paul59hatter

bigfreddiel wrote: »

No CGT, no stamp duty. Cost to keep them tho' and there are specialists who will look after your car. Similar to the TER of fund I woul guess.

Assuming you find a reasonably priced fund with a TER of 0.75%. What are the chances of employing a specialist to maintain your £20k car with a total ongoing expense budget of £150 a year?

I seem to remember you favour trackers, which have expense ratios of more like 0.2%, which would be £40 a year on a £20k car. Seems unrealistic to me.

You are right about the lack of CGT though, because as a wasting asset HMRC do not think it will materially appreciate in value over the long term ; depreciating instead. And as it won't produce an income, no need to worry about income tax.

Actually with the right connections and the right car, you can engineer an income by leasing it out for photoshoots and TV/ilm work. The income would be pretty sporadic though and introduce further wear and tear as well as expenses such as transportation and extra insurances as well as taxation on the income etc.

Really, like other alternative investments such as wine, antiques and collectibles, getting into classic cars is something that you can buy into in the hope of not losing too much money on your hobby, rather than actually making positive real-terms returns from it.

Glen_Clark wrote: »

I like looking at old cars, but wouldn't want to own one as I know how much better modern cars are.
As for investment, well its possible to make money on them but the odds are against you, even if you know what you are doing.
A bit like the lottery. We only hear about the winners, not the losers, which makes it seem a better 'investment' than it is.

It's a bit like a less favourable version of buy to let.

If you buy the right cars, using your acquired knowledge, and have them maintained then there's a reasonable chance that you'll mKe some returns, but it's a business really. Some people will be able to maintain at low cost, and certain models will appreciate hugely, but there is risk and cost.

Same as choosing the right house to buy to let out, managing the lets, repairs etc, and buying ten right house in the right area to maximise returns.

As above there is money to be made from wine, art and numerous other areas, but the average punter doing little research, with low levels of knowledge and relying on third parties for advice and knowledge is unlikely to do well.

bigfreddiel wrote: »

I wasn't thinking of a £20k car, you need to looking at real collectibles, £150K min before classic cars become viable.

well, i'd say put no more than perhaps 5% of your portfolio in a single car.

combine that with your £150k minimum price for a classic car, and that implies you need a £3m+ portfolio before you might consider going into classic cars.