One or Two Nicec Ones

[steelroe]

Not sure if these are old averts or not

http://www.compucars.co.uk/search.asp?model=138

[kevinod]

Look good alright, but expensive - 10k stg for 94 tip GR... 10k stg for 95 manual gr, then only 7k stg for 96 GPX? Very strange pricing...

Kev.

[Caroline]

yeah, they are really expensive. Nice cars though.

Why are they so much more expensive in the UK?

[Myfeckin FTO]

Why are they so much more expensive in the UK?

UK is a very different market to Ireland - there is a number of factors - not least insurance being cheaper - less wear & tear on 95-97 models - a bouyant UK market for this type of sports car and of course the seldom realised fact that FTO's are seriously undervalued in Ireland.

A few years ago in Ireland FTO's were very expensive indeed - My first FTO was imported in 99 for 22K Irish Punts - by the time I bought it (in 2001) - its value had fallen to 10K Euros (still with just 20K miles on clock). There was a period of huge depreciation in FTO's between '99 and '01 and it seems that the Irish FTO market has not picked up since.

The Irish market for expensive to tax/insure/maintain sports cars that don't have a BMW or Merc badge on them is pretty small.
Still - at least the FTO values won't really fall beyond where they are at the moment - if you have just spent 6-8K on a nice clean FTO I think you can be pretty confident that you will not loose a lot of money on the car over the next couple of years.

IMO there is no better car that can be bought for 8K Euros. The UK market where 95-97 cars sell regularly for 6-8K GBP (9K - 11K Euros) is testament to this.

[Mustang]

Like you said before MFFTO, the UK market is a lot more mature. And yes the FTO is way undervalued. But I think a contributary factor is the fact that there are a lot of very rough ones out there, (this in tern is due partly to a lack of awareness and knowledge of the car) and I think that these cars are setting the market value, making it hard to command a premium for a well kept one! Just look at the prices commanded for MR2's and MX5's. Evergreen resale regardless of age! Pitty the same can't be said for the FTO

There was a period of huge depreciation in FTO's between '99 and '01 and it seems that the Irish FTO market has not picked up since.

For what it's worth I would be willing to sell my car for above current market rates in an effort to help an upward trend in prices

Mustang

[kevinod]

Evergreen resale regardless of age! Pitty the same can't be said for the FTO

True, if you already own one, but I think there'd be a lot fewer around (and a lot fewer on fto-ireland.com!) if they were much more expensive.

Pay less for them, still get an excellent car, and you have less depreciation, works for me!

Kev.