The cheapest car I ever owned

[TexasHusker]

I've owned many different cars in my lifetime. Various Fords, Chevys, VWs, Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Toyota, Land Rover, Nissan, Lexus, Audi, Porsche.

But by far the cheapest cars I ever owned were...Ferraris. And there isn't even a close 2nd.

In 2000, I bought a 1982 308GSTi for $21,000. I drove it for two years, putting 5,000 miles on it, and sold it on eBay for $27,000.

In 2002, I bought a red 1990 348ts for $40,000. I drove it for two years and sold it on eBay for $42,000,

In 2004, I bought a yellow 348ts for $35,000. I spent $6000 doing some work on it, but drove it two years and sold it for $43,000 on eBay.

So if anyone asks "what is the cheapest car to drive", it might well be a FERRARI.

Happy Memorial Day.

[disneysteve]

Great story.

Not nearly on the same level but I had a friend in high school who bought a series of very used BMWs. He never paid much for them, fixed them up a bit while he had them, and resold them 6-12 months later. He always got about the same or more than he had paid so he essentially drove for free.

That's one of the great things about depreciation, and why so many of us say to avoid new cars. After a certain point, depreciation really levels off or even stops and over the course of a year or two, the cars hold their value. Very cool that you did that with Ferraris.

[97guns]

cheapest car i ever bought was a $50 toyota, went in $25 each with a buddy and he got it stuck in a dry creek bed. went back the next day to dig it out and it was burned to the ground ended up costing him $300 for county tow services

[corn18]

I bought a 2007 BMW Z4M for $33,000 and sold it 2 years later for $32,000. They still go for $33,000 these days. I bought a 1980 MGB for $10,500 and sold it a year later for $9,900. I had to pay taxes to register them but I think I got my money's worth out of them.

I will say that my truck held it's value fairly well. I bought it for $26k out the door in 2008 and sold it for $14k this year. Just the depreciation cost me $1,500 / year. Now the gas is another story, but I only put 9,000 miles a year on it.

Tom

[Nutria]

So if anyone asks "what is the cheapest car to drive", it might well be a FERRARI.

You didn't mention auto insurance, nor mandatory dealership maintenance.

[greenskeeper]

pretty much any "classic" desirable car can make you money as you enjoy it since they "aren't making any more of them"

[TexasHusker]

You didn't mention auto insurance, nor mandatory dealership maintenance.

Auto insurance wasn't any more than my other cars.

I'm not sure what "mandatory dealer maintenance" means, but they were all pretty much like anything else on wheels - oil changes, filter changes, coolant flush. Most grease monkeys can handle these rudimentary tasks. Although I just did then myself to have something to do.

[Nutria]

Auto insurance wasn't any more than my other cars.

That's a surprise.

I'm not sure what "mandatory dealer maintenance" means, but they were all pretty much like anything else on wheels - oil changes, filter changes, coolant flush. Most grease monkeys can handle these rudimentary tasks. Although I just did then myself to have something to do.

Non-standard tools required, parts only sold to authorized dealers for use by their mechanics. That sort of vendor lock-in.

[bjl584]

hmmmmm......

I guess that would be a 1999 Mercury Cougar that picked up in 2007 for around $3000. I drove it for a year and sold it for $4500. Can't beat that.

[TexasHusker]

That's a surprise.



Non-standard tools required, parts only sold to authorized dealers for use by their mechanics. That sort of vendor lock-in.

Meh. That's a huge myth, and a sucker pitch often propagated by franchise dealerships regardless of make. "Special tools" etc. I've never encountered a situation where any car of mine had to go to a franchise dealership due to "special tools" or other specific expertise, EXCEPT for our Chevy Volt, which by the way may be the BEST car we ever owned.

As for Ferrari, much of the engine is Bosch components of various kinds. I did have to replace the starter in my 308 - it was a Delco.

[TexasHusker]

hmmmmm......

I guess that would be a 1999 Mercury Cougar that picked up in 2007 for around $3000. I drove it for a year and sold it for $4500. Can't beat that.

That's pretty solid.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I sold a 2000 ford focus in 2010 to a guy who would buy and sell cars every 6 months. He said he always made a profit and had fun. It was $15k bought and sold only for $3k. Ugh.

1996 corolla bought for $12k and sold for $4k in 2012. That was a stellar car.

[Spiffster]

In Colorado its very easy to do this sort of thing with Motorcycles... all you have to do is buy in Fall-Winter and sell in Spring-Summer seasons. Selling a sport-bike to a private party is a huge PITA though... you get some real tools that want to test-ride without cash-in-hand. And even more tools that just cant afford what they want in the first place. I have actually had some prospective buyers offer to make me payments, like Im a bank. And if actual banks dont trust these idiots, why on earth would I?

I imagine the same sort of thing could be done with sports cars... not to mention Ferrari's, which you RARELY see around these parts. So rare that they tend to draw too much attention, and not always the good kind. Last trip I made downtown in an F355 (not my car BTW) drew some serious hate from several groups of overly-envious punks. Buddy and I almost got in a few scrapes, simply for driving the thing.

[TexasHusker]

In Colorado its very easy to do this sort of thing with Motorcycles... all you have to do is buy in Fall-Winter and sell in Spring-Summer seasons. Selling a sport-bike to a private party is a huge PITA though... you get some real tools that want to test-ride without cash-in-hand. And even more tools that just cant afford what they want in the first place. I have actually had some prospective buyers offer to make me payments, like Im a bank. And if actual banks dont trust these idiots, why on earth would I?

I imagine the same sort of thing could be done with sports cars... not to mention Ferrari's, which you RARELY see around these parts. So rare that they tend to draw too much attention, and not always the good kind. Last trip I made downtown in an F355 (not my car BTW) drew some serious hate from several groups of overly-envious punks. Buddy and I almost got in a few scrapes, simply for driving the thing.

Denver and CS actually have a larger-than-usual number of F-cars. I looked at an immaculate 348 some years ago near downtown at The Paint Booth and have kicked myself ever since for not buying it. Lots and lots of F-cars in CO.

[Spiffster]

Denver and CS actually have a larger-than-usual number of F-cars. I looked at an immaculate 348 some years ago near downtown at The Paint Booth and have kicked myself ever since for not buying it. Lots and lots of F-cars in CO.

There may be a lot of them, but they never get driven. Ferrari sightings are very rare around the Denver area. Not like you see in FL, CA, and TX.