Meta: where have all the cheap ones gone?

[breezer]

I keep an eye on the market, and have noticed recently that all the sub £10k coupes have disappeared. Does anyone know why this has happened? Does it mean further appreciation is likely?

Annoying as I sold my 4200 at rock bottom prices due to my current “temporarily embarrassed” financial position. Was hoping to get another but that’s now

 

[Ewan]

Let’s hope it’s because they are now sufficiently appreciated to warrant values of over £10k. Given what people will pay for a rubbish 4 cylinder Ford from the 1980’s these days, surely a Ferrari V8 engined Maserati from circa 2004 commands at least £10k.

 

[breezer]

They certainly were stupidly cheap. Unjustified imo.

 

[outrun]

It’s a side effect of Covid. Many people are scared to take on finance and so everything at the lower end is snapped up while people avoid extending themselves. If you at anything below £6k or so, you’ll find there is almost nothing.

 

[Wack61]

My 4200 had issues that I just wasn't prepared to throw money at fixing , abs light on, random ignition HVAC problem not cured with a new switch , leaking rad , wouldn't connect to diagnostics so I took the only offer I got which was cheap

I still hanker after a QP , I really like this E280 but nothing beats the sound of a V8

I did have a guy in France after the 4200 but he wanted me to drive it 250 miles to Dover without a deposit which wasn't happening

Texts emails phone calls but nothing came of it , eventually I said I wanted to see ID , drivers licence etc or I was calling it a day

Next morning a get a link to a YouTube video

Wtf is this

Eef eue fast ferwerd teu 2 minutes zee guy werkeeng on ze car, eat ees me

Oh **** off

 

[breezer]

My 4200 had issues that I just wasn't prepared to throw money at fixing , abs light on, random ignition HVAC problem not cured with a new switch , leaking rad , wouldn't connect to diagnostics so I took the only offer I got which was cheap

I still hanker after a QP , I really like this E280 but nothing beats the sound of a V8

I did have a guy in France after the 4200 but he wanted me to drive it 250 miles to Dover without a deposit which wasn't happening

Texts emails phone calls but nothing came of it , eventually I said I wanted to see ID , drivers licence etc or I was calling it a day

Next morning a get a link to a YouTube video

Wtf is this

Eef eue fast ferwerd teu 2 minutes zee guy werkeeng on ze car, eat ees me

Oh **** off

Sorry for what you had to go through but that ending is hilarious. What on earth were they thinking?!

 

[Oneball]

Not really sure what meta is but I was expecting a thread about the price of cheese.

 

[FIFTY]

Interesting prices seem to start from ~£11k and stop around £18k... There is not many for sale either

 

[Andyk]

Not really sure what meta is but I was expecting a thread about the price of cheese.

I was also wondering .......Glad it wasn't just me then.

 

[Oneball]

I was also wondering .......Glad it wasn't just me then.

I even googled it and am still none the wiser. Perhaps I should make my way over to the proctology thread.

 

[Corranga]

COVID and Brexit will be effecting things. Any cars that ended up in Europe probably won't now as I'm sure the import duties will apply now.
Who wants to buy a toy car when you can't drive it anywhere, plus hassle in getting it, non-essential travel etc. virtually impossible to travel and view a car, it's a terrible time to sell.
What I think we are seeing is a strangled market at the moment. Less cars around means people tend to speculate and prices rise, but are they selling?
Those desperate for cash will put cars up for lower prices, they will devalue them too.
What will happen in the longer term, who knows. Parts availability and age will all continue to be factors perhaps keeping costs down. I'm not sure if these cars will ever get past the stigma that the press gave them, or the perceived unreliability. It's such a shame, but then I wouldn't be here if it weren't for that (well, not for a few years perhaps).

Meanwhile people spend crazy amounts on mild fwd hatches like the XR3i..

 

[lifes2short]

Who wants to buy a toy car when you can't drive it anywhere

you could always stick it where the sun don't shine

 

[Ewan]

There’s no import duty on UK and EU produced goods being sold/imported/exported between the two. So a second hand Maserati moving between the UK and the EU attracts no import duty/tax.

I‘m not so sure parts availability is that big a deal in the long term. To buy virtually any pre-1980 Maserati you’ll have to part with a six figure sum, and it’s not as if parts are easy to find for them! This hasn’t stopped their values from increasing over the last 20 years. So who knows, maybe in 10 or 20 years from now, a good 4200 will command a high price (and they will certainly be rare by then).

I still think they are undervalued at their current low-mid teen prices. You have to pay more than that for an older, stellar mileage 996 Porsche with a plastic interior and self-detonating engine.

 

[Corranga]

My mistake on the tax, thanks.

There is a difference though. The pre80s Maserati are super rare now and that is a combination of them being low number builds and they already went through the parts availability and rusting away etc. Parts for older cars theoretically could be easier to make too, less computers and more likely simple parts.

By this reckoning, we need them to almost get a lot cheaper, lots of them broken etc for the rarity element to kick in, and then there is still the desirability factor. As you say a decade or 2 will help, but you’d need to be lucky to have one that won’t need a huge amount of money spent on it during that time. I suspect buying at the right time is key from an investment front, I’m not sure that time has happened yet.
I think there is a whole heap of other cars that need to disappear too before the Coupe hits that list.

I do agree they are undervalued though, I think this is more down to the bad press and perception of reliability and running cost, which is hard to get over unfortunately

 

[DavidL]

Not really sure what meta is but I was expecting a thread about the price of cheese.

OB - Meta analysis: statistical, research paper term for a combination and analysis of lots of other papers on the same thing.
I assume "we" are the other papers.

 

[Saigon]

Only last night I was looking at 4200 prices, I looked at Car & Classic, Piston heads and Autotrader, specifically 2003/ 2004 and one 2005 reg with miles ranging from 53K up to one at 98 K. Only those with recently replaced clutches, FSH, etc. The average price worked out at £15,200.

 

[breezer]

OB - Meta analysis: statistical, research paper term for a combination and analysis of lots of other papers on the same thing.
I assume "we" are the other papers.

Quite. I was referring to the fact this is a For Sale thread about the collective mass of cars for sale. I do like cheese though.

 

[Nibby]

I’m no fan of Porsche but the fans of the brand don’t dismiss a 911 996 with a 100k miles as well past it’s best and that’s with the chance of the infamous ims bearing failure.
Perhaps people are realising the 4200 is the way to go now.

 

[Wack61]

I do agree they are undervalued though, I think this is more down to the bad press and perception of reliability and running cost, which is hard to get over unfortunately

It's not a perception though , they can be ruinous to run.

An average for sale price of £15,000, have any of them sold for anything like that

Sold cars on eBay prices are very low with some listed multiple times

 

[dgmx5]

Problem is, how many of these adverts translate to sales?

ebay, which generally is targeted at the lower end of the market, at least allows you to see 'sales' and the story that tells is that nothing is moving above £10k. Of those 'sales', several are the same car from carswithnoreservereading which we are all more familiar with now.

But we also see from The Market and Collecting Cars that the 4200/Gransport is still not appreciated and either does not sell or at low end of or below estimate.

In the case of the 4200, it is more common and less sporty than the Gransport and lacks the boomerangs of the 3200. In time when the pot of 4200 dwindles because of subframe/wishbone NLA and people choosing to break instead of repair, the 4200 will appreciate.

You will know the cheap ones have all gone when @dickygrace starts having 4200 in his stock again, although I would expect Dicky to have the most garaged of queens as that is the market he is known for and aimed at.

Relaxation of restrictions and the summer should bring out the usual assortment of tired, poorly loved and even more poorly serviced cheap examples.