Agonising temptation!

WLJayne

WLJayne

Junior Member
Messages
82
Necropost time, happy new year everyone! I visited a client who has a beautiful Stradale and a 4200 the other day and I never manage to keep tridents out of my head for a few days after those trips. So currently drooling over classifieds.

Quite a few QP's under 13k now - one under 10k though it's a high miler. They're dropping quickly. They don't seem to be shifting quickly either, so with any luck not many will fall into uncaring hands. The type with the miles, spec and history are inching closer to what's realistic for me. If they keep going like this, I'm going to be finding it tough to say "not yet" before long.
 
Contigo

Contigo

Sponsor
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18,376
Just do it! Life's too short to not have a Maserati.

I've just bought my first of many cars in 2017 ! Yipee!
 
Andyk

Andyk

Member
Messages
61,189
WLJayne said:
Necropost time, happy new year everyone! I visited a client who has a beautiful Stradale and a 4200 the other day and I never manage to keep tridents out of my head for a few days after those trips. So currently drooling over classifieds.

Quite a few QP's under 13k now - one under 10k though it's a high miler. They're dropping quickly. They don't seem to be shifting quickly either, so with any luck not many will fall into uncaring hands. The type with the miles, spec and history are inching closer to what's realistic for me. If they keep going like this, I'm going to be finding it tough to say "not yet" before long.
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Be very careful with the ones at the bottom end.....go in with yours eyes open and get it checked over. They usually need a bit of work that could run into £££££££. Will they drop much further not sure but but they usually don't go much further than the 10 to 15k unless it's a real dog. Now and again a decent one comes up for this money....Phil above grab a cracking QP a year or so again for a great price.....
 
zagatoes30

zagatoes30

Member
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20,991
As Andy says QPs around £10k normally have a big bill looming, get them inspected to ensure you know what is coming
 
WLJayne

WLJayne

Junior Member
Messages
82
Andyk said:
Be very careful with the ones at the bottom end.....go in with yours eyes open and get it checked over. They usually need a bit of work that could run into £££££££. Will they drop much further not sure but but they usually don't go much further than the 10 to 15k unless it's a real dog. Now and again a decent one comes up for this money....Phil above grab a cracking QP a year or so again for a great price.....
Click to expand...

That looks to be the case, I'd be aiming for 12.5-15k I think. Miles ideally below 70k and with a new clutch in the not too distant history. As much as I would like to "save" a few grand and get one at the lower end, I think I'd regret it quickly. It's just been interesting keeping an eye on the market. The biggest thing to be sure of is that I can put away at least 2k for servicing per year. If I spend less than that one year and it doesn't need anything major, it can roll into the budget for the next.

I hadn't realised that Shiltech was in Loughborough, so at least I know that there's a good specialist within easy reach of West Coventry now that we're settled in at the new pad :).
 
SPX

SPX

Junior Member
Messages
271
My facelift 58 plate QP is up for sale for just a few more grand over your top budget and it's just had £4500 spent on it so it's in tip-top shape.

PM me if you're interested.
 
WLJayne

WLJayne

Junior Member
Messages
82
PM sent buddy :). At the moment I'm trying to work out a well defined plan for purchase. How much to save as a deposit, and how much to borrow so that I'll have equity in the car over the duration of the loan. Calculating the depreciation is tricky! I'd want to be sure that if I needed to sell I would be well insulated. I should probably fish around for insurance too and work out what the total monthly overheads are going to be. At least I know how much I need to be putting in the servicing piggy bank thanks to you chaps.

EDIT: Can anyone perhaps advise me in working out what a realistic rate of depreciation would be on a 15k car with sensible mileage? I'm having a hard time getting accurate estimates from google searches.
 
Ewan

Ewan

Member
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6,828
There could well be no depreciation. I ran a silver QP for a year or so and then sold it to Phil for the same price I paid for it. He then did the same. And I imagine the new/current owner could do so also.

The same is true of the black QP I had before that. Ran it for two years and had zero depreciation.

The key is to find a really good one in the first place. It needs to be a good colour and spec, with FSH and recent tyres/brakes/clutch. I'd stick clear of the very bottom of the market, even if that means a few Pounds more per month on your finance deal. £15k is a realistic budget.
 
E

Ebenezer

Member
Messages
4,526
Yes it's basically running costs, but you will take a hit of you sell it to a dealer. Ewan and Phil's transactions were private sales I expect. You should be looking for the same, from a know car in the forum if you want to minimize the depreciation. Servicing and maintenance will be the biggest costs and keeping a war chest. New brakes front and back have just cost me £1600.
Eb
 
WLJayne

WLJayne

Junior Member
Messages
82
Thanks Ewan and Eb! As you say the upkeep will be the big one, and that's why my buy in has to be below 20k, so I can keep deep pockets right out of the gate. However I imagine that it could be a case of penny wise pound foolish with a cheaper car as you have mentioned. It might well cost significantly less overall in servicing, maintenance and depreciation (if any) to buy a 16k than a 12k motor over 3 years of ownership.

I can't imagine doing more than 6k miles a year in it, if even close to that. So as long as I can properly care for it, depreciation should be minimal given your experiences. I suppose the "safe zone" would be where I have equity in the car even if I had to sell to a dealer should the need arise. Not sure I'd want more than a 36 month loan term either. Much to consider!
 
ChrisQP09

ChrisQP09

Member
Messages
2,999
The prices are silly, for what are essentially 4 door Ferrari's. Get an indy or MD to give the car a once over and this should highlight of the car's assets/liabilities. Don't forget too, to check the online MOT history, cars with thrashed tyres indicate a tricky happy foot and potentially bad tracking etc.
 
WLJayne

WLJayne

Junior Member
Messages
82
cheshiremaserati said:
I know nothing of QP's and never realised some are so low prices and high on maintenance costs.
A QP for £16k????
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And some much less, but I'd probably avoid those unless the spec was perfect and I had money to throw at catch-up maintenance. But that's the great thing about them, probably one of the best looking sports saloons ever made for the price of a family hatch!
 
AndyG

AndyG

Junior Member
Messages
368
c8585999e902ba78d9a4a8ba12249ac4.jpg


Tempt you ?


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