Future Investment - Gransport or 3200 GT???

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1,117
Gransport. It'll cost less to maintain. You can't tell anything from adverts without viewing the cars. Some are utter dogs, some are nigh on perfect.

Spot-on. These and other prestige cars such as Porsche cannot be judged by ads and photos.
And of course I agree about the remark on the GranSport having had my first service last month and the car given an absolutely clean bill of health having covered 2,200 miles in the first year and so nice to drive on long journeys.
 

philw696

Member
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25,121
Interesting I had the same problem selling my Ferrari 360 Modena in 2014 when leaving the UK.
I was the second owner and full Ferrari history and every invoice and no missed service.
Three years later worth double.
I would hang on to your 3200 Phil.
Hindsight a wonderful thing.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
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34,594
Problem is, the interest rate is expected to start rising in 2 years time in 2019. Money will shift from prestige cars back into money and stocks.

I saw the same think happen in the 90's and we all know history has a habit of repeating itself.

One contributing factor in the favour of car is the move to electric. I see this as potentially pushing big V engined vehicles even higher but don't think this will happen for at least 10 years.
 

Ewan

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6,757
Interest rates won't rise in two years time. By then we'll be right up the creek, reeling from the hard Brexit. The UK will be in a new recession, making the current London property market lull look like a summer holiday blip. I have no idea what will happen to values of modern classics, but I can't see a rush of cash going to the banks (which will have relocated to Frankfurt). In the short term, we're doomed. But at least those of us with a Maser can take solace in a nice car.
 

Ewan

Member
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6,757
Back to the original question - as a medium term investment, both models are okay. Just a case of finding a good one at a good price. At which point, Phil's 3200 looks perfect. At £11.5 it's clearly a bargain.
 

alfatwo

Member
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5,517
Richard Grace helped me sell my 3200 AC in just over a week a couple of months ago.

Low mile 3200's are very cool right now. There's people out who have read up on all the stuff but don't really care.

All they want is to try a reasonably priced "hooligan super car"... The 3200 provides that in abundance!

Then they either move it on, or we meet and greet on here ;)


Dave
 

midlifecrisis

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16,102
Unless you are buying a super rare car or one with a history or famous previous owner then cars are not going to be good investments. I enjoy mine for what it is, 86k miles is nothing to a well built big engine with regular oil/filter changes etc. The only big bill is the clutch change and some are getting around 30k+ miles on theirs between changes.
 
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1,117
Unless you are buying a super rare car or one with a history or famous previous owner then cars are not going to be good investments.

I think it depends on the marque. For example Porsche GT3, GT2, Turbo and anything with the coveted RS (Renn Sport) are going through the roof. I have had to have my Turbo re-valued almost each year over the 5yr ownership as prices keep climbing.

Apart from a big chunk of spend when I first bought it, it has had annual services and any advisories sorted at each service.
It has had 4 new tyres which are consumables on this car and were replaced due to age despite having 5mm tread on the rear 295's as Porsche recommend no more than 6 yrs age on tyres irrespective of amount of tread - so its 3mm tread or 6 yrs age whichever comes first.

Taking lifetime ownership costs exc. Insurance, I am still in pocket if i came to sell.
I bought at the bottom of the depreciation curve, chose the right model (Mezger engined Turbo with 6 speed manual gearbox), factory X50 option, low mileage (22k at purchase) and full Main Dealer OPC history.

Choose well, and it can be investment potential - but that was not the primary reason for purchase.
 

midlifecrisis

Member
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16,102
I think it depends on the marque. For example Porsche GT3, GT2, Turbo and anything with the coveted RS (Renn Sport) are going through the roof. I have had to have my Turbo re-valued almost each year over the 5yr ownership as prices keep climbing.

Apart from a big chunk of spend when I first bought it, it has had annual services and any advisories sorted at each service.
It has had 4 new tyres which are consumables on this car and were replaced due to age despite having 5mm tread on the rear 295's as Porsche recommend no more than 6 yrs age on tyres irrespective of amount of tread - so its 3mm tread or 6 yrs age whichever comes first.

Taking lifetime ownership costs exc. Insurance, I am still in pocket if i came to sell.
I bought at the bottom of the depreciation curve, chose the right model (Mezger engined Turbo with 6 speed manual gearbox), factory X50 option, low mileage (22k at purchase) and full Main Dealer OPC history.

Choose well, and it can be investment potential - but that was not the primary reason for purchase.

Totally agree, choose well but cars that are appreciating do come at a premium, Gransports are appreciating because they are newer and considered to be the 'sorted' one of 3200/4200 model range. 3200's are going up because they were the 'first' of the new breed but had the biturbo engine and are getting rarer.

Looking at the data from 'How many Left', there's 350 3200 of all types left on the UK roads (including SORN). This is down from the 2006 peak of 710. The number of 4200's left is 517 down from a 2008 peak of 742. Gransports number 232 down from 375 in 2008.

All three types are clearly becoming rarer, parts are still plentiful so all three types should rise over the next few years but not significantly to recoup the expense of running them.
 

safrane

Member
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16,749
My first Maserati posts back in 2007 were on this same subject - which one to buy with minimal depreciation and only worry about service and maintenance.

The same lines were received then on all three of the Coupe range... each were 'at the bottom on the curve' and would all go up in the comming years.

And in that time they all went down.

The one that went down less was the 4200!!!

GS were close to £40k, good 3200 were mid £20s and 4200, as the unloved model were £22+ as they had fallen due to the newer model.
 

Steve GS

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1,526
I can't see any of the said cars making you any money. So just buy one and enjoy it or don't.
 

rockits

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9,167
There will always be a strong market for rare low mileage good examples regardless of make/model....well within reason. There was only one brown Austin Allegro left in the world a few years back....still wasn't worth much as it is a rubbish/undesirable car. A Maser in comparison will certainly be desired in years to come.

The amount of 80's stuff up albeit a little prospectively is pretty immense. Things like a 520i E34 for 20k I saw recently. An E39 M5nfor 50k. They are unlikely to be sold for that but there are plenty of collectors & the like that can show an interest.

The Maser's will need another 5-10 years IMHO before showing some real upside but it will come. Unless the whole market is turned on its head.
 
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1,117
Supports my remark - choose wisely. Some marques just have a strong tail-wind driving values upwards.
But within a marque one has to be selective. Consider low production numbers, special/limited edition cars, mileage, history, condition and provenance. Unless investing in exotics that will just be stored for years as investment assets, the main reason probably will be to drive it and enjoy it - rising value will wipe-out depreciation or reduce it considerably, making ownership that bit more enjoyable.
 

bigbob

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8,952
Crazy_Quilt.jpg
 

bigbob

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8,952
A bit too cryptic for me BB?

Ah I should have put a footer on it but I'm still hyper having cycled through the highlands recently without it raining.

Anyway without wishing to give investment advice, I was wondering whether stuffing money under the mattress could be viewed as giving a better (net) return than the options offered by the OP?