On Depreciation: Where?s Your Sports-Car Sweet Spot"
An affordable sports car almost sounds like an oxymoron, like fast traffic or entry-level luxury. Behind those zero-to-60-mph time and skidpad ratings, there’s an equally body-shaking reversal that takes place over just a few years: the cost to buy that same sports car. In some cases, the market value of a no-holds-barred daily driver can decline almost 80 percent in just four years. I always tell folks that speed can be hazardous to your health and your wealth. But sometimes that’s not quite true. When the smoke clears, and the depreciation curve flattens out to a slow-dipping straightaway, that’s when you can aim straight for what I call the sports-car sweet spot.
It’s an amazing period, between the time a car sells new and when its second owner takes over, when the operating cost declines to just nickels and dimes. Depreciation is not unique to sports cars. A new-in-the-wrapper Audi A8L cost about $84,000 in 2011. That didn?t include all the options you could get on this 372-hp all-wheel-drive powerhouse. That Audi A8L has since depreciated down to $28,025, according to Black Book?s valuation for a clean example at retail as of September 14. Some primo cars, like the BMW 760Li, can go for a seven-year bender of depreciation hell and post a six-figure loss in value: the 2010 BMW 760Li we tested cost about $137,000 when new, and Black Book estimates its current retail value at $29,925. So there is a steep cliff of depreciation for nearly any new...
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