Not sure if there is a section for questions like this but here goes.

At what point are the mustangs not depreciating anymore. I other words what year and condition are not losing value anymore.

If I bought a 1989 GT in original nice condition low miles and didn't really drive it much would it still depreciate??

Just curious. My father in law had the same question about his 94 gt.

 

That car is at the end of it depreciation [ 89 GT ]. I have noticed that in my area clean fox body cars go for way more than what KBB says they are worth. The same car can be worth 3k to one person, 10k to another person.... hope this answers some questions.....

Futhermore, when I ran KBB for a 1989 Mustang GT with 65k and and 125k the difference was 250 dollars

 

Not sure on this but doesnt the ## of previous owners also affect the value? I know it would to me. If I was buying a car and I seen on the title where it had been owned by 6 other folks I would say hmmm.... I wonder whats wrong with this car.....
Just a thought, I really dont know for a fact.

 

Condition, miles, number of owners....all those things make a difference in reality. As far as KBB is concerned, they don't differentiate how many people owned the car. Keep in mind that as a car ages, the condition of the car and it's desirability will matter more. And remember, something is only worth what someone will pay and after a point, books like KBB don't really mean crap. Also, if you are paying $3,000 for a car, depreciation should be furthest from your mind. Seriously, does it really matter? Things like reliability will cost a whole lot more then a few bucks in depreciation if the car is in poor mechanical condition.

Unfortunately, most people shop for a payment. Take a 1989 Mustang for $3,000. A bank might only let you borrow over two years for a car like that assuming you need a loan AND the interest rate will be high. You could probably lease a brand-new car for not much more and not worry about maintenance or tires etc....

Cheap, old cars while they don't depreciate, can have higher ownership costs then a car that does.

 

preach it doc.

under normal (normal being that which excludes any collectability or desirability) circumstances, a car's depreciation never stops. At some point it will become totally worthless. Even the parts will have no value as parts. Once that happens the car usually finds a sucker to own it or an overgrown wood chipper/crusher.

If you want to see normal, then take a normal car as your example. Like... an 86 Hyundai Excel. That was normal in 86. Would you pay even 50 bucks for an example of one in "average" shape for its vintage?

Cars much like large naval guns and women are not investments and they never grow in value (excluding certain special examples). No matter how much fun they bring you they're always just a money pit.

 

BTW, I am a big fan of buying 2 - 3 year old cars that are in great shape and have low, but not insanely low miles. You know, like 10k per year type of stuff. I would generally not buy a 3 year old car with 10K total, as I am not willing to pay the premium and I will just drive it more then the previous owener did. A car depreciates the biggest percentage in the first few years and you can still get very good interest rates, though, you really can't compete with 0% on some of the new cars.

Take, for example, my last purchase. I paid $17,000 for a 3 year old Saab last summer. If you were to borrow the entire amount over 5 years, I am guessing a payment would be like $340 per month (I didn't, so I don't know the exact numbers and too lazy to look it up - lol).

Now, if they were offering 0% (which they were not), a new one would have been $31k and the payment would have been $516 per month. So, over 5 years, you would save $10,560 not including opportunity costs, and get probably within $2,000 for the cars used at that point, so you would save about $8,000. BUT, your liability is also WAY reduced with the used car and it is easier to get rid of if you had to.

I would love to own an old Fox Body and I know I could get a great one for $5,000. But, personally, I am not willing to take on the added insuance costs, nor the costs associated with working on it unless I decided to sell my current stang. I lack the time and the knowledge, which means I would just pay more. But, if I kept it in great shape and owned it for 5 years, I might get back most of what I paid.

Ever owned a boat? Their value seems to be more based on condition then age, though age plays an impact too.