Will Q45s ever appreciate in value?

[DrewQ45]

zerothread?id=165409

After reading that thread and seeing how much trouble people are having selling Q45s, I have to wonder if one day these cars will be worth zero. I mean... Edmunds is saying a 90' in fair condition is now worth $766 and they are still depreciating??? Excellent cond can fetch 3-4K.

I look at these cars and find it incredible that with the amount of engineering and build quality packed in, they are going that cheaply. I look at the ugly/boring Lexus of the same year and the prices are way higher. WHY?

Personally, I think it makes no sense to sell your Q if it's halfway decent and that is especially true for Nico Qs where we tend to invest more than average in the upkeep, mods, etc. When I tally up my reciepts...I think to myself, NO WAY will I sell this car.

I keep hoping that one day the public will wake up and start to realize that despite the bad advertising and poor business decisions that affected sales, these are great cars. I keep fantasizing the day when there will be growing cult following of these fine automobiles and they will be vigorously sought after..even becoming classics. Maybe Nico is helping that along. I'm going to keep enjoying mine until it becomes disavantagous to keep it.

What do you think?

...Drew...

[Jesda]

With the rarity and expense of parts, it'll be $400 in due time.

[Q_SHIP]

zerothread?id=165409Edmunds is saying a 90' in fair condition is now worth $766 and they are still depreciating??? ...

Find one for that.

[Falkdesigns]

Out here, ANY car that runs and is Smog OK is worth at least 1000-1500. I do hope they plateau soon though

[RobertsnewQ]

I'll be stoked if they never appreciate a penny.

Just means more cheap ones for us to get parts from

I love depreciated cars - that's one reason I don't have a newer one. Every time I've been tempted, I've lost money.

Besides, fixing up a G50 Q is still cheaper than the payments on anything even close in driving dynamics.

[Raxephon]

With the exception of insurance issues, it shouldn't really matter to Q45 owners who intend on keeping their cars for the long term.

(long term = senility or death, whichever comes first)

For the owners looking to sell or make a profit, it doesn't look too promising at the moment, but give it a few years. After all, the Q45 is still a teenager

[elwesso]

in the last year and a half, like I predicted, we have seen Y33 prices PLUMMET... Now you can get them for about 7000 in good shape.. Conversely. over the last year and a half the G50 has not really gone down nearly as much in price... Now you can get a 94 G50 in decent shape for under 5k, where it was about 6k earlier...

1.5 years ago you could get a Y33 in good shape for around 10 grand, probably closer to 11 grand.. This is for a 97/98.. Most 97/98 are now under 10k unless they have really low miles or are unusually clean...

I think right now, and for the next 2-3 years we will be experiencing the lowest cost of ownership for our G50 Q45! Now used parts in good shape are easy to find.. in 2-3 years i dont think this will be the case... I think that 90% of 90-93s that havent had the guides replaced or an engine replaced will be in junkyards by that time... the rest will be 94s and the cheap ones will look terrible..

I think in 5 years people will start paying big bucks for a nice Q that has been well maintained... Well, not a TON of money, but more than normal... I just hope in 2044 I will see a PRISTINELY RESTORED 1994 Q45 on SpeedTV.. Do i think it will be a classic, like the honda civic, 300ZX, 240, supra, and so on? no, but I think there will be a small niche (which will probably be us when we are old and wrinkley).....

[BlackBirdVQ]

If someone was trying to give me Edmunds price for my 94 Q45 I think I would have to pull out my Mini 14 on them. It would take bout 8K dollar offer from someone to get my attention to sell my Q.

This week I had someone call me from Georgia who wanted to buy a 1994 Legend GS 4 door 6spd I worked on last week- new clutch etc because the Ford dealer down the street messed everything up. Car has paint that looked like it was put on with a ROLLER, door dings everywhere, interior was like ****, tint was peeling off, it had a JDM motor installed with wires all hanging everywhere and splices, trans would grind into 2nd gear EVERYTIME VERY bad, it had 150K on the body and some rust too. The owner listed it on the internet for 7K and someone wanted to pay that ! I quickly told the person from Georgia not to bother..... if that Legend was worth 7K then my Q is worth 30K seriously.

My point is, people can ask anything they want for their car- not to say it will sell

[Jesda]

I sold my last Q in "okay but needs a couple grand in work" condition for $950. I bought this one, two years older but with 60k less, for $1300. Its never consistent.

Some people get $7k for their early G50s if well maintained. Its very mixed, and I guess that has to do with the low production numbers. Some see cheap and comfy transit, some see a gem. The market doesn't know what to do about it.

[elwesso]

I bet the last person to get 7k for their G50 was Mr. Fred Palmer.

[Falkdesigns]

I'd like to see you find a Y33 in good shape for 7k out here!! lol.

After a quick Autotrader.com search, the only ones under 8k are at public auctions and that's opening bid. Most are still around 10-11k, and I only searched 97-98. Still, only 2 years after I paid 15k, I don't see any for that price. Bummer, but I'll drive it another 2 years or so and take what I get for it.

[elwesso]

REALLY Kevin.....

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...st=17

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...t=300

Those 2 seem to be in pretty good shape and theyre pretty close to LA.....

Seems there are a lot more out on the east coast though.. probably a lot more bimmers out there though..

This one looks a lot like yours!! http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...=2437

[captainluigi]

interesting topic, let's explore the dynamics that drive the used auto mkt. depenability.$ per operating mile, driveability,safety, comfort, etc. desire, i.e.flash,coolness. the Q,s (IMHO) break most if not all of the established rules. here you have a hvy 4dr sedan that runs on 93oct. , higher than avg. repair bills. the facts are that it's a lot of car for the money. however how many owners maintain these vehicles in the manor they require considering the expense. so(IMHO) most of these highly engineered autos fall by the wayside or at best just keep on runing on some level till they just die or are resold to some poor fool who did not perform due diligence. end result being cheap cars(initially), cheap parts & happy, happy nico members due to the great support system

[Falkdesigns]

Really Wes! That's in the hood too.

Autotrader

Autotrader <and that's at Auction!!

There are some cheap ones, but in L.A. as I'm sure in other areas, it's like homes, location, location, and condition, condition.

[maxnix]

I'll be stoked if they never appreciate a penny.

Just means more cheap ones for us to get parts from

I love depreciated cars - that's one reason I don't have a newer one. Every time I've been tempted, I've lost money.

Besides, fixing up a G50 Q is still cheaper than the payments on anything even close in driving dynamics.

My thoughts exactly.

[DrewQ45]

I can still remember how I felt when the Q made it's debut in 89-90. To be perfectly honest, I thought the wind/trees but car-less commercials were great. They built up the suspense that would make you die to see one on the road... too bad the public didn't feel like me. At the time I was strictly a Toyota man and didn't think much of Nissans at all but I badly wanted to see one what the hype was about.

When I finally met one in person my jaw dropped. It was a pearl color and absolutely stunning. I even loved the Elvis belt-buckle and thought of it as a jewel sitting in the front of this amazing vehicle. It looked DENSE and muscular... as if it would last forever! I was secretly jealous of the fact that looks-wise, it blew the Lexus away and the magazine articles were also touting it's performance over the Lexus. The only "edge" the Lexus had was that it was a "smoother" and more "comfortable" vehicle... (really the edge was that it was benefitting from the Toyota reputation and no one dared to put anything above it since Toyotas were "the best"... no one dared to be different.) Pound for pound, I think the Q trumped the Lexus upon their debuts. That changed soon after though when Nissan started subtracting from the car over the years.

All in all, I don't think the Q ever got a fair shake.

[gniknave]

I put my Q on craigslist a few weeks ago for $4000 with some nice pictures and descriptions. My phone was blowing up a few hours later. I had a few people come look at it but I wasn't ready to sell it. Then one guy came back and offerend me $4600 cash and showed it to me. I couldn't do it. Consider I have a 90 with 170k on it, sure a few mods, but I only payed $2600 for the car myself. The only reason I couldn't sell it is because I couldn't find a better replacement than another Q...

[Jeff Williams]

The G50 will never appreciate. Neither will the Y33, nor the F50, or any other Infiniti model.

What makes the 60's and 70's cars appreciate, is the fact that 99% of all Chevelles, 90% of all the Camaros and Firebirds, and 80% of all the GTOs were chopped up for race cars at all the short tracks across the country.

There weren't a lot made, and Detroit was the place to get iron.

If you are upset about your $2,300 car not appreciating, take a look at the guys that paid $40K new, who lost $20K the first year or two.

I didn't expect this question on NICO, it sounds like something you would read on the Corvette Forum. The C5 will probably never appreciate in value. Even the Z16 commerative edition Z06, which only 2025 made, is dropping in value.

http://www.z16.org

[Q45tech]

EXACTLY............."The only reason I couldn't sell it is because I couldn't find a better replacement than another Q..."

What you own may be better than what you might get, as every Q I see needs $3,000 to $11,000 of work.

We just redid a 93 with 159,000 miles the owner spent $3,000 and it needs another $4,000.............already had a junk yard engine [who knows?].

[maxnix]

So here's the point for most G50, the rehabilitation will cost more than the car. So it's not a good bet if you are playing the dealer book value depreciation game.

If you are playing the cash in my pocket and most bang for the buck game, the equation changes, much to Infiniti's consternation.

[Q_SHIP]

I could see them going somewhere in maybe another 20-25 years (If there is still gasoline left). Nothing anytime soon.

[Meaux]

Hell, I like the low cost Insurance, and Tags, on this 94 Q45. I paid the original owner $10K cash for this car in 1999 w 40K miles, and he paid $56K.

I love old "paid for" cars. Treat em' right and they will last. The price of gasoline is not gonna scare me into buying a "new" depreciating heap, that I have to pay high insurance, and overtaxed plates.

I don't get why my wife's work car, (my last "new car" purchase) an 89 Maxima w/ 250K miles, cost more to insure than any of the 5 other cars in my sig.? More than a Porsche? Dosen't make sense!

Allstate can't give me an answer...$600 per year for 6 cars ain't bad though...

[Q45denver]

Not sure new cars with similiar performance get much better mileage.Maybe some high tech direct injection, 7 speed or hybrid.

Allstate provides a considerable discount for cars with airbags and ABS.

Q45's will appreciate once there are not enough of them left to matter. The main thing they have going for them as future collector cars is superior rustproofing, high build quality and limited production. I currently own about 1/3000's of the world's supply of 1995 Q45's.

BTW I have a 1995 Q45 with 120K miles for sale for $4300. Black with tan interior. BBS, TCS and heated seats. In excellent condition with original paint. I'm hoping to sell during the current spike in the market.

Hell, I like the low cost Insurance, and Tags, on this 94 Q45. I paid the original owner $10K cash for this car in 1999 w 40K miles, and he paid $56K.

I love old "paid for" cars. Treat em' right and they will last. The price of gasoline is not gonna scare me into buying a "new" depreciating heap, that I have to pay high insurance, and overtaxed plates.

I don't get why my wife's work car, (my last "new car" purchase) an 89 Maxima w/ 250K miles, cost more to insure than any of the 5 other cars in my sig.? More than a Porsche? Dosen't make sense!

Allstate can't give me an answer...$600 per year for 6 cars ain't bad though...

[Q45tech]

A long ago paid for car that only costs $3,000 [M&R] plus $280 in insurance and a $35 annual tag plus gasoline [$2000] per year what a deal.

A vehicle that cost the same as IRS per mile allowance what a surprise.

[ddrumman]

Hell, I like the low cost Insurance, and Tags, on this 94 Q45. I paid the original owner $10K cash for this car in 1999 w 40K miles, and he paid $56K.

How'd you pull that off?

I bought my 94Q in Sept 99 with 67K miles for $17K. My banker gave me the loan without even any questions. She just came out to the parking lot to see it. She told me that at THAT time the blue book on one like mine (with 67K miles) was $20,500.

Yours had to of been worth more since you had 27K less miles. Ten grand? WOW!!!!

As far as its value goes I think it's a steal unless you are the seller.

I don't even care about selling mine. Even if Sting comes calling and suddenly I'm making 20grand a week I'll still keep my Q. I will definitely get an 03 or 04 E55 but I'm keeping the Q.

D.

[defrag010]

Take a look at the big picture on all the "90's debut cars", If it's not a 3rd gen RX-7,MR2, Z32, or any other "exotic" turbo sports car, it will never appreciate in value when it's not on the collector market. If America didn't ever "want" the car, then kbb and edmunds won't price 16 year old ones like they did.

I paid 300$ for my 1990 talon tsi, runningI paid 200$ for my 1991 RX7 shell in MINT shapeI got my 1990 Q45 for free in a trade for a '89 240 shell.

There are people paying between 6 and 7 Thousand dollars for a decent shape 3rd gen rx-7 Shell with no engine or drivetrain!!!! It's all about wants, and sadly not very many people want 1st gen Q45's.

I agree with whoever said they are all for the depreciating value. If I can enjoy the cars I like, and buy them for less than 1000$... then I will be a happy man!

[Fenvy]

[ I look at the ugly/boring Lexus of the same year and the prices are way higher.

that's matter of opinion, for instance, I think 90-96 looks pretty damn ugly and those silver ricer stripes displayed in your sig really isn't helping either.

I do like the 97-01 and 02-06Q but I fear the price will only go down, not up

[Meaux]

ddrumman asks, "How'd you pull that off?"

The guy was a "big wig" at Budwieser, wanted 15K, and his wife had to have an SUV, as in foaming at the mouth...Knowing he didn't drive the car, didn't need the money and his old lady had allready picked out a Lexus SUV, I shrugged my shoulders after a test drive and said, "Ah hell, I'll give you Ten for it"...When I picked it up 2 days later, he said, "Women will make you do crazy things, I should have gotten more", I just smiled...and drove off. :-)

Same price for the 92 Porsche 968 a few months later, because of the SUV craze, but this was from a lesbo Shrink...Original Owner and she paid 64K...

I think my luck with buying cars has run out, but I ain't sellin anyway... :-)

[louiegz]

I don't know when I'll sell my Q. I've had some people asking me when I'm selling. I'm sure I can get $4k for it at least. Kind of sucks when you take into account that my Dad paid about $52k brand new in Dec of 94. I'm dying for a new car, something smaller with a manual transmission, but I have no incentive. I've had forklifts and trucks bump into my car at work. I have a shared driveway where the stupid kids next door play basketball in the driveway and constantly hit my cat with their ball. I can't have a nice car. I sometime think that I'll drive the Q until it dies and get myself a cheap hatchback to schlep my arse to work in the morning. I want to have a fun drive, I'd just drive my wife's BMW on the weekends like I do now. Just let all the Infiniti's depreciate and I'll get a 06 M45 like 6 or seven years from now for $12k. I'll be a happy man

[3rd Q]

Will Q45s ever appreciate in value?

No!

Restore it, enjoy it and be glad for the times you had with it. Drive it til it quits and then buy another one or two for pennies and do the same.

I love these cars, but they are not collector cars and never will be. Heck, even the majority of NICO members won't pay up for a pristine example from what I've seen on the B/S/T forum, why would the general public?

Paul