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Sports car within 7-8k/year depreciation


Aventa
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Hi everyone, my brother's current car is going to the graveyard soon (Honda Civic 1.6A) and he is looking to buy a sports car (PARF/COE) car with 7-8k dep/year. 

Since I do not drive a sports car myself, I casually suggested the usual models such as Civic Type R, Subaru WRX/WRX STI, Evo 10, Toyota MRS, Mazda MX-5, Mazda RX-8. 
2/4/5-seater are fine as he does not have any children.

Fellow drivers who are driving such models can kindly advise on the maintenance or any major issues driving these cars?
Appreciate every reply! 🙂 

Edited by Aventa
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Do not simply buy cars on depreciation alone. You have rightly identified maintenance as one factor but you're missing things like:

  • Road tax. Sportscars that cost a mere 7-8k per year are invariably COE renewed. However sportscars typically have engines ranging from 2 litres to 3.5 litres and when road tax penalty of 150% is added in, it can be quite significant.
  • Insurance. Cheap cars attract inexperienced drivers and if your brother does not have a fat 50% NCD plus 5% good driver bonus, the base insurance rate can easily be 50% of the depreciation. 
  • You've mentioned maintenance and I cannot emphasize enough that these cars having gone through several hands are a mess of bodged wiring and cheap "that'll do" fixes because the owners maintained them on a budget. 

All in all, tell your brother to just go get a new entry level B&B equivalent of his Honda Civic - such as a Hyundai Avante or Kia K3. He could probably afford to buy a sports car but he may not be able to afford maintaining it. 

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I look for cars with yearly appreciation, like old VW Bettle, old mini, old Datsuns, etc. 😃 Recently, Someone bidded for an old Datsun for millions in Sun setting land.

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Hi Aventa,

It’ll be better for your brother to narrow down his choices of “Sports Car” that fits the criteria first. Then it’ll be easier for ex-owners of such cars to advise accordingly. The list above range from fast hatch to 2 seater sports cars. N.A to forced induction cars. 2WD to AWD cars. Too broad to comment. 

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If your bro is coming from a Civic 1.6L A, I suggest he get back a similar car. Used sporks car might be cheap to buy but it doesnt run on water. Parts coming from a sporks car will no doubt come at a premium. If your bro was coming from another sporks car he would have a rough idea. If he's coming from a bread and butter car like Civic 1.6L A....like what I suggest, get back a similar car.

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36 minutes ago, Watwheels said:

If your bro is coming from a Civic 1.6L A, I suggest he get back a similar car. Used sporks car might be cheap to buy but it doesnt run on water. Parts coming from a sporks car will no doubt come at a premium. If your bro was coming from another sporks car he would have a rough idea. If he's coming from a bread and butter car like Civic 1.6L A....like what I suggest, get back a similar car.

So if one is not born a ASK into a good family where daddy buys him a sporks car at 18, one is "condemned" to b&b car forever?

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23 minutes ago, boonhat_91 said:

So if one is not born a ASK into a good family where daddy buys him a sporks car at 18, one is "condemned" to b&b car forever?

Car ownership is not about looking from one perspective. Whatever the bro's background I'm not interested to know. The system make it such that a sporks car is expensive to own, from car parts to insurance. It's a significant change coming from a b&b car. Anyway I'm replying to TS's concern which is maintenance of such cars. Whatever the individuals family background or finances it's up to the individual to make his decision. What I give is only a suggestion. If you want to look at it differently...that's just you.

Edited by Watwheels
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Haven't really thought much abt this segment

A quick check on Sgcarmart did turn out a few pleasant surprises tho

For this budget, in addition to the usual WRX, $7-8k depre can buy a Civic Type R, R26, Cooper S and even a E250 Coupe!

But buying is one thing, maintaining is another. If buyer is young, doesn't mind some possible downtime and set aside a few k for occasional repairs....I say YOLO!

 

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For sport car with 7-8k depreciation,  most are likely to be manual transmission. He might need to adjust from his civic auto

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Had tried going this route many years ago. Typical things to look out for, according to what I had learnt during those days (likely not complete):

1) Cars like these are usually modified. Check what has been modified and if the car comes with original parts as well - some owners do keep the original parts for the purpose of inspection. If not, be prepared to spend some $$$$ to swap back when inspection comes.

2) Get a manual!! Less problems and cheaper to repair.

3) Turbocharger - though I'm not sure how to check if it's going to kaput or not.

4) Would be best if the car comes with service history and or receipt on when parts has been modified and changed.

5) Check for signs of leakage due potentially to poor job of all those fanciful spoilers added and removed over the years.

6) Pop the bonnet and try to see the paint job inside (especially the main 2 structural beams inside, check for paintwork consistency). This is can be a tell tale sign of a major accident.

7) Look at the wiring, see if there are any poorly done wiring that needs some simple maintenance done before something really bad happens.

8 ) Engine oil leakage might be a sign for some serious overhaul due to overheating in the past. This may be a little hard to spot as the dealer or owner will probably have cleaned away any tell tale signs.

9) Check the windows tints, headlights and also number plate are within LTA specifications. If not, need to factor in some costs when inspection comes.

10) If tyres shows sign of significant uneven wear, ask to send the car for alignment. If can be aligned back easily without issue, good. Else it may be a sign of structural damage.

The above are just some general things to look out for according to my limited knowledge for most older sports cars. If they pass the above with flying colours, I believe they should not cost more to maintain and repair over a French car 😁😁😁

Edited by Rickster
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1 hour ago, Soya said:

Haven't really thought much abt this segment

A quick check on Sgcarmart did turn out a few pleasant surprises tho

For this budget, in addition to the usual WRX, $7-8k depre can buy a Civic Type R, R26, Cooper S and even a E250 Coupe!

But buying is one thing, maintaining is another. If buyer is young, doesn't mind some possible downtime and set aside a few k for occasional repairs....I say YOLO!

 

If I were to select from the above, I’d stay away from the conti makes. 

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Besides annual depreciation, like what others mentioned also need to factor in additional road tax (Higher engine displacement, higher road tax. For COEed car up to additional 50% of road tax). Insurance definitely higher for sports car category (range from few hundreds to thousands depending on make and model). Higher wear and tear, as one will tend to drive even harder with higher performance and better handling car. Higher fuel consumption. Need to budget for unexpected repairs no matter how good condition is the car.

Example SSS 1.6M 2009 change to FD2R 2.0M 2007 additional costs per year:

- Road tax assumed both cars renew COE: up to +~$790

- Insurance: ~$300 if no major increase

- Petrol (14km/l vs 10km/l):  ~29% more

- Servicing: ~30% much depending where you go for servicing.

- Unexpected repairs: Unknown, power steering piping leak (~$800) for 2 years of ownership. Aircon compressor having signs of going to give way soon.

Would suggest to go for a car which is wallet friendly (subjected to individual's wallet), not something which one will need to worry money for maintenance and repairs.

Edited by Incom
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18 minutes ago, Rickster said:

Had tried going this route many years ago. Typical things to look out for, according to what I had learnt during those days (likely not complete):

1) Cars like these are usually modified. Check what has been modified and if the car comes with original parts as well - some owners do keep the original parts for the purpose of inspection. If not, be prepared to spend some $$$$ to swap back when inspection comes.

2) Get a manual!! Less problems and cheaper to repair.

3) Turbocharger - though I'm not sure how to check if it's going to kaput or not.

4) Would be best if the car comes with service history and or receipt on when parts has been modified and changed.

5) Check for signs of leakage due potentially to poor job of all those fanciful spoilers added and removed over the years.

6) Pop the bonnet and try to see the paint job inside (especially the main 2 structural beams inside, check for paintwork consistency). This is can be a tell tale sign of a major accident.

7) Look at the wiring, see if there are any poorly done wiring that needs some simple maintenance done before something really bad happens.

8 ) Engine oil leakage might be a sign for some serious overhaul due to overheating in the past. This may be a little hard to spot as the dealer or owner will probably have cleaned away any tell tale signs.

9) Check the windows tints, headlights and also number plate are within LTA specifications. If not, need to factor in some costs when inspection comes.

10) If tyres shows sign of significant uneven wear, ask to send the car for alignment. If can be aligned back easily without issue, good. Else it may be a sign of structural damage.

The above are just some general things to look out for according to my limited knowledge for most older sports cars. If they pass the above with flying colours, I believe they should not cost more to maintain and repair over a French car 😁😁😁

Agreed especially on point 1.

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For one who decide to jump from bb to sports car, cost of maintenance is their least concern. They have done their maths. They are more keen on the recommended car performance and reliability  😝

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2 hours ago, Ginyu said:

For sport car with 7-8k depreciation,  most are likely to be manual transmission. He might need to adjust from his civic auto

Lower powered cars are awesome in manual. You can always keep them in the powerband. And they're such fun! 

Anything below stock 400hp (crank), I'd take an MT without even thinking about it. 

Edited by Turboflat4
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52 minutes ago, Ginyu said:

For one who decide to jump from bb to sports car, cost of maintenance is their least concern. They have done their maths. They are more keen on the recommended car performance and reliability  😝

Ya.....but not everyone has good money sense. I wonder if you have heard of people going bankrupt due to car loans

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