> Maybe I just don't get it, but I can't, for the life of me,
> understand why a
> sane person would buy a $25,000+ roadster only to see it
> depreciate by 25 to
> 30% in the first month of ownership. Take the same amount of
> money and buy a
> perfect nut and bolt restored side screen, a Michelotti model or
> even a TR6.
> If you don't do something bizarre and trash it, it still will be
> worth that
> $25,000+ or more for as long as you own it. Then again maybe I just don't
> understand.
I won't argue it's sane, but I hear several reasons from otherwise
reasonable people :
1) No warranty
2) No air bags
3) No ABS
4) No dealer on every street corner
5) No parts vendor on every other street corner
6) No repair shop " " "
7) Harder to get a loan
8) Uncertainty over reliability
There is some truth to that last item, lets face it, these cars never were
as low maintenance and trouble-free as a modern car. They have to be
lubricated, adjusted and generally maintained on a regular, fairly frequent
basis. A lot of that is just the advances in technology over the last 30-50
years, but there it is. Most people just aren't willing to deal with
frequent maintenance, "tinkering" as someone recently put it. Others aren't
able to get past the LBC reputation ... which perhaps goes hand-in-hand with
not tinkering.
My boss traded in his TR7 (which he'd owned from new) on a Z-car, not
because he didn't like it or because it had ever given him any trouble, but
just because he was afraid it would start giving him trouble.
Randall
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