To Keep or Trade??? XR8 for a Monaro??

[Falcon97]

We are ford fans from childhood, and my husband now has his dream car XR8 BA 2003. But now his thinking of trading it in for a Monaro......New version Monaro. He reasoning for this is he says the Monaro would be worth alot more in his retirement years to come over the XR8.... there were less Monaro's made.....and thinks they will become a rare thing .....
What do you guys think??? Never owned a HOLDEN!! But is there any general issues with the new version Monaro and is it worth the swap/trade. The XR only comes out on weekends, and so will the Monaro.....Not sure what to do??

[Smoke Pursuit]

He will be waiting a while before the monaro appreciates if you have a look at them on carsales...

Anything new today will depreciate in the short term, unless you bought a Cobra for the right money or a 40th Aniversary GT.

[gcg2503]

Welcome to AFF

In my opinion, I doubt that the Monaro's or XR8s will be worth anything significant come retirement!

[TS50]

Originally Posted by gcg2503

Welcome to AFF

In my opinion, I doubt that the Monaro's or XR8s will be worth anything significant come retirement!

I agree, buy a car because you have the passion for it ,and want to drive it
Cars are never going to e a great investment
and how many Monaros were made? more than you think I believe
But if the Monaro floats his boat more than the XR8 go for it

[russxr67]

Originally Posted by Falcon97

We are ford fans from childhood, and my husband now has his dream car XR8 BA 2003. But now his thinking of trading it in for a Monaro......New version Monaro. He reasoning for this is he says the Monaro would be worth alot more in his retirement years to come over the XR8.... there were less Monaro's made.....and thinks they will become a rare thing .....
What do you guys think??? Never owned a HOLDEN!! But is there any general issues with the new version Monaro and is it worth the swap/trade. The XR only comes out on weekends, and so will the Monaro.....Not sure what to do??

Me thinks your husband is a smart fella. If you can afford to buy one and sit on it then chances are ,given the relatively short lifespan of the Monaro,that it will be one of those cars that will do well in the future.

[data_mine]

Only 'new' Monaro's I beleive to have any collectability, would be the HSV versions (GTO, Coupe, Coupe4)

[BPXR6T]

Logic and history say a monaro will be worth more dollars in future than an XR8. A coupe will always be worth more dollars in an enthusiast market where practicality comes second.

[GTJOHN]

Unless its a real Monaro with a HOLDEN badge pre 1977 ...keep the XR8 ..dotn get one of those commodores that lost 2 doors ...

[302 XC]

why do people buys cars and THINK they will be worth more in retirement years ?
if everyone EVER thought the PHASE 3 would be worth 750+k in 2000-2005 ect
everyone would have bought them and stored them (in the 70s and 80s,when they werent worth much), and then they would be worth nothing now because they would be everywhere
u buy a car cause its u want , to many people buy on investment only and there hearts are shattered years latter when their prized possesion is worthless
theres not to many new cars that u could by now and guareentee u would get a great return years later
a mate just bought a cv8 monaro of the original owner for 28k less than the original price
not a good return there

[Brazen]

Monaro would be worth more than an XR8 in the future, anyone who says otherwise has got their Ford blinkers on.

I wouldnt hesitate in getting a Monaro, best modern Aussie car design out there.

[TS50]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Monaro would be worth more than an XR8 in the future, anyone who says otherwise has got their Ford blinkers on.

I wouldnt hesitate in getting a Monaro, best modern Aussie car design out there.

I wasnt saying the Monaro would'nt be worth more in years to come
but not enough to make it an investment option
Cars on the whole DO NOT make good investments
buy a car for passion, not for investment

[GTP owner]

cars are not a good investment option. If you are doing it for the money - sell the xr8 and invest it elsewhere. But in terms of better return (less loss?), the monaro has a better chance than the xr8.

[cosmo20btt]

If you buying any thing to sit on till your retirement,it would need to have been made in small batches of about 500 or less, things like W427 or an FPV owned & signature d by a Super car driver, Cars like these are the only ones that will continue to appreciate. Others will continue to drop in price for a very long time before they will start to creep up in price, but there are bargains out there, so it pays to look. Personally I think the Monaro will go up in price, but it might be your grand kids that will see the fruit of your wait.

[GTpilot]

Keep the XR8 and put the money in to property if you want a retirement investment.
Cars today are not built like they were 30 yrs ago.

[trippytaka]

I agree with the consensus that they aren't going to appreciate that much in the short term. Probably never to be honest. Classic muscle cars are popular for a number of reasons... they were road going versions of the cars raced @ Bathurst. Not like today, where you have a shell bolted to a race chassis etc. Secondly, the limited numbers were really limited. E.g. look at the VK Group A/3 only 53 (I think) ever built.

I say buy the one you like driving most. My two cents, the XR8 has 1000 times better steering and suspension. It's much more predictable and a lot less lazy on the road... plus it has 4 doors. The Monaro really isn't that great to live with day-to-day (shopping, carting family around etc).

[GT0132]

When the new generation Monaros were released earlier this decade (or was it late 90's ???) I was blown away by how great they looked. When I bought my 2005 FPV GT two years ago I considered a similar aged Monaro but the practicality of a 4 door car won over (I have kids) - not to mention I've only ever owned Fords and the BA Ford was a hot looker as well....I look at the 2004/05 model VZ GTO's today and they don't have the appeal they used to for me. As to collectibility in years to come they would IMO do well compared to a BA XR8 remembering that the equivalent GMH product to your XR8 is the SS Commodore.

The asking prices on Carsales for 04/05 model V2 series 3 HSV GTO's swings wildly varying from around $40k up to $68k for an 04 model in Quicksilver metallic done 42k kays (seems way over priced)

The pick of whats there seems to be a 2005 Silver example, 6 speed manual with 32,000 kms on her asking in the mid 40's

[eb2fairmont]

The Coupe 4 has my vote.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Yeah I definitely think the Monaro will out appreciate the XR8 but like mentioned it will be very long time before it pays off. I would say the CV8Z would be the pick of them. Or for absolute rarity how about a Coupe4?

I was seriously considering buying a CV8Z myself, just as a car not an investment. Not sure if I could bring myself to turn to the darkside though.

Edit: beat me to it ebfairmont

[Director]

manual TS50, series 3 is the answer

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by GTJOHN

Unless its a real Monaro with a HOLDEN badge pre 1977 ...keep the XR8 ..dotn get one of those commodores that lost 2 doors ...

What do you think pre-77 Monaros were then? They were basically 2 door Kingswoods mate.

[trippytaka]

Originally Posted by Ryan

What do you think pre-77 Monaros were then? They were basically 2 door Kingswoods mate.

I wouldn't say pre-77, I'd say pre-71/2 ish... once the 4-door Monaro was introduced the badge was immediately destroyed.

[bingoTE50]

I like the Monaros , in fact I nearly bought a black one , very nice.
They should hold their value longer than a XR8 , but I suppose as others have said ,the HSV versions will be more desirable.Maybe look at the TE/TS50 or the Aussie released Mustang 4.6 late 90's early 00's( not sure) or upgrade to a GT.

[Fev]

I'd agree with him that the Monaro's will hold their value better then the XR8's. They will hit a base line and start to appreciate again like most cars, but sooner and higher.

[WASP]

Buy the car you love the most, first and foremost. The rest will take care of itself. Logic has no place in passionate or emotional purchases. As enthusiasts, the more logic applied to the decision making process, less likely one is going to hang onto what is purchased from this decision.

Hypothetically speaking then, if he is passionate about his XR8, but the Monaro is the more logical choice, then purchasing of the Monaro is likely to end up as a trade-in on a newer XR8 in years to come. Oh and by the way, the new XR8 will never be as good as the old XR8 he used to have....

[Rodp]

I've toyed with the idea of getting a Monaro.. only because I like the shape, not because I think it'll be worth something sometime in the future - it doesn't have the pedigree of the ~40 year old vehicles that are fetching top dollar.

If your husband's dream car is a 2003 XR8 and he now owns one, he's already living the dream. Leave the Monaro alone, the chances of it appreciating to anything significant are minimal. You're better off getting the cash you were going to have to pay in the changeover and investing it, guaranteed it will grow more than a Monaro come retirement time.

[FPV8U]

Keep the XR8, the new gen monaros will hit rock bottom in 5-6 Years, snap one up then if you must.

[auxr]

For my 2 cents worth - far better to invest the value between trade & purchase of a Monaro into a share portfolio, far better return.

As previously posted, a purchase of a vehicle usually is not a rational decision but an impulsive purchase - keep the XR8, it will be a long wait for a HSV Monaro to appreciate to the extent that it will partially fund a retirement.

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by trippytaka

I wouldn't say pre-77, I'd say pre-71/2 ish... once the 4-door Monaro was introduced the badge was immediately destroyed.

agree with that...had a neighbour with a 1977 HX 4 door Monaro 308ci (5 litre) over 30 years ago and it looked hideous and was a discredit to the good name of Monaro

[Falcon Coupe]

In my opinion neither car will will be worth much as an investment for many years. An investment in driving pleasure is more important.

I'd take Monaro, it's esthetically pleasing and whilst hardly inspiring in stock form (most cars are not IMO) is easy to extract good power from and great to drive.

The XR8 would be better if you have a young family, it also has a more aggressive looking front end.

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

Keep the XR8, the new gen monaros will hit rock bottom in 5-6 Years, snap one up then if you must.

Thats a huge call I must say....Looking at the prices they are advertised for (and obviously assuming they are getting those prices) then they are doing much better than their XR8 and FPV cousins of the same vintage