Re: I hate to keep bringing this up...
I don't know if this post is on "point" or not, but let me tell you my situation, and i'll let you determine why some people like myself (older) buys a car like mine. I bought my SRT roadster with no thought of collectibility or investment! I bought my car in Jan 2010 in Tampa for $21500, with about 16000 miles on it. I had been looking at new Miata's, Sky's, and Soltices. I found my car listed on the internet in Oct 09, by a private seller, and that sparked my interest, and was still available in January. I have owned MGs, and older Mustang converts, and was just looking for a 2 seater that had an automatic and a little "spunk" and "look at me" thing, going for it. I honestly didn't know that there were only 928 of them made, and probably less that 900 left, and probably only 650 to 700 in the United states (only guesstimates). This only adds to the "well kept secret" of the car, and this "secret" will probably prevent much appreciation in price.
After my purchase, I've put on about 3000 miles, and it will be garaged during the winter. I figured that here was a 5 yr old, very sporty roadster, that I could buy for less then half of the original list, and having the MB "guts", I figured I couldn't go wrong. Still don't ! Whether I keep this car for a few years or not, my guess is, as long as I keep it "perfect", I shouldn't lose as many $$ on it as the others, just in depreciation. If I ultimately get my $$ back, or close to it, or more for that matter, that will be great. I've owned boats that almost always go down in value exponentially, every year its owned. But if one enjoys the car, or boat, while using it ..... I figure that's where the value is. Just my $.02 on collectibility value!