The average used car costs $15,300? That seems pretty wild. Are the classic Porsches that sell for $10 million dragging the average up?
* Even Steve McQueen's 917K only sold for $14.08M the other day.
* A 956 with five LeMans wins sold for $10.12M.
* The L&M sponsored 917/10 sold for $5.83M.
* A RS60 Spyder with an amazing pedigree sold for $5.40M.
* Jerry Seinfeld's 550 Spyder sold for $5.33M.
* Paul Newman's 935 sold for $4.84M.
... and the list falls from there. As usual, the most valuable Porsches have pedigree as winning race cars. Even the rarest road-going Porsches (959 Sports) I believe are all worth under $2M (save for wacky stuff like the flat-8 904), and only until recently (past 10-15 years) have Porsches really appreciated in value.
I love the 956 as much as the next guy (more, even) but the only model to ever win Le Mans five times was the Audi R8, and it wasn't with the same chassis, I'm sure. Did you mean they sold a Le Mans chassis that won five races, more generally? Not trying to be a pedant, I'm honestly curious which car you're talking about.
> The L&M sponsored 917/10 sold for $5.83M
That's a surprisingly small figure. Which really speaks to your point, I guess.
Regardless, most "classic Porsches" sell for under $100K. As I mentioned in another comment, the bulk of what's sold are 1978 - 1993 911s. 964s trade hands around $50-65K, and SCs more around $20-35K. Yes, there's stuff outside of that (Very good 993s commanding ~$100K now, 930 Turbos definitely not cheap, all RSs definitely not cheap due to rarity, 993 GT2s very expensive as well), but the bulk of non-supercar classic Porsches are very affordable until you get into the rare top-shelf stuff or the very old: in which value is dictated by pedigree, condition and rarity.
Additionally, with ~22 million used cars sold and registered in the US every year, a single 8-digit sale does not materially affect the average selling price of used cars. Never mind the fact that no used Porsche commands anywhere near $30M (and I believe only five Porsches are in the Top 100 most expensive cars sold of all time), which is where I had serious issue with the OP.
Until very recently, Ferrari limited worldwide production to 7000 total units (now it's 9000). Historically that was limited to demand (being unable to SELL 7000 units). Porsche sells about 20 times as many vehicles, so they're far less rare. Porsche sells more 911s in the US every year than Ferrari sells all its models combined worldwide, and has recently pushed 911 #1,000,000 out of the factory.
That's actually why we are in a Porsche bubble. It's difficult to get into very old Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Lamborghinis, and other special cars of bygone eras because they've gotten too expensive. Collectors simply moved on to the next best thing -- Porsches, which also have very reasonable running costs in the scheme of things. The non-survivors are mostly transaxle cars and older Cayennes.
The Porsches worth good money are top-shelf performance, end of an era, rare as hell (< 500 produced/surviving), and/or have pedigree. The rest are nice cars with great dynamics and build quality (a few exceptions aside), and there's enough to satisfy demand. Modern stuff lives in a bit of a bubble as supply was less than demand, but usually that settles down after a few years when the "latest and greatest" that everyone wants comes out. Supercars and limited production top-shelf stuff aside, it'll be 30+ years before anything newer than 30 years really appreciates, and I say that having an odd one that is currently trading hands for 10-15% more than I paid for my custom order (new) 2 years ago (but I'll never part with it).
Or check out Toyota Camrys, 2012 model year. You'll typically pay around $14,000 to $16,000 to get into one with 40,000 to 60,000 miles. So that's a 5+ year old car, a mid-value sedan, with a fair bit of mileage.
The average new car price is around $32,000.
The average price of the first 30 used cars for sale by owner on the Seattle craigslist is $5,896: https://seattle.craigslist.org/search/cto
Average price of the first 30 by dealer however, is $21,567: https://seattle.craigslist.org/search/ctd But who would be dumb enough to buy a used car from a lot?
I bought an Audi off lease last year. It's still under warranty, free maintenance (until 80k km), low mileage (37k km), fully loaded with options, and I saved $20k vs a new one.
It's not. The parent doesn't appear to understand the used car market in the US. Most people are not buying their used cars for $6,000 off of craigslist, that's a good way to end up with a pile of junk. It's a bad idea to buy a mid-value or higher used car outside the CPO or remaining original warranty programs if you can help it, ideally from a dealer.
They lease it and then ownership ends up with some dealer at the end of the lease.
CPO cars have a warranty, which sharply limits your downside risk. Buying a used car from a manufacturer is a much better deal than buying it from a third party.
Generally not as nice as CPO, but it's something.
Obviously, cars rarely fall apart as you drive them off the lot. Yes, there could be unexpected expensive repairs. But there's basically no realistic scenario in which you're going to be out the entire $35k.
I understand that you're exaggerating for effect, but it's this kind of thinking that convinces people to purchase expensive warranties that aren't (statistically) worth the price.
Tens of millions of people. It depends entirely on what you're buying. For example if you want to buy a certified pre-owned vehicle, you're frequently going to buy it off the lot from a dealership. The CPO programs from the major manufacturers are typically excellent. If you're buying a nice used car, with relatively low miles & a recent model year, it's more often dumb to go any other way than a reputable dealer + CPO.
Me, because it came with a 7 year warranty. The price was good and the dealer offers a shuttle to and from my work (or my home) when it is in for maintenance.
If I had a used car worth 20K still in a maintenance window I wouldn't sell it on Craigslist. Autotrader if I wanted to private-party to max my upside, dealer if I was lazy.
Your 20k used car is 2-3 years old and coming off lease, or the same car as a trade in. The dealer will put it on the lot with a "just off trade" sticker and sell it. It might or might not go on Craigslist. (if it is listed the ad finishes with "and many more cars like this so some in and see") If the dealer gets too many in on trade the rest go to an auto auction.
Remember, the dealer knows all the numbers that the leaser isn't told. The company who backed the lease 2-3 years ago did their best to make sure that when the car was turned in the dealer would look at the remaining value and think "profit if I buy that and sell it". The dealer is going to pay the lease company for the rest of the value of the car. If the dealer decides there isn't enough money in selling it the lease company has to send the car to an auto auction and see what price they can get. (I suspect that a lot more goes on in these cases but I don't know what)
Someone who needs a loan? I've bought/sold several cars on Craigslist, and it's always all-cash. Perhaps it's possible to get a loan from a bank to buy a car off CL, but it's easier to do so at a dealership.
In any case, anyone considering a new car and concerned about depreciation should consider leasing instead. That way you only pay the depreciation (which you'd pay anyway) and after 3 years you have the option of buying it as a used car for the remaining cost or moving on to a new car with no hassle trying to sell it.
And from the article:
>increasing share of those sales came with a lease
So, those leases become late-model, low-mileage used cars for sale.
How many used cars are sold in a year? It's got to be more than a million, doesn't it? So, yes, that $15 million Porsche drives up the average price... by $15. That's not significant.
1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_cars_...
That puts used car sales (including private sales) at around 22 million units, and nearly 40M total cars sold and registered in the US in 2016.
Regardless, if someone wants to complain about expensive classic cars, Porsches aren't the ones to complain about, with most (bulk being 911s from '78 - '93) trading hands well under $100K (964s being more like $50-65K, SCs more like $20-30K) despite the Porsche bubble that's been growing for a long while now -- since Ferraris long ago got too expensive for first time classic car buyers.