Short term car ownership

rossyl · Jul 26, 2017

Hi All,

I realise for many that this might go against the norm and also part and parcel of owning a "supercar". However, I imagine some on here change cars frequently so would appreciate some views.

This won't involve any finance. Cars will only be bought with my money.
I owned a 4200, am now in a Vantage, so understand the costs associated with cars of this type.

So here's my thoughts....

Buy a supercar (I am counting my old Maser and current Vantage in that definition), that has been recently serviced. Sell it before it needs its next service.
For large duration of the short ownership, it will have a warranty (if bought from a car dealer)
As its not owned for very long, resale price should be fairly neutral (assuming i sell privately)
As its not owned for very long, large costs associated with ownership (paint work, big services etc) will not hit your pocket.

Thoughts?

Cheers
R

EDIT...

I suppose an example might help....
Gransports have gone up in value largely not down over the past 18 months.

Buy
Feb 2017 - Â£30k. 35,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine.

Sell
August 2017. Advertise Â£30k, sell for Â£29k. 37,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine.

?

Trev Latter · Jul 26, 2017

I'm not in a position to do what you're suggesting and that's not my buying profile anyway, but the one thing that jumps from your list above it the selling privately. It's always very easy to buy a car and seemingly more difficult to sell privately. Short ownership might put people off due to suspecting unhidden faults and wanting to dispose of quickly (easily put to bed with a PPI). Also, a car coming up due for a service won't sell as quickly 9or for as good a price) as one just done. It's one of the reasons we recommend the good guys like Dicky and Nuvola, who bring their cars right up to scratch so their customers have peace of mind.

Wack61 · Jul 26, 2017

You're in a difficult place for a private sale, most cars 10k up are bought on finance , something you can't offer plus a dealer is potentially liable if it goes bang even though many think they're not.

I think your short term ownership could be considerably more expensive than you think, a car bought from a dealer would have to be at least 20% under in a private sale for me to be interested , especially a supercar

rossyl · Jul 26, 2017

I agree the selling process could take forever, so i'd have to be happy with any car I buy. I should therefore only buy cars I'd happily keep for years, but I should be doing that anyway.

With regard to service and Nuvola etc. I suppose that's the idea. Buy from someone who has prepped the car to perfection, drive it enjoying a well=prepped car, sell it before I need to do loads of up-keep and prep.

I'm not thinking that it will cost nothing to run. Also selling cars costs time and advertisement money.

rockits · Jul 26, 2017

What is the length of likely ownership and ballpark figure to own it for that duration? Why only short ownership?

Only really works for cheaper 10k cars I would suggest. Ones with longer 2 year service intervals are better and ones with good long consumables life. However that often isn't a supercar.

Going to be 5k+ I expect and not sure it makes much sense. Far too much risk in this category for a big bill unless you buy retail with warranty but then you are paying for this indirectly anyway.

A cheap Merc 211 E55 is a decent runner to buy for 6-8k & must be one of the fastest/cheapest most viable options.

rossyl · Jul 26, 2017

I suppose an example might help....
Gransports have gone up in value largely not down over the past 18 months.

Buy
Feb 2017 - Â£30k. 35,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine.

Sell
August 2017. Advertise Â£30k, sell for Â£29k. 37,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine.

?

D Walker · Jul 26, 2017

I would say Gran Sports have been mostly static while I have been watching them, the current stock, apart from RG have been for sale a while, also GT prices are falling across the board slowly apart from Strad.

One trend I have picked up on is some people run these cars for the 2 years, then they decide to sell through an Intermediary who brings the car up to scratch, however its the next potential owner who will be paying for it, not the so called conscientious previous owner.

DW

Contigo · Jul 26, 2017

rossyl said:
Hi All,

I realise for many that this might go against the norm and also part and parcel of owning a "supercar". However, I imagine some on here change cars frequently so would appreciate some views.

This won't involve any finance. Cars will only be bought with my money.
I owned a 4200, am now in a Vantage, so understand the costs associated with cars of this type.

So here's my thoughts....

Buy a supercar (I am counting my old Maser and current Vantage in that definition), that has been recently serviced. Sell it before it needs its next service.

For large duration of the short ownership, it will have a warranty (if bought from a car dealer)

As its not owned for very long, resale price should be fairly neutral (assuming i sell privately)

As its not owned for very long, large costs associated with ownership (paint work, big services etc) will not hit your pocket.

Thoughts?

Cheers
R

EDIT...

I suppose an example might help....
Gransports have gone up in value largely not down over the past 18 months.

Buy
Feb 2017 - Â£30k. 35,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine.

Sell
August 2017. Advertise Â£30k, sell for Â£29k. 37,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine.

?

Wait a minute you are describing my normal car buying habits. I tend to try to sell to make a little money though

The reality has been pointed out though, you pay a premium for the car from a dealer with a warranty (I know I did for my GTS) and then selling only say a year later you will drop quite a bit for the private sale unless there is a warranty remaining. It all depends on the car you buy, I might be luck to get somewhere near what I paid 18 months ago for mine as it has had new clutch, variators etc but I'd imagine it's dropped a few K despite no more MC shifts being made and a strengthening in their prices recently.

iainw · Jul 26, 2017

This is a nice idea and everyone wants it to work ,but it just doesn't in the real world

bigbob · Jul 26, 2017

Nice idea but I think you are off your rocker wanting to buy a Maserati as a short term thing.

iainw · Jul 26, 2017

bigbob said:
Nice idea but I think you are off your rocker wanting to buy a Maserati as a short term thing.

Agree. Possibly the highest risk thing to buy short term on the planet- that's if you don't want to lose 1000s. Nothing wrong with short term supercar ownership if you have loads of money and don't mind losing 8-10000 a year

MarkMas · Jul 26, 2017

I think it goes:

Feb 2017 - Buy at 35,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine. Â£30k.
Aug 2017 - Advertise at 37,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine. Â£30k
Oct 2017 - Sell (to rockits) for Â£23k.

rockits · Jul 26, 2017

It is possible to work but you really have to buy the right car. It is easy to get it wrong. You need to be just slightly ahead of the market really. Or pick a car that you think for valid strong reasons might appreciate.

My 4200 certainly won't cost me anything if I sold now. Likely never will I don't think. However it does max 1k miles per year so wouldn't mean driving it much.

Contigo · Jul 26, 2017

I bought a QP off Ewan drove it for 8 months and sold for the same.

Project 3200 bought for Â£4K sold for Â£12k

Loads of others but it's about buying cheap. It's much harder on newer cars which are still depreciating and as I said these cars are not easy sells privately.

rossyl · Jul 26, 2017

iainw said:
Agree. Possibly the highest risk thing to buy short term on the planet- that's if you don't want to lose 1000s. Nothing wrong with short term supercar ownership if you have loads of money and don't mind losing 8-10000 a year

I dunno. Shares in chocolate tea pot company might just pip it on the planet.

I doubt many have lost Â£8-10k on a Gransport in the past few years.

Rwc13 · Jul 26, 2017

I think you have more chance of doing this if you can buy one of the private sale cars that pops up every now and again at an undervalue - there was a GS recently that was at least Â£5k undervalued. Of course then you either take a chance on issues arising or need an inspection to give you comfort it's not a pup.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

rossyl · Jul 26, 2017

Agreed.

I said in the first post that this somewhat went against being an "enthusiast" so I didn't expect everyone on here to agree. It hasn't been my method of ownership to date. That said calling it the riskiest thing on the planet is a tad over the top!

Also, there's an assumption that it would be newer cars. Given my example was a Gransport, I'm not sure where that came from. Newer cars are a huge gamble.

Private is probably where the bargains are, but it's probably also the greater risk.

rossyl · Jul 26, 2017

Contigo said:
I bought a QP off Ewan drove it for 8 months and sold for the same.

Project 3200 bought for Â£4K sold for Â£12k

Loads of others but it's about buying cheap. It's much harder on newer cars which are still depreciating and as I said these cars are not easy sells privately.

Thanks mate. Good to hear some positive honest feedback

rockits · Jul 26, 2017

As Phil says buying the right car at the right price is key. Buy right & the selling is so much easier. Buy the wrong car at the wrong price & your f$%ked.

rockits · Jul 26, 2017

MarkMas said:
I think it goes:

Feb 2017 - Buy at 35,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine. Â£30k.
Aug 2017 - Advertise at 37,000 miles. Serviced January 2017. Pristine. Â£30k
Oct 2017 - Sell (to rockits) for Â£23k.

Harsh...I can't afford to buy wrong as haven't got enough cash to lose. I don't mind the reputation....make sense to me

Short term car ownership

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