QOTD: Which Newer Vehicles Will End up as Overpriced "Collectibles"?

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

There are a lot of charlatans on the internet, and some members of this special category of people want you to purchase their car as an investment. Anyone who’s browsed the sale ads knows the type of person I’m referring to here:

“No joyrides!”

“Very rare, collectible car!”

“Special opportunity!”

“No lowballers, I know what I got.”

Of course, what they’ve usually “got” is a vehicle priced firmly in loony bin territory. Today we want to know: In the near future, which newer vehicles will be worth far less than what these opportunistic sellers are asking?

This question is the inverse of one asked back in February, where we picked out more recent vehicles that will actually be collectible in the future. I’m going to impose the same two rules as last time, as they seemed to work pretty well.

  1. Your predicted overpriced vehicle must be 15 years old or less, which leaves it 10 or more years to age into classic status at 25. That means all vehicles are 2004 or newer.
  2. There should be some real reason your selection(s) might become fodder for bad investment types.

I think there are two categories of sellers who end up with these vehicles. The first is the one who had a “great idea” back in 2005 and purchased so and so vehicle. He stored it in a heated garage wrapped in Saran wrap, waiting. Waiting for some date in the future, when his ride of choice would be unveiled on Bring A Trailer with 5 miles on the odometer (thus funding his retirement). This type of seller is found in the Midwest.

The second category of seller is found, more often, under a rock. They crawl out and buy a car at considerable discount (for whatever reason) and then sell it as a quick flip for profit, with or without some sort of mechanical/restoration work. This seller is also found on eBay at times. Probably in Florida.

“But what car,” I hear you thinking, “might fall prey to either of these, and not be worth much?”

Here’s one — it’s the Cadillac XLR. As the spiritual successor to the Allanté, the folding hardtop coupe rode on the same platform as the contemporary Corvette. Manufactured from 2004 through 2009, the pricey luxury convertible was the halo for the Cadillac brand. Because of Corvette and brand management reasons, the XLR had either a standard 4.6-liter Northstar V8 or a supercharged 4.4-liter Northstar in the super hot V variant.

The standard version XLR in particular seems like prime no lowballers fodder in a few years. It was expensive as new, it was kneecapped by GM to protect the Corvette, and the luxury interior was trash.

What’s your pick for overpriced (not) collectible cars of the future?

[Images: Bigstock, GM]

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

More by Corey Lewis

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 102 comments
  • Erikstrawn Erikstrawn on Apr 12, 2018

    Trailblazer SS / Saab 9-7x Aero There was a point in time when the Trailblazer SS had a lot of performance cachet, but everyone I know who's had a Trailblazer had nothing nice to say about it when it comes to reliability.

  • M100 M100 on Apr 14, 2018

    2005-2008 Dodge Magnum. Unique and still turns heads.

  • Master Baiter I thought we wanted high oil prices to reduce consumption, to save the planet from climate change. Make up your minds, Democrats.
  • Teddyc73 Oh look dull grey with black wheels. How original.
  • Teddyc73 "Matte paint looks good on this car." No it doesn't. It doesn't look good on any car. From the Nissan Versa I rented all the up to this monstrosity. This paint trend needs to die before out roads are awash with grey vehicles with black wheels. Why are people such lemmings lacking in individuality? Come on people, embrace color.
  • Flashindapan Will I miss the Malibu, no. Will I miss one less midsize sedan that’s comfortable, reliable and reasonably priced, yes.
  • Theflyersfan I used to love the 7-series. One of those aspirational luxury cars. And then I parked right next to one of the new ones just over the weekend. And that love went away. Honestly, if this is what the Chinese market thinks is luxury, let them have it. Because, and I'll be reserved here, this is one butt-ugly, mutha f'n, unholy trainwreck of a design. There has to be an excellent car under all of the grotesque and overdone bodywork. What were they thinking? Luxury is a feeling. It's the soft leather seats. It's the solid door thunk. It's groundbreaking engineering (that hopefully holds up.) It's a presence that oozes "I have arrived," not screaming "LOOK AT ME EVERYONE!!!" The latter is the yahoo who just won $1,000,000 off of a scratch-off and blows it on extra chrome and a dozen light bars on a new F150. It isn't six feet of screens, a dozen suspension settings that don't feel right, and no steering feel. It also isn't a design that is going to be so dated looking in five years that no one is going to want to touch it. Didn't BMW learn anything from the Bangle-butt backlash of 2002?
Next