Starting to get a mid life Aero itch and the need for speed as Tom Cruise used to say - or was it Charlie Sheen?
Anyway, while the Plus 4 seems to be retaining its value with retail prices for similar 2010 models about the same as I paid, wondered about a nearly new Aero at say £95k or £100k.
We all know cars can lose money, but it would be nice not to take a £10k or £20k hit.
Think older Aeros are trending around their initial purchase price (not sure) but just been reading one of the classic car mags featuring Morgan history (check it out at the newsagent).
On the Aero page - the journo was talking up the early series prices.
Wondered if, with a limited (100 is it?) model run, depreciation risk might be minimal although a 911 R bump would be nice thank you very much.
Also running cost - thinking £530 tax + £600 ins + £600 service (guestimate) on 3000 mile p.a.
Also, is it one year warranty or three?
On a car round the 100k mark a dealer would be looking for a gross margin of 15k so even if you bought today and sold back tomorrow you would lose that much plus the depreciation of turning a new car into a used car. The old rule used to be that you lose the car tax and vat as you drive out of the showroom.
So you are in effect hoping that second hand prices will rise to compensate for these losses. As Eddie from Aberdeen points out, no one knows. Alistair reckons they will go up - ask hi if he will guarantee this.
Nor is rarity any sort of guarantee. There are lots of rare cars that arent worth a lot yet the likes of the E type or big Healey never were rare.
My conclusion, having gone this way recently, is that you need to be able to mentally write off the car money wise the moment you buy it. You spend 100k - anything you get back is lucky. If the 100k is most or even a significant part of your spare cash, dont go down that route.
A Ferrari isnt an Aero and vice versa but I dont think that the costs will be wildly different so I have sent you some details by email / pm. For your eyes only please.
Final comment. I always found at work that people asked to forecast the next year or two simply forecasts based on the last year or two. If times were good, the future would be good. If we were in bad times, so the future would be bad. The danger here is that because prices for "special" cars have been rising strongly, people believe they will do so in future. But thats not the real world. A pal with a Ferrari 328 bought it a few years ago for 20k and now sees them advertised at 80k. Another pal has an AC Aceca which he believes is worth 300k and an XK150 for similar money. To me that is bubble territory and bubbles burst. What no one can tell you is when they will burst.
