter the effects of depreciation on the psyche. Ultimately, even people who have money (or maybe especially people who have money) don’t want to incinerate cash unnecessarily. One of my work arounds for depreciation is every month I take a sum of money and devote it to a car fund. I treat the fund as fungible resources. Discretionary in the sense that a vacation is a sunk cost expenditure. The money in this car fund is treated as being gone forever as soon as it hits the account. That works well for me.

Another key hack for me, is I take more of a “buy and hold” approach. When I bought my 812, I spec’d it new, waited the 20 months, and plan to enjoy it over the next 20 years. That long ownership horizon lessons the depreciation blow. I bought my Huracan Performante new also, and intend to enjoy that car effectively forever as well. Indeed, if you don’t sell the car, you never technically realize the depreciation.

Lastly, of late, I have “found my lane” car buying in that I am focusing exclusively on “end of era” type cars. My last two purchases probably present very little downside. In March, I added a 2005 Ford GT, and in May, I added a 2017 Dodge Viper. Neither car stand to drop in value precipitously like the 812 did and, to a lessor extent, like the Performante did. For me, electrification of cars have zero appeal, and frankly, I don’t need the cars to be any faster.

 

I don't know, the Lambo guys I've seen seem to be a little juvenile. Not that that's a bad thing.

 

That's the stereotype I heard myself. I decided to check it out myself by venturing out of the Ferrari Hospitality Suite and crashing the Lamborghini Paddock. A really fun group of folks. Perhaps it's a reflection of my own juvenile nature.



Cheers

 

My general rule of thumb for depreciation is that it WILL occur no matter what car I own. Even my 928. Bought it for $5500 in 1997, sold it in 2016 for like $2000. Gosh darn thing depreciated in value over that time. Boxster lost $15k, 911 lost like $20k.. Cayenne lost maybe $5k. Amazing. It WILL happen. For me its how much per year as a cost. Then figure how much vs. rental car and ownership always wins. Only car I actually MAKE money on is the 360. But bought it so depreciated as a 6-speed manual that I got lucky.

Lambo guys seem to just let it out and be yourself **** pretentiousness-be-that-16-year-old-kid kind of guy. I kind of like that..

 

I also use my car fund in this manner. I also make "fun" car purchases in cash....and I'm not rich by any standard.

I also subscribe to a HOLD philosophy......if I buy a car I want to sell after a year or two, I failed myself in selecting it.

My most important philosophy is to buy the most special car I can afford......for example, if I get a choice to buy either a 458 or a Scuderia......unless I just don't like a Scuderia, I buy that......I can't afford to lose a bunch of money, and a 2,500 production Scuderia is less likely to do that as oppposed to a 20,000 production 458. And at this point, the Scuderia has a good track record of retaining value over the past 8 years.

 

My experience with the Lamborghini community was very positive, guys let me drive their cars on multiple occasions and were very passionate about spending time with me.....I didn't get any of that from the Houston area Ferrari or Porsche crowd

 

Totally agree. Buying the right car is critical. If you know what you like, it’s not an experiment. I can honestly say that I am 99% as excited crawling into my Performante today as I was 30 months ago when I first acquired it. It brings me almost the identical joy now as it did then.

 

I accidentally crashed a Porsche party in 2000. I had just gotten married and we decided to go to Elkhart Lake, Wi to one of the resorts for a weekend getaway after our honeymoon. Because Elkhart is where Road America is, I made sure it wasn’t a race weekend. When we got there in the 365, I had to drive through the Porsches lined up on the street to get to the resort. To say I got a few nasty looks would be an understatement. The next day several of the older Porsche people came over to talk to me on the beach. By this point, my wife would have preferred that we had taken a different car. Still makes me laugh.
As to the depreciation question: buy what you like and keep it until you don’t. Sell it if it doesn’t bring you enough pleasure to justify the expense.

 

Maybe broadly speaking that's true. Based on my somewhat limited interactions with Rennlist members, that is certainly the case. Say anything the least bit wrong or contrary to prevailing P-car (e.g., 993 board) orthodoxy and your obvious ignorance is instantly impugned by the resident board know-it-alls. Not a very pleasant place to interact with like minded enthusiasts compared to this or other marque-specific forums I've frequented.

That said, my experience with my local PCA chapter has been very positive. All good people who just enjoy being around others who share their passion for cars and Porsches. Haven't really interacted yet with many FCA members or chapters outside of my local chapter (we're only a year old, but have an enthusiastic cadre of good people as our founding members), so haven't yet formed an opinion. Hope to soon, though.

 

Great post and similar to my thinking.
So far Ive done pretty well cost wise for my toys.
Better than break even.
I DID buy a depreciating 2018 Alfa Giulia Quadrofoglio as a daily driver and expect further depreciation but bought it used like new for < half MSRP.
I may drive it until the wheels fall off but have to so how reliable it is under the 2 yrs warranty left.