Heroditus Huxley has a post up about car values that got me curious to see how mine are holding up. So, I did a little research.
According to Kelly Blue Book, the Mustang is worth about half what I paid for it, but of course I bought it brand-spanking new and I've put more than the average number of miles on it. The Baja, on the other hand, is worth about 4K less than I paid for it, but I bought it used. I've had it almost 4 years and once again I've put more than the average number of miles on it.
The depreciation on the Mustang is more due to the fact that I went from brand-new zero mileage value to four years old and higher than average mileage value, and the Baja would be worth another thousand dollars if it had the average number of miles on it rather than the 40K extra that it has. And as much as I love my Mustang, I think I would miss the Baja more if for some reason I lost both of them. I could always find another Mustang convertible, but they don't make Bajas any more (and didn't make a whole lot of them to begin with).
Side note, apropos of nothing I suppose, the Baja regularly gets slammed by automotive journalists and internet pundits mostly for the fairly outrageous Pontiac style plastic cladding along the bottom and the short bed, but they are extremely popular among those who own them. KBB has an owner appreciation rating of 9.1 out of 10.
In either case, the enjoyment I've gotten out of not having
to put a wrench to either one of them (much, in the case of the Baja,
and not at all in case of the Mustang) for other than routine
maintenance and desired modifications has far outstripped the value lost on either of them
as measured by Kelly Blue Book.
Getting There
10 months ago
2 comments:
Back when they were still making them, I wanted a Brat. I thought they were kind of fun. My SCUBA instructor had 2 of them. We could swap out the engines in a couple of hours without a hoist.
The BRATs were cool little trucklets, I really liked the seats in the bed. I think most of them were AWD, but they could be had in FWD as well.
Trivial note, the BRAT was one of only three FWD pickups ever sold in the US; the other two were the Rampage and the VW Rabbit. Neither of the other two were produced as long as the BRAT.
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