Here Are The Most Over-Valued Old Cars

The answer is every damn older car. But since you’re looking for more than a one slide slideshow…

Early 90’s 300ZX. Particularly the twin turbo. This is self serving because I want one. But I don’t $40k want one. At that price, I’m more likely to get a new Z. I’ve seen high mileage cars get down into the $20k area, but anything with the mileage and condition that I’d like is double what I’d like to pay. It’s a 30 year old Nissan folks! Ok, it still looks amazing today, but come on!

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Submitted by: dolsh

And...counterpoint!

Counterpoint: The Z32 is almost a bargain among ‘90s bubble-era cars. Compared to an FD RX7 or a MKIV Supra, the Z32 is a steal.

Submitted by: smalleyxb122

Old Ferraris:

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Spend millions of dollars on a car that 1) Will never be driven. Or if it is driven, it’ll tootle around the grand estate at 15mph—really “exercise” the car. 2) Spend its remaining days in a climate-controlled garage or museum, meaning that if it was replaced by a fiberglass shell with the proper metal bits attached for display, no civilian could tell the difference. In other words, what’s the point of a car that is basically a 1.5 ton paperweight?

Submitted by: the1969DodgeChargerFan

And...

I mean, I think the obvious answer is the Ferrari 250 GTO. I mean, it is cool and at this point it is essentially an art piece, not a car. But should they really be worth $50+mm or whatever absurd amount they are now?

Submitted by: Big Block I-4

All the performance ones. Most 60s muscle cars could be absolutely destroyed by a modern “meh” car.

2024 Miata 14.4 second Quarter

It’s zippy, but not a powerhouse.

Per zeroto60times.com that the same as a Lamborghini Miura. The Miata is actually quicker to 60 and the Miura has to make a late run to match it.

It’s shocking how few cars in the 60s could beat a 14.4 quarter. No Porsche from the 60s got close.

To beat a new Miata with an old performance car in the quarter, it takes something insane. A 69 Charger can’t do it with the 440, it needs the Hemi.

Yes, with modern tires and some tune up and modifications, the 60s legends can really pick them up and put them down. But when you start looking at these cars, they are not fully streetable or not really anything like what they were when new.

This isn’t a thing about how those old things aren’t cool as hell and the like, but if you want to do more than impressive burnouts, you are much better off with a modern car.

Submitted by: hoser68

And...counterpoint!

I dunno, to me this is a bit like saying that The Weeknd makes better music than the Beatles because production quality has improved. Cars should be judged relative to the time they came out, give or take a model ahead and behind, but not against multi-generational improvements over decades.

Submitted by: threeserious

Any truck with a diesel

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Submitted by: Witchy Whale

And...

I wish I could disagree, but for what you’re getting the numbers just don’t add up. Had a friend recently trade in a 2019 F350 XL diesel dually. She bought it in 2019 with already having 50k mi on it for $46k. She recently started winding down her horse training business and sold the truck to a dealer for $48k+ with 65k miles on it. They haven’t even washed it yet (it’s a horse truck, which also means it’s a dog carrying truck, it’s *hairy*) and have it listed for $56k! This is not a trailer queen, this truck has not quite been abused, but it has been worked damn hard, doesn’t have most/any of the creature comforts and hasn’t even been washed yet. Crazy

Submitted by: IstillmissmyXJ

Any mass-produced muscle-car owned by a late-stage Boomer. Just because it was part of your high school fantasy doesn’t mean it is a good car. These things were never fast in anything but a straight line and now they can get dusted from a stoplight by a Camry.

Submitted by: 17 Seconds

And...

Don’t talk about my Chevelle SS that way!

Submitted by: spookiness

G-Wagons

Now I like the G-wagon. It’s a little too small inside for me seeing how big they are, and the older ones had a bit of a rough ride, however they are very fun vehicles. but my lord look at the prices!

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Nearly 30K$ for something that’s 21 years old with almost 200K miles on it. These are work horses and should be priced a little lower (but hey not bad they lasted as long as it did, for what it is). Mind you that is the lowest price.

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It’s Very clean, but my lord 100K for almost 100K miles, at 10 years old, from a luxury manufacturer. Whoever buys that should not become a finance advisor.

Submitted by: darthspartan117

I say this with love as I do admire them, but a good number of Porsches, mostly 911's, fantastic cars, some are truly rare and on another level of automotive existence such as the GT3s. But how much even a base 911 in mediocre condition can command now is ridiculous.

Submitted by: CitronC

And...

Big agree. And I have one. I bought it for 23 before anyone was paying attention, and I’d probably get 65 for it today - and it’s only really nice and honest, not great. They’ve generally got only about 200 hp, the steering is really heavy in daily driving, and I have to think hard about where to park it. Porsche made 400K+ of them, and a big bunch of them are still on the road. A lot of cars will help you out if you get into trouble, but an old 911 just won’t mind killing you. For 65K you can get an awful lot of car elsewhere.

And yet...

Submitted by: DGUTS

[Here’s Your Opportunity To Spend $2 Million On A Wrekced Lamborghini]

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Submitted by: StalePhish

Honestly, all of them.

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. It’s easy to look back at the objectively simpler cars of the past and think, “that was a real car.” But just like longing for the “simpler” politics of the past, it’s only better if you ignore some really, really bad stuff.

Old vehicles are to driving what “Make America Great Again” is to politics. Embrace the fact that what we have now is better, even if it’s more confusing sometimes, even if it means learning to be comfortable with stuff that seemed freaky when you were younger. It doesn’t mean we can’t look to the past and see some stuff that worked well and try to emulate it, but I’d take a Ford Maverick Hybrid over an old Tacoma any day.Embrace the fact that modern vehicles allow more people to experience the kind of comfort and performance that was once the domain of only a privileged few.

Submitted by: Buckfiddiousagain

And...a thorough counterpoint on next slide!

Full disclosure: I own a Tacoma. That said- there is a reason these command high prices. Because unless you live in the rust belt where the frames dissolve, these WILL run and run and run forever. I have had mine since new. It is now almost 27 years old. It has over 300,000 miles. It has had exactly two minor problems: The alternator went out and the valve cover started leaking oil. When I replaced the gasket it was the first time the engine had ever been cracked open and when I did, everything still looks brand new.
 
I would have no issue driving this across country. I don’t ever worry about it developing problems because it doesn’t ever have any. I know people with over a million miles on theirs and even so, minor shrug. The truth is that Toyota simply engineers vehicles that will last for enormous amounts of time and perform nearly flawlessly for 100's of thousands of miles. Sure- they made a few duds over the years but not nearly at the same level as Ford, GM, Chrysler and pretty much anyone else. If you buy a Ford then you are buying something unknown. Will it run for 300,000 miles or will it have yet another unforeseen fatal flaw? Perfect example: The awful 3.0 and 3.6 V6 engines GM put into everything that also has a nasty tendency to stretch their chains. Roll the dice.

So yeah- sorry, those Tacos sell for a lot because you get a known quantity. Its not going to be some piece of shit F-150 with oil starvation problems. Its not going to be a Chevy with a engine that eventually starts running like crap because of stretched timing chains. Its going to simply be a truck that you can count on, day in, day out, for years and for as long as you drive it.

Submitted by: ROBOT TURDS

First generation Mustangs

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The Mustang has be romanticized to the point where a rusted out hulk that has been sitting in a field is going for $3000 and a barely road-worthy example is $10-12K; meanwhile a Falcon (on which the Mustang is based) or Barracuda are being sold for a third of the price of a similar condition Mustang

Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I

Jeep XJ?

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And yet they’re pulling more than they did when new!

Submitted by: DGUTS

And...

Not quite the biggest POS I ever owned (that was a Ford Tempo), but my 94 XJ was a giant turd with endemic electrical issues.

Submitted by: Narkj Horning

[...] Old First Gen Broncos

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I could argue that they are expensive for a reason and hold or grow in value also but they seem crazy expensive for what they are.

Submitted by: 4jim

And...

Mid 80s and early 90s Ford Broncos. Every since Ford brought the Bronco back, prices of the mid 80's to early 90s Broncos have skyrocketed. Ones in decent shape are commanding well over $20k.

This for a mass produced, F-150 based 2-door SUV.

Submitted by: Mark Horning

I’ll say this because I own one. 2007 FJ Cruiser. I’ve had it for all of 3 years. She only has 103K and has never been abused or gone off roading (except maybe that one time I decided to go camping). I don’t get why they’re so damn expensive. Yes, the 4.0 will never die. But damn, she’s thirsty, slow and loud. She’s got some blind spots that mirror any new SUV except no creatures of comfort to go with it. Sure, they have a real cult following, but yet every time I try to sell it for what the market price is, I get hit with the “WHY ARE THEY SO EXPENSIVE”?

Submitted by: Alejandro

As much as it pains me to say it because I love those things and dearly miss mine - E30s. It’s overpaying for nostalgia over common sense. Even the M3 has performance that, by today’s even pre-EV standards, is...meh. There are plenty of used cars whose prices border on criminal, but few more so than these. And they aren’t yet SO old as to be true classics.

Late 90s/early aughties Rangers aren’t far behind.

Submitted by: InvoiceOrBust