Can't afford that dream performance car? Just wait while depreciation does its thing
The same can be said of the latest C8-generation Audi RS 6. It’s only just gone out of production, and with word of a plug-in hybrid coming in the next version, prices have almost frozen, with no untarnished car available for under £80k. Not bad for a five-year-old Audi that cost from just over £90k new. Better still, the later Performance models seem to be clinging onto values of at least £100,000, which is barely any less than their retail prices when new.
At the lower end of the scale is the Honda Civic Type R. Many people were shocked when the circa-£50,000 FL5 variant arrived at a £15,000 premium over the previous-generation FK8, but values look pretty solid. Examples with average mileage are trading at less than 10 per cent below their new values, and in-stock cars at or above list price.
The crux of the matter is that, when an otherwise very sensible Audi A6 Avant is selling with a 10, 12 or 15 per cent discount from new – and the expectation is that another 50 per cent of its value will disappear over the course of three years – putting a little more money in up front and dealing with the added running costs might actually see something like an RS 6 Avant cost less to own over time.
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