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Dreaming of Owning a Supercar? Buy Used.
Here are half a dozen options for sports car enthusiasts on real-world budgets.
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These are heady times for some used cars. With the economy still teetering and credit hard to come by, car shoppers looking for used car deals — particularly on gas-sipping economy machines and small SUVs — are finding prices are up some 20% since January, according to Kelly Blue Book.
But there’s another side of the used-car coin that’s decidedly in the buyer’s favor: The high-end side. So-called supercars were once by definition built in small numbers; an extreme example would be the 39 GTOs Ferrari made by hand in the early ‘60s, which today trade for double-digit millions. But the advent of the high-tech factory and computer age has meant that in the past 10 to 15 years very powerful cars were built in comparatively large numbers. Translation: your dream machine likely has plummeted in price.
“There’s no question that amazing cars like the Ferrari 360 Modena (1999 to 2005) are in the, shall we say, more affordable range now, around $75,000 when they were twice that,” says Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market magazine and host/appraiser of Discovery HD Theater’s What’s My Car Worth? “But there’s a caveat. You’re not getting a free lunch, even if the price is way less than the original sticker. Buying a used supercar means being super sure maintenance was done right. Or else things get pricey very fast.”
Martin says that German-made sports cars tend to wear better than their competitors to the south, but that’s assuming the cars’ original owners were meticulous about their machines.
One smart buy is Porsche’s iconic 911, especially the somewhat maligned model known as the 996 (1999-2005), says Sam Cameron, salesman with sports car broker Cars Dawydiak in San Francisco. “Some Porsche purists don’t like the look of that model, or the fact that it was the first water-cooled 911 to come along,” he says. “But if you don’t mind those things, you can find them for $25,000 well preserved, and even some rough ones as low as the teens.”
Here are half a dozen more once-pricey supercars whose values — though perhaps not their appeal — have sunk in recent years:
Dodge Viper
(1991-2010; buy a solid used example for $25,000; when new around $80,000)
You have to smile when you see a Viper rumbling down the street. It’s just that outrageous, a bit like a cartoonish star of Pixar’s Cars franchise come to life. Designer Tom Gale’s creation was always aimed squarely at the high-test(osterone) set, with its massive V-10 and a mandatory manual transmission. The meek need not apply.
“It’s just a monster, and a lot of car for the money,” says Martin. “If it’s been well taken care of, you’re good to go. There are no huge electrical issues or complicated engine servicing issues with this car. Just straight ahead American muscle.”
Acura NSX
(1990-2005; $30,000; when new around $90,000)
The NSX has always been polarizing. Is it the nicest-looking Japanese coupe ever built, or merely the homeliest wanna-be Italian racer ever made? Take your pick, but what’s not up for debate is that the car offers bulletproof reliability, a low-slung seating position, and a parent company that does have some claim to racing (Indy and F1) fame.
“The NSX is definitely one way into ownership of an exotic car, but having said that, it’s never gotten anyone excited visually,” says Martin. “The buyers of these cars are saying ‘Look how well I spent my money,’ which is fine. But supercar ownership isn’t really about being a good deal.”
BMW M3
