But for the cost there are a lot of great alternatives. I couldn't resist a 2005-2006 F430 instead.

 

definitely my favorite 100-130k price range car.

 

Listen, You. quit giving him bad Ideas. that is a slippery slope your leading him out onto. just b/c your halfway up that mountain doesn't mean you should have company

jk barrister,

 

I know. It's a sickness!

 

+1 or a left over 08 Gallardo Spyder.

 

I'd pick the TT cab over the R8.

 

of epidemic proportions !!!

 

As a Porsche/Audi guy I would have to agree with my Porsche mentor Dustin. Have delivered two R8's and driven one for a good 50 miles. It's a really visceral car. The 10 cyl is a least this winter and we are anticipating pricing close to the 200K mark.

As far as the depreciation check out the killing someone has taken on the TT cab's you have been looking at...

 

Did the F-car thing last summer. Buddy of mine who has owned a couple, sold his last one two years ago. We went by the F-car dealer, had a nice chat about the ridiculous price of admission, then I took an F430 Spider F1 for a spin. Absolutely everything I expected.

Two days later he brought in a 6sp spider, did the same route. I was hooked like a drug addict. Had to have it. Several of my neighbors are deep into F-cars, and I had some interesting face time with them discussing the cars, options, pricing, usage, etc.

The fact is, as most will attest, the F-car is a trophy. Yes, a great car. Unbelievable driving experience, but a trophy. Drive it more than 1k miles/year, and it's worth even less each year.

That, coupled with a) the overall 'show' factor, and b) the stupid pricing model, and it was an easy decision.

Yes, maybe someday I'll own an F-car. But for the driving experience, feel, overall usage and pricing (not that it's perfect either), the Porsche makes a helluva lot more sense.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love an F-430 6sp spider in the fleet. But the Porsche is my trophy, and I can drive it all I want, or not, and if I bought a used one, I'd pay xx% under original list, not 25% over original list for it (like Ferrari).

On the R8, I believe you can drive this monster just like you would the Porsche, that miles won't really kill it worse than any other Audi, but that limited production numbers might help values. The '10 model with 10 cyl is around the corner, so if I were seriously going for the Audi, I'd wait IF the price was not ridiculous. Audi could really bleed if they kill pricing on this next one. I've heard 20k above existing price, and I've heard as high as 180-200k. At that price, even with 10cyl, the car might just die a short death.

At this point, I believe I'm still a Cab guy. And I'm still looking for a lightly used '09 TT Cab with specific options. So far, limited luck and even hungry dealers either don't want to deal below a higher number than actual value, or don't have the car. Not many out there. I would really like to find an owner in need to unloading. So I'll continue the hunt.

NOT to rule out the R8.....if the dealer came to me with a really nice deal, I'd probably consider it. And I'm considering one TT Coupe right now too. But again, the deals are not as attractive as I'd have hoped in this crappy economy. Some dealers will probably change their mind as time goes on and they carry their cars longer, and I respect that, but no drama on the 'great deals' I've been exploring.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

 

Hi Eric. I don't know if you are buying this car outright or financing it and at the expense of sounding nosy, 1.9 APR on on a new '09 essentially puts you in the same spot as a preowned 09 but obviously with less miles, optioned how you want and perhaps, to be had at a significant discount off list. GL