Value of a used 818?

[D2W]

Hypothetical question. What do you think the 818 will be worth after there are a bunch of completed ones on the market? If it takes 15K to 20K to build one, how much will it be worth at sale time? As far as I'm concerned you will never be able to recover your labor, only a portion of what you have invested in parts. To me the 818 will be a toy, and any toy I generally buy I hope to recoup a large portion of my investment. Tell me what you think.

[readymix]

I don't see why you couldn't re-coup some of your labor. You just have to decide what your labor is worth to you. If you search around these forums, you'll see that alot of these guys don't build their kits themselves. They pay someone else to do it for them. The same may apply to the 818, and as such, someone may pay you top dollar for one that is already completed and sorted. They may like the look of the car, or the platform and its capabilities. But they don't have the skills or the time to build one themselves. Another thing to consider is what motor you are using, and what the rated power output of your setup is. If you have a well sorted STi with some power goodies on it, and you've got dyno sheets showing what it can do, that would likely bring you a little more than say a base model impreza N/A powertrain 818. There are alot of factors. And alot of it will be based on the fit and finish of customer cars and the spread of quality throughout the car base. Obviously, if you put the time and effort into making your 818 and doing it right and paying attention to detail, you're going to fetch a little more than the guy that spends 2 weeks trying to get his out the door and leaving it with the gelcoating on the panels.

[D2W]

No question that a well put together 818 will fetch a higher price than a lower quality one. I was basing my question more on the fact of what would a car such as the 818 that has no previous history (like a FFR roadster replicates the C0br@) garner in the way of resale. As an example an owner of a FFR roadster seems to be able to get maybe 75% back on the parts cost that they put into it not including labor. Pro built/better parts/higher build quality sell for a higher percentage but overall that's what I see. In some ways FFR is their own worst enemy in that the more they build the lower the value of the finished ones. Supply and demand of course drives sale prices.

[thebeerbaron]

I can't believe you're thinking about resale on a car that doesn't exist yet. :)

I see things differently - my investment in the 818 will be paying for fun times: for $15,000 I get months of fun building a car that I can then drive around the track like a hooligan. So I'm less worried in recouping anything from my "toy" because the act of building it is enjoying some of the "investment".

I don't think the 818 will be any different in terms of resale value than any other FFR product. Kit cars that command real premiums above the kit purchase price are the ones with limited availability. And I hope that's not going to be an issue here!

[riptide motorsport]

You guys kill me!

[Niburu]

Your freetime is worth exactly that, as it doesn't cost you anything, hence the term "freetime".
A professional shop can charge for there time as they have overhead costs, like liabilty insurance, actual labor costs etc...
Realistically though, you could probably get around $20-25K for a finished 818.

[f31monkey]

You guys kill me!

Seriously people. haha

[Bill_H]

It's pretty easy to find used FFR roadsters or other similar replicas on eBay, and lots of the ads will say things like "over xx,xxx invested, but I'm willing to let it go for yy,yyy." That should give you an idea of the likely resale value.

[Bluewinters21]

I don’t know how people sale there projects so easily. Every car I build is special to me. I try to limit myself to three vehicles at a time. When I have to get rid of one to build another, it’s hard to let it go… :(```

[Someday I Suppose]

I agree with Beer, but based on the other replica's out there, if your lucky it will be worth the sum of its parts, but honestly in the roadster world you can buy a car for less then you can build one. That ebbs a bit based on the economy, in a poor economy more people are looking to sell toys, supply goes up, and the price goes down. In a good economy there are fewer cars on the market and the value goes up, no reason to expect different in the 818.

For me, part of my decision to build a roadster was that Joe Nobody's labor wasn't worth anything to me, and when I look at a great number of people who have built cars, the fact that it is already assembled is sometimes worth less. The reason being that many of them end up getting taken back apart and build 'right'. (right in this case being built how the owner wants it) In the end so often there is as much if not more labor in buying a car already complete then there is in buying a kit.

There are some exceptions of course, there have been some exceptional cars which sold at a premium, again no reason to expect there won't be some really special 818 builds that will do the same.

-Scott

[Fast818]

I think it depends on the build. 400+ HP motor,special wheels and tries , top paint job, great interior. Presentation is half the sale. $20-40K the better looking and performing the more someone will pay.
Usual your cost/labor and maybe a little profit because everyone knows the cost of the kit and the approx $ of the parts. Guys that sell unfinished kits/cars will always less because it is a project and someones half finished job. You never know just how good the half finished job is...???