what is the lowest you see a VX going for?

[spitfire5454]

just kinda funny. So, my wife has always wanted toyota supra. just for fun i look up of prices and am totally amazed. There are people paying upwards of 40K for a 95 w/ 120k miles. And they are all priced ridiculously high. I know these cars are sick fast and have tremedous potential but i just cant believe people would spend this much. One web site said it was supply and demand. After this i jsut started thinking about my VX. They are extremely rare too yet they dont hold on to value well, and i dont know why. I know cars are not investments, but i would love to read on the internet 8 years from now how some guy is amazed, just like i am now, at how people are paying 19k for a 00 VX with 150k miles. More importantly, i will be sick if in 2013 a VX can be picked up for $5000. oh well i guess we just need to have our VX put in the fast and the furious 3, to jack up the resale, like the supra :)

[Joe_Black]

Very, very few cars are any kind of good investment due to plain depreciation and market fickleness. As unique as the VX is, it isn't an SS 100 or Fiat 8V. It'll end up about as collectible as a Corolla FX16 or Mazda 323GTX. I picked my second VX up for all of $9000 in January of 2004 and it's in outstanding condition other than some minor rock chips touched up around the hood and a near invisible crease over the spare tire. So, like just about any Isuzu, it's an outstanding value for the money and you just happen to get the bonus of daily gawking from the general public. ;)

[transio]

The Supra goes for so much money because the engine can be pretty easily tuned to 500+ hp. It's one of the top vehicles of choice for straight-line performance tuners. Of course, its value will probably drop significantly when the new Supra comes out in the next year or two. It is no collector's car. It's just a hot commodity right now.

The Z3 M Coupe is similar. They were $45k new. Prices dipped to below $20k a couple of years ago, for a well used '99. Today, that same car can't be had for under $25k, and an '01 or '02 with the s54 engine goes for upwards of $40k. When the Z4 M Coupe comes out, though, I'm pretty sure you'll see prices dip again.

[spitfire5454]

well it will always be a collector item for us and those like us and thats all that matters :)

and funny you should mention that about the Z3 M, because my mom got one last year for 21K.

[mbeach]

It is funny how a mediocre car can attain desirable status afte it appears in a popular movie.

I remember the 3rd Gen Supra's debut -I recall hearing the words "heavy, expensive, slushbox, blind-spot, and heavy" quite often. How times and opinions have changed... Thank you Brian Whatshisname.
The 3rd gen RX7 and to a lesser extent the 300Z were superior sports cars for the decade, but they didn't get the film time that the Poopra got.

Maybe there should be an axe-wielding gang of Ebony VX drivers in the next movie after all.

[Joe_Black]

LOL! Good points Steve. There's a BMW I almost mortgaged a house to get, now hardly anyone even knows what it is yet it's progeny (the Z3 et al) got cranked out in droves.

http://www.bmwworld.com/pics/concepts/14124_1024.jpg

The 1+G skidpad results had me drooling at the time... :p

[transio]

mbeach, that's not entirely true. The rx-7 has long been heralded by sports car enthusiasts. It is a great all-around performer, and has gotten plenty of movie time. As I recall, even the Fast and the Furious featured it in their opening race scene - and it won. The only reason the rx-7 isn't more popular is because rotary engines require a very specialized knowledge and lots of attention to effectively tune them wihtout blowing them up. They can be VERY costly. The 300zx was always considered an overpriced, underpowered, heavy successor to the 280zx. It didn't follow the Z tradition of lightweight, inexpensive sports cars. The supra has gained increasing popularity over the years because it can be pretty inexpensively tuned to perform amazingly well in a straight line, and let's face it - kids today don't care much about anything else.

Joe, is that an M1? Aren't those like 100k now?

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

In my neck of the woods, none of the cars you've talked about seem to be either obtainable or popular...but lots and lots of eclipses and talons though!
One girl I've dated has both a souped up eclipse and a stock talon turbo awd

[Joe_Black]

Joe, is that an M1? Aren't those like 100k now?

Try Z1. ;) They hit a little over 8,000 production units and were a just over $33K IIRC when they debuted in the late 80's. I don't price-watch them much, just once in a blue moon, but they seem to average over $45K now.

[transio]

Ah, yeah, I get the 2 confused. The M1 was a coupe, right? Much more collectible, no?

[Joe_Black]

Right, the M1 was like a 6-series on major steroids. Less than 500 built over about 3 years mostly for motorsports. Parts support is pretty much nil, so seeing one in competition is a true rarity. I remember back in the 80's they were all over the DuPont Registry, including a few with one-off artist paint schemes sold as "automotive art".

http://www.bmwm1.com/archive/RaceOfM1.jpg

Back to the value of the VX, I had a thought that maybe the VX could end up like the original Toyota Land Cruiser which goes for a premium these days. But then I really started thinking about it, and if you adjust 1970's dollars to current valuation the Land Cruiser is still selling at a loss of its original purchase value. Then again, most never think of that. If something cost $7K in 1970 then anything over that now is realized gain. And people wonder what's wrong with the economy! LOL!

[bumblebee]

I think the value of the VX is the value...we as owners...place on it. If you sell your VX for cheap, then it is perceived as cheap, ie., having no $$ value.

Personally, if I was going to sell my Proton today, I wouldn't ask any less than $18K or I won't sell it. For the current prices VXs are going for, I'd rather have it sit in my garage for the next 20 years then to give it away.

Just my opinion. :)