I'm just wondering what you guys think. as the title says do you guys think they will appreciate or deappreciate in years to come. with stock parts becoming harder and more expensive to find. And cars can only decline.... think aftermarket parts on the car will deappreciate the value in the future. just curious of what you guys think if a rx-7 is a good investment to have besides all the fun we have with them.
Dirk

 

This question has been asked a million times. I suppose every owner wants his vehicle to get more valuable but the bottom line is Japanese sports cars do not have the stature of European counterparts or American muscle cars. That may change in the future but for now I don't bank on it. Be happy with what you have and enjoy it as is.

 

no, these cars will only deprechiate. an fd is probably one of the worst "investments" you can make, especially if you mod them with aftermarket parts.

 

I am with moehler. . . .

If you can afford a car that appriciates in value you are not worried about the car appriciating.... . . E.G. 166mm, 250GT, 250LM, etc.

 

A pristine, low-mileage stock FD is likely to appreciate quite nicely over the years. Anything else is likely to reach 'low' point and then possibly appreciate as rarity becomes more and more of a factor. I personally think that most of our cars, i.e. the daily drivers that have ~100K miles or so on them will reach a point where their value falls to around $10K - $15K regardless of year, and then I can see them going up to perhaps be worth double that amount in the next 10 years or so.

I've owned several Triumph automobiles over the years, and have seen mixed results. For example, a nice TR6 will bring a pretty penny these days, where as the much-maligned TR7 can hardly be GIVEN away! But then, I've seen some nice TR8 cars go for double and triple their original list here recently, simply because there weren't very many of them made (and to find a RUNNING one is pretty rare...lol!)

There are a few other cars that have in the past been similar to the FD as far as how their value went, cars like the Fiat X1/9, the Opel GT, the Alfa Romeo GTV, and perhaps (stretching a bit here) the Toyota 2000 GT are a few that come to mind. Nearly every one of these cars hit a sort of 'rock bottom' only to rebound nicely several years after their availability became more difficult.

But I agree with others here that say that the FD will NEVER be a car that is given true "collector" status. So it is up to us to enjoy them, love them, take care of them, and to remind the world that for a few short years, the Japanese made a near-supercar called the 3rd Generation Mazda RX-7.

 

I don't think the FD has hit bottom yet, or even come close. But as a generation of "20 to 30-somethings" gets older, I think SOME of the Japanese cars, FDs, Supras, 300Zs etc. may reverse current trends and become collectible, just as the muscle cars of the late 60s became desirable as that generation aged. Of course I wouldn't buy one for that reason, as any interest bearing savings account would yield a better return.

 

well like all cars, they depreciate, unless you have a collector's car like a ferrari, porsche etc etc..

but like cars from the 60s like the cobra and whatnot dont really become a classic collectors icon til like 20-30 some odd years later..i think after 20 years, a car can get historic plates..maybe thats when they start determining whats a collectors car and whats not? if thats the case, i guess the fb is not..lol

but i can see a decade or 2 from now, prob with less than half of fds there are on the road due to accidents, and fires and other misc that it will be a collectors car..i know ill still have my car then..

 

The FD is yes, a bad investment if you're looking for a reliable daily driver. Performance wise... no I don't think they will. Plenty of power is still being pulled out of these cars and as a drag, track or project car. The beauty and performance of this car will still be appreciated but as for reliability and people looking to have this as daily drivers in the near future... deppreaciate. So I guess it's up to the consumers decision.

Jeremy

 

hahahahahahaha.......ahahaahahahah.....<wipes tear from eye>....hahahhahahaaha

 

Its a car not a stock fund or a house hehehe =).

 

IMO, they will depreciate for a few more years. But....

When the total # of FD cars gets really low (around 2 thousand left), they will become more valuable to a collector. A kid who sells one today will eventually see a nice FD years later, and be making enough $$$ to buy a nice one. Likewise with someone who couldn't afford one before. Others will just want them for the looks and the fact that they are rare. These factors will drive up the value in time.

The cars that appreciate will be: in excellent low mileage condition, not modded, thrashed or crashed.

Everyone has an opinion on this, but only time will tell. My guess is that it will be in about 10 years.

If you own one of these cars now and think they will just continue to depreciate until they are nearly worthless, you don't understand or appreciate the car for what it is. Someday you can tell your kids, " I had one of those cars once and gave it away!!"

 

It's hard to say. This car has many qualities that can also be found in cars that are now thought of as 'collectibles' or 'musclecars.' Whether it becomes valuable will depend on a lot of things. Old sportscars might be less valuable if automakers keep building decent new sportscars. If you had $60k, would you buy an '05 Corvette Z06 or a '63 Corvette (split-window) Z06? The new one is faster, will run for years with little maintenance, and can be easily replaced if your significant other wrecks it. Most people will be less likely to buy vintage sportscars if the modern ones continue to be as good as those of today.


Here's some fun: when someone says "60's musclecar" what comes to mind?
How about 70's musclecar?
80's?
90's?

To many people, the FD3S is on the 90's list. To many others, it doesn't have enough heritage or popularity compared to names like Porsche, Ferrarri, Viper, Corvette, etc...

-s-

 

I think SexyRx has one of the only collectible FDs considering it's mislabeled as a 96 (made in late 95) and has 6k some miles. There are a few more that are virtually undriven - but any of them with more than say 50k miles will depreciate for at least 10-20 years. It will probably have to go through an unpopular phase before people get nostalgic and want one. As nice looking as these cars are, history is remarkably consistent - as much as I love whale-tail 911 turbos, you don't see a whole lot of them now. The broader demand and appreciation will come back while after that.

Dave

 

80's muscle canidates are few and far between, same goes for the later 70's.

Buick GN and ZR1 are a couple.

The funny thing is that the extremely low mileage original Vega, Pinto or Pacer might pull big $$ at an auction when some billionaire remembers riding around in the back of one when he was 8 yrs old.

 

As long as Mazda is controlled by Ford, and Ford is focusing on SUVs for money, the next RX-7 won't happen. It's too risky.

Dave

 

It'll also depend on the price/performance level of future sport cars, if mazda comes out with a 300hp lightweight 4th gen rx7, we fd owners are doomed Of course if from now on, we only get econo boxes from auto manufactures, fd value will appreciate quite alot, yes i know keep dreaming right

 

I'll bet the VIN has an "S" in it, just like mine.

 

turbojeff, the shortage of good sports cars during those years is what, in my opinion, helped make the classic musclecars more valuable; people couldn't buy sporty modern cars, so they bought the cars they had loved when they were younger.

Maybe 'musclecar' wasn't exactly the word I was looking for. If we open it up to 'supercar' or 'sportscar' then you've got some Porsches and maybe the BMW M3 (did they call it an M3 in the 80's?), the Mitsubishi Starion might be considered, as well as the 5.0 Mustang which was late 80's I believe.

For the 90's, you've got the Porsche Turbo, Ferrari and other exotics like McLaren F1, etc. Of the more common cars, the C5 Corvette and BMW M3's should hold their value. Some people might consider the special-edition Mustangs to be classics eventually, but they will probably be the lower end of the price range. With the amount of people in their early 20's who are import fans, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3rd Gen RX-7 is thought of as desirable in about 10-15 years. The Supra is already valuable as well as tough to find today, so that trend should continue. The Mitsubishi 3000GT doesn't seem to be doing so well. The drifters have made the 84-87 Toyota Corolla GT-S a tough find, their value has almost doubled in the past few years. It will be interesting to see how that goes. The 2nd-gen MR2 is pretty common in non-turbo form, I wonder if they will ever be classics.

-s-

 

I am a student at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design and as an automotive design student... many instructors believe the RX7 is one of history's masterpiece. The RX7 also is in the top 100 car design catagories... not to mention the designer graduated from my school as well.....
I believe it will greatly be appricieated~~~

 

I kindof relized that they will take years befor they appreciate, so i ended up selling my FD for an airplane. A wise desicison IMO, becuase airplanes dont lose there value... I really do miss my FD alot though

 

what do you mean when? The prices have already smashed through the floor and are still picking up speed. FD's in average shape are having trouble going for $12K. When the new "supra" appears in the US it is going to be sold under the Lexus brand name and is going to be around $100K or so, not even in the same category. I won't hold my breath for the new RX7.

 

I personally think the future bodes well for Import Performance cars, simply because they are the 'Musclecar' of today's youth.

When I was a teenager, I had a few 60s Mopar cars that now seem to be quite desirable and valuable. Why? Partly because they were the cars of our youth, and we (40-somethings) can now afford the best examples of them for nostalgia AND investment.
In the same way, I expect the best examples of today's import scene to be desirable in the distant future as well.

 

I think an FD in good shape has hit the bottom of its depreciation curve.

I almost bought this car new in 93, but didn't b/c I was too financially responsible back then and didn't want a car payment floating over my head. Then I watched the prices for used examples slowly drop over the next 10 years. Yes I did look and test drive a few every summer and no I didn't seek any therapy (wind up buying one instead)

Believe it or not, the price for an FD appears to be very stable in the mid-teens for one in good shape. The NSX and Supra depreciation curve is similar. So is the old BMW e30 M3 if you want to plot their pricing scale in a spreadsheet.

And there are collectible Japanese cars. Think the old 240Z, Datsun 510 and a few other cars from the 70s. The FD and to a lesser extent the Turbo II and GTU will and do have a special place for the sports car enthusiast.

 

Only the pristine and fully stock examples are worth money, the rest are just old cars.

At minimum most every FD has been adulterated with mods and you can be certain these cars will never be worth anything remarkable. Maybe in 2018 when the FD is 25 years old the car will be worth something but for the next 10 years you can be certain they will continue to get cheaper.

 

I dont think the price of a good condition FD (regardless of miles) will stray too far from where it is now. I would be willing to bet that 10k is going to be ruffly the lowest point for price as time proceeds for a good model.
That being said, I dont feel that unmodified FDs are going to worth any less then bone stock ones. The reasoning for this is, the people who desire these cars are in an era of modifying cars. Modifying cars is only getting more popular. When the teenagers of today turn into there 30s and 40s they are going to be searching for cars like these (making them of more value). Do you think they are going to be interested in a bone stock car, I dont (unless of course they plan to do all the modifications them selves). I for one will always be into modifying cars. Whether its an Rx-7 or a ferrari, every sports I ever own will end up being modified in one way or the other. The way I feel is, why buy the likes of the more expensive cars and leave them stock, when you can buy the relatively cheaper cars and make them faster and track better. The only reason i would have for buying the more expensive cars would be to have a better starting platform.

Another thing to take into account when determining prices for these cars in the future would be; What happens if we hit another fuel crisis, like we did in 74'? that is the main reason why 60s musclecars are of so much value. Its because everything from 74' to ruffly the early 90s, has been pretty much junk in terms of performance (with the exception of exotics, of course). Early 90s cars arent of as much value because they are still in the fairly new and depreciating category. If in the near future we get in a panic for fuel economy and lose touch with sports cars, the people who do desire speed and tracking, are going to be searching for cars that are capable, and where do you think the 3rd gen rx7 falls?

Adam