Likelyhood of Roadster becoming a collectors car

[Bobfitz1]

I'm wondering what other Roadster owners think the chances are of our Roadsters one day appreciating in value, due to the limited number produced and their being unique and great looking?

So far the resale market doesn't seem to value Roadsters as future collectables. I'm sure those more familiar w the car markets will say it is too early to take current resale prices as a valid indicator for 5+ years out.

One possible difference between Roadster and ICE sports cars as future collectables, is whether a car whose uniqueness is based significantly on it's advanced technology would appreciate in years to come, as that technology is surpassed by new sports offerings from Tesla and others. My impression is that ICE sports cars achieve collector status through some combination of limited production, styling distinctiveness and general panache (Jaguars and Aston Martins for example).

Also, once our extended warranties are up after 6 years or 72K miles, besides eventually needing to replace the battery pack, a buyer of a 'vintage' Roadster would need to risk paying Tesla to replace the power electronics module if that ever goes bad.

Thanks for any and all opinions.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

I'm wondering what other Roadster owners think the chances are of our Roadsters one day appreciating in value, due to the limited number produced and their being unique and great looking?

So far the resale market doesn't seem to value Roadsters as future collectables. I'm sure those more familiar w the car markets will say it is too early to take current resale prices as a valid indicator for 5+ years out.

One possible difference between Roadster and ICE sports cars as future collectables, is whether a car whose uniqueness is based significantly on it's advanced technology would appreciate in years to come, as that technology is surpassed by new sports offerings from Tesla and others. My impression is that ICE sports cars achieve collector status through some combination of limited production, styling distinctiveness and general panache (Jaguars and Aston Martins for example).

Also, once our extended warranties are up after 6 years or 72K miles, besides eventually needing to replace the battery pack, a buyer of a 'vintage' Roadster would need to risk paying Tesla to replace the power electronics module if that ever goes bad.

Thanks for any and all opinions.

I think that the likelyhood that the Roadster will become a collection car will increase if there will not be a new release of Roadster in 2015. Also if the new Roadster will be very different with respect to the previous one the first Roadsters could become a collection car. We"ll see what's going to happen.

 

[Jaff]

To be completely honest Bob, I'm having far too much fun driving the car to be concerned with whether or not it ever becomes a collector item. :smile:

 

[dsm363]

I've got 14,000 miles on mine now although with the Model S here, it will get a ton less use. I hope it does improve over time.

 

[wiztecy]

So the rule of a collectors car:

-If the company goes out of business, the car will be a collectors item and price will most likely go up. Don't really want that to happen with Tesla.... Possibly Fiskar, I again hope not.
-Limited production - If there's a limited amount of the cars, its unique and not everyone can get their hands on it. This plays into the collectors interest and price.
-If the vehicle was an Icon or made history for innovation, this will make a collectors item and price will reflect it.
-If the vehicle is unique in design and structure, it will be a grab for collectors. The Lotus Elise and the Tesla Roadster are unique in design, carbon body, aluminum frame, and limited production.
-If the vehicle is fun to drive, puts a smile on your face everytime you're in it, or hit the accelerator.... My hunch over time this will be wanted by a collector and others. This is just my opinion and also why I bought my roadster. Everyone loves them owners can't stop about how much fun and enjoyable the car is!

For now, as mentioned in another thread, the market is getting flooded with Roadsters for those who used it while waiting for the Model-S and want to generate some capital. I do feel that the price may drop a little lower but I really can see the price start to go back up over time. As for a new Roadster having an impact on the collectors value, I don't think that'll impact it all that much. Yes there'll be another Roadster..... but not the one that changed history and forged innovation forward!

 

[pgwoosley]

It is not at all uncommon for cars that become collector items to depreciate for five or even ten years before the prices turn up. Eventual collector cars often have a relatively short run with demand dropping off toward the end of the run. For instance. Acura sold very few NSXes during the last couple of production run, despite the NSX being an excellent car that is even hard to duplicate today. A lot of the market for this sort of car is from people who have to have the latest thing and then move on. Some manufacturers continue making a model past the end of its demand curve. This was not the case with Tesla; it had to stop because of the U.S. requirement for passenger airbags that automatically adjust for the weight of the passenger. There are no such airbags available to fit the Roadster or its cousins.

Estimating the market for Roadsters is complicated by the fact that many people purchased them because they are electric and in spite of the fact that they are sports cars. The market probably will remain soft for a while until the non-sports-car-lovers migrate to Model S or X.

 

[Mitrovic]

Yes, probably it will become a collector item. But you have to wait 20 to 30 years, probably.

 

[daniel]

I think there are several factors, some of which are unknowns:

1. Limited run. Yes.

2. Distinctive and beautiful. Definitely yes.

3. Made a real impact. Yes, as the first widely-available high-performance EV.

Now we get into some unknowns:

4. A gasoline car can be restored by any really good mechanic. Parts can be had on the market, or fabricated by those who have the tools. If the collector is not concerned with absolute authenticity, a different engine can be installed. Who can restore a Tesla? Nobody but Tesla. In two decades, (collector car time frame) it might not be possible to replace or repair the PEM and the batteries might no longer be available. Restoring a Roadster in 20 years might involve fitting 6,831 slightly-different laptop cells into the battery pack case. Or there might be no batteries that fit at all. "Restoring" a Roadster might require stripping the car down to the glider and re-designing an electric conversion from scratch.

5. Much, perhaps most, of the cache of a Roadster is its ground-breaking technology. This technology is fast becoming obsolete. Already the S has a greatly improved PEM and better batteries.

The Roadster will not become a collector's car if it cannot be restored or if the technology is too radically different.

I plan on driving mine until I cannot get in and out of it any more, or I just get too old to want a sports car, and I don't expect it to have much resale value by then, with an aged battery pack.

 

[Andrew Wolfe]

The interesting question is whether any modern car can be restored. How many specialized semiconductors and computer boards do you think there are in a Lexus LFA? A recent M5? Pretty hard to fabricate in a machine shop.

 

[vfx]

Don't forget carbon fiber.

Totally unique at that price point.

 

[daniel]

The interesting question is whether any modern car can be restored. How many specialized semiconductors and computer boards do you think there are in a Lexus LFA? A recent M5? Pretty hard to fabricate in a machine shop.

So perhaps no modern car will ever become a classic collector's car again??? Or the meaning of "classic" will be you freshen up the paint and put all new innards in the original body?

 

[Andrew Wolfe]

I think that is probably right. We will start to think of body shells as collectible moreso than complete powertrains. We could even see electric conversions as that might be easier than engine retrofits

The other possibility is that we could start to see "universal" engine controller (or brake controller, or DSC, etc) replacements that can be programmed to work with many legacy systems using emulators of some type.