Performance cars - future value?

Has anyone ever driven the C43 or E43 AMGs? the smaller of the larger 63 cars? I sat in one recently and quite liked it - but never drove either of them, just wondering what people think of them,
 
The Mercedes-AMG C43 is the sweet spot of that V6 line-up, in my opinion – doesn't suit the bigger E-Class so well. The C43 Coupe, with the Performance Exhaust option, is particularly gratifying to drive. Has a remarkably R35-like bark to its soundtrack. Not the most frugal of beasts, though; think I rarely bettered more than about 26mpg.
 
Lashout_UK said:
The Mercedes-AMG C43 is the sweet spot of that V6 line-up, in my opinion – doesn't suit the bigger E-Class so well. The C43 Coupe, with the Performance Exhaust option, is particularly gratifying to drive. Has a remarkably R35-like bark to its soundtrack. Not the most frugal of beasts, though; think I rarely bettered more than about 26mpg.
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Hmmph, interesting, I expected people to think it was crap for some reason, but when I had a look inside the C43 AMG I thought it seemed really nice, I did hire a new E200 for a week not long ago and put 1500 miles on it in a week, and thought it was an absolutely fantastic car, the quality of the interior and the ride was excellent in every way, I just want something faster and not diesel, and so I wondered what the E43 version might be like.. Might book a few test drives when I get back from LA in march,
 
Huh... for some reason I had thought the C43 was a 4-pot, didn't realise it was a V6 til you said that.

Looks like it's just the A45 that's a highly strung 4-pot.

C43 sounds like it might make a good 340i/440i contender then.

Still... that 4.0tt in the C63 put a massive smile on my face every time I drove it for the 3 months I had it.
 
Gibbo said:
The other fantastic bargain at the moment is the 2-4yr old M5's, 55-70k car new, plenty going for around 25-30k now and those are pretty damn rapid in a straight line, plenty of room inside, they sound a bit rubbish compared to the NA V8's but I am sure once could throw an exhaust to let the V8 rumble a bit more.
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There are a lot of rubbish spec F10s around though, getting an LCI which won't feel like a big let down is still £35k+ really, with the odd higher mileage car a little bit cheaper.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Those depreciation levels are pretty normal % wise
Why would a performance car (main stream) suffer any significantly different depreciation to a normal car.

It just hurts more because its a more expensive car.
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Could be the type of car that is harder to find a buyer for second hand for a number of reasons:
  • More of a niche market i.e. there will always be a local buyer for a correctly priced mainstream hatchback, less so for this type of car
  • Concerns (valid or invalid, it doesn't matter) about warranty on used cars, more so than non performance cars because of the increased cost of repairs
  • Concerns about used performance cars having been ragged excessively (the flipside is that enthusiasts might maintain it better than hairdressers, but again, moot point if it concerns some people)
  • Self-fulfilling game theory scenario whereby people think other people won't want these cars in future because of legislation, trends etc i.e. less demand because people are expecting less demand when it comes to resale
That said when you look at the stats I don't think the delta in percentage terms between performance cars and other cars is particularly big. The cars with the highest depreciation are actually electric cars (Zoe and Leaf both have insanely high Y1 depreciation although that is probably skewed a bit by the government incentive not being deducted from list price). According to WhatCar the least depreciating cars are the Elise and S3 which can kind of be described as performance cars compared to the mainstream.

Edit: To address the original question, personally I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you want a performance car then that's pretty much a lifestyle choice that you are prepared to fund. I can't see it having a huge impact and if less performance petrol cars get built in future that just reduces the supply and helps maintain the value of your car. You can already see it if you look at older performance models that have been out of production for years, the depreciation rate on many of those has dropped to very low levels.
 
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One thing is certain, performance cars around now (which are probably some of the last of the non-hybrid ones) will be worth loads once we get close to 2040.

As above, EVs depreciate like crazy. The things that cause it are lack of charge points, limited range, people just holding off until they get better. Oh and battery packs reaching the end of their warranty will make them un-sellable.
 
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HangTime said:
Edit: To address the original question, personally I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you want a performance car then that's pretty much a lifestyle choice that you are prepared to fund. I can't see it having a huge impact and if less performance petrol cars get built in future that just reduces the supply and helps maintain the value of your car. You can already see it if you look at older performance models that have been out of production for years, the depreciation rate on many of those has dropped to very low levels.
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Yeah I think I'm gravitating towards this opinion having read some of the other thoughts and had more thoughts myself, I think my approach will be to look for something approved used, form either Merc or BMW, see if I can find something 12-18 months old that's gotten through the steepest part of depreciation, and go from there.

You also make an interesting point regarding electric cars, if I think hard about it - I'd be pretty worried about buying a pure electric car right now, due to the speed in which new models and advancements are being made - will a 5 year old Tesla be worth much in 2023, when the current model in 2023 might have 20x more battery capacity and the insurance is cheaper etc etc, it might make buying cars more like mobile phones,
 
No way I'd purchase a pure electric car (unless they were massively cheaper), I'd want to see how the tech evolves, charging network etc. A lease seems more palatable as you can ditch it after a couple of years and move onto whatever the emergent tech is.
I can see the appeal of something like Tesla ever since one teleported in front of us but I tend to think of them as being more of a toy / experiment for the wealthy than a serious single car.
 
HangTime said:
No way I'd purchase a pure electric car (unless they were massively cheaper), I'd want to see how the tech evolves, charging network etc. A lease seems more palatable as you can ditch it after a couple of years and move onto whatever the emergent tech is.
I can see the appeal of something like Tesla ever since one teleported in front of us but I tend to think of them as being more of a toy / experiment for the wealthy than a serious single car.
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I sometimes do a lot of miles, occasionally I'll drive to Northern Scotland for a bit of a hike/holiday, which is about 600 miles each way, usually stopping off to see friends and family along the way (I quite enjoy a good road trip) trouble is, unless I can find those Tesla superchargers, I'd be having to wait 10 hours to get the full range out of it every 400 miles or so, something like that is just too impractical for me right now.

I've also heard that the insurance on them is a total nightmare, because there are still a lot of unknowns with them - but that's mostly word of mouth, it might not be too bad now..
 
HangTime said:
No way I'd purchase a pure electric car (unless they were massively cheaper), I'd want to see how the tech evolves, charging network etc. A lease seems more palatable as you can ditch it after a couple of years and move onto whatever the emergent tech is.
I can see the appeal of something like Tesla ever since one teleported in front of us but I tend to think of them as being more of a toy / experiment for the wealthy than a serious single car.
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But leasing an EV will cost way more than just running an older petrol which has done most of it's depreciation. Especially compared to something that's actually appreciating.

I mean... for a toy I'd have an old Elise over a Tesla any day, even if it is slower. The Elise is made of aluminum and fiber glass so it will last forever, there's very little to break on it and their engines are simple and dirt cheap. Nothing on a Tesla is cheap.
 
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^re Tesla, yeah that's why I'd say a toy for the wealthy, rather than a daily driver for someone with limited funds who may need to think hard about resale value and maintenance costs.
 
Nasher said:
But leasing an EV will cost way more than just running an older petrol which has done most of it's depreciation. Especially compared to something that's actually appreciating.

I mean... for a toy I'd have an old Elise over a Tesla any day, even if it is slower. The Elise is made of aluminum and fiber glass so it will last forever, there's very little to break on it and their engines are simple and dirt cheap. Nothing on a Tesla is cheap.
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Did you not see the leaf leases, some were insane cheap. Like £99 a month.

Haven’t you just commented on another thread that aluminium is bad as there are no specialists? Yet just gave that as a reason to have an Elise.

PS: the model S is aluminium. Oh and the interior is cheap.
 
A model 3 won't be a toy for the wealthy.

At the very least it's put the wind up people like BMW who are now releasing a pure electric 3 series when the next generation car is released.
 
crinkleshoes said:
Huh... for some reason I had thought the C43 was a 4-pot, didn't realise it was a V6 til you said that.

Looks like it's just the A45 that's a highly strung 4-pot.

C43 sounds like it might make a good 340i/440i contender then.

Still... that 4.0tt in the C63 put a massive smile on my face every time I drove it for the 3 months I had it.
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Hooray for some W205 C63 love, took delivery of mine on 1 Nov 17 and it has exceeded expectations. I was interested in an R8 (absolutely wonderful car - Housey I gush over yours) but settled on the C63 (2 young kids, need space for them and apparently the boot isn't legal xD), I have a love affair with V8's (used to build small/big block Chevy's). Are any of you guys going to any meets soon? Crinkle I want to go for a spin in the Caterham! We can talk about crypto, setting fire to 6950x's and how even at an old age boobs are perky if you teach the missus to do hand stands?
 
Sounds good dude... maybe come along to a track day when the weather's good? Bring the C63... they're fun to slide everywhere :)

I love the new engine... seems a lot of people disagree... but I think it's better than the 6.2NA... and I never thought I'd say a smaller twin turbo is better than a larger NA.

The way the 4tt revs, along with the better gear ratios and much faster gearbox really bring it to life. Plus, especially with the sports exhaust that comes standard on the S model... the noise it makes is damn addictive. The bark at kicking the throttle from idle is glorious.
 
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