Hagerty: 5 Cars Taking Losses to Start 2026

[doctormosfet]

My main hobby is vintage r/c cars and it's basically the same theme there. Some parts fetch silly prices and then someone steps up and reproduces parts from a new mold, or 3D printing, or whatever. Imagine being the last guy to sell your left nut for headlights, only to see reproduced units a month later at half the price.

 

[Badinternet]

Again I can find 10 examples in either direction to prove whatever narrative you want.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but then there’s reality.

That’s interesting, but unless it’s literally your job to track prices year over year with a consistent methodology, a team of analysts, and real financial consequences tied to getting it wrong, I’m not sure why personal anecdotes should outweigh theirs.

Not to question anyone’s honesty, but if there’s a group whose anecdotes naturally skew optimistic, it’s owners of the cars themselves. That’s just human nature.

What I push back on is when people reduce the work of an organization whose entire business depends on accurate valuation data to “just anecdotes,” and then try to counter it with a handful of their own examples. Especially when Hagerty has decades of historical data using the same approach.

You can disagree with their methodology — that’s fair.

But dismissing structured research in favor of cherry-picked listings isn’t really stronger evidence.

At the end of the day, maybe Gen 2s go back up, maybe they don’t. But right now the only thing that isn’t anecdotal is the aggregated data, and that currently points to softening, which isn’t exactly shocking after the covid run-up.

 

[Kris396ss]

The people who are selling due to being afraid of the cost of ownership is a much smaller percentage in my opinion.

I wouldn't say that people are SELLING them due to cost of ownership. I think people are selling them for a while myriad of reasons probably the same reason they sell any car (bored of it, grow out of cars, want something newer and more competitive etc...). But I do think it hurts DEMAND, since a lot of people who could potentially afford to be buying one of these cars and desire to buy one get scared away when they see headlights going for 10k a pair, hoods going for $7k, new windshields unavailable etc... Especially younger guys who want a car to drive, not a a collector's piece.

To be fair, modding these cars has always been expensive as well which might further turn away those who would want something older and unique like a Viper but also wants to remain competitive with newer stuff. It's a unique platform in that I see very few new owners modding them anymore. People buy them to keep them stock or stock-ish and just cruise them knowing full well they'll get their doors blown off by a new Coyote 5.0, bolt ons Scat Pack, Hellcat, bolt ons B58 BMW etc... That further limits the audience. You'll look at a car like the MK4 Supra and GNX, I've always believed much of the reason they became so iconic was because of how easy and affordable it was to keep up with or beat newer stuff for so long with those platforms for so many years after they were out of production. It kept them relevant for longer and cemented their legacy. Even looking at old muscle cars, there's obviously a high demand for a factory stock 70 challenger but being part of that community you can see how commonplace gen 3 hemi swaps have become in addition to all the guys building big block and small block strokers etc.... Point being a huge portion of the community purchased one with the intent of 'keeping up with the Jonses' in terms of performance, not just driving it around in all original/near original form. You see very few gen1/2 vipers being modded these days. I don't really know if that's because people think that originality is going to increase their value or if it's because of the cost of modifications though, maybe a mix of both. It's a tricky spot with the older V10's. It's a great engine, but it can get very costly very quickly to modify. Since it IS a v10, swapping it out for a much cheaper to mod late model v8 like you see tons of guys doing in most older GM or Mopar platforms with LS or Gen 3 hemi swaps sort of kills the car's identity since having a massive V10 was so much of what made a Viper a Viper.

 

[BoondocSaint]

This phenomenon isn't unique to the Viper. Just to name a few, the Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Testarossa, Ferrari 355, Ferrari 308 and Porsche 993 all went through this. You look back when these cars were trading for pennies on the dollar, (the budget collector sports cars), they are all now worth magnitudes or many magnitudes more today. If I had a timemachine and a warehouse...

The Viper is late to the party, but I have seen it happen many times over with not just cars. The "budget option" in an enthusiast market gets priced out when everyone wants theirs to be looked at in an exclusive light. Markets are fickle, people have egos and bank accounts, perceptions can change with new popular opinions. Enjoy these cars while they are attainable, a handful of years from now we may reminisce when these cars were trading hands at these prices.

 

[Kris396ss]

Enjoy these cars while they are attainable, a handful of years from now we may reminisce when these cars were trading hands at these prices.

Agree 100% any depreciation in value will only be temporary for these cars. One of two things will happen- aftermarket will pick up making them easier to own, making them more appealing to average people which will drive demand up and increase prices or aftermarket WON'T pick up and these cars will be taken out one by one by fender benders, under hood fires, natural disasters etc... since they're often worth more parting out than repairing and most worn out/tired/beat up versions are being parted out rather than restored. This will drive up scarcity and in turn raise prices. It's practically bound to happen one way or the other.

Also interesting to note that the longer we wait for more available aftermarket parts, the more cars we lose- so if that day ever comes where aftermarket replacement parts become more easily available you may see a huge explosion in price from both of those factors acting out consecutively.

There's also that sweet spot around 40+ years or so where people just start magically considering cars sophisticated and elegant to own, even when just a decade prior they weren't lol. In 1990 if you pulled up to a fancy restaurant's valet parking in a 1966 mustang convertible you'd probably be considered juvenile, immature, a grease monkey etc... Now it's the type of car a successful executive would pull up in to seem like a sophisticated and tasteful automotive connoisseur. lol

 

[Badsnek]

I wouldn't say that people are SELLING them due to cost of ownership. I think people are selling them for a while myriad of reasons probably the same reason they sell any car (bored of it, grow out of cars, want something newer and more competitive etc...). But I do think it hurts DEMAND, since a lot of people who could potentially afford to be buying one of these cars and desire to buy one get scared away when they see headlights going for 10k a pair, hoods going for $7k, new windshields unavailable etc... Especially younger guys who want a car to drive, not a a collector's piece.

To be fair, modding these cars has always been expensive as well which might further turn away those who would want something older and unique like a Viper but also wants to remain competitive with newer stuff. It's a unique platform in that I see very few new owners modding them anymore. People buy them to keep them stock or stock-ish and just cruise them knowing full well they'll get their doors blown off by a new Coyote 5.0, bolt ons Scat Pack, Hellcat, bolt ons B58 BMW etc... That further limits the audience. You'll look at a car like the MK4 Supra and GNX, I've always believed much of the reason they became so iconic was because of how easy and affordable it was to keep up with or beat newer stuff for so long with those platforms for so many years after they were out of production. It kept them relevant for longer and cemented their legacy. Even looking at old muscle cars, there's obviously a high demand for a factory stock 70 challenger but being part of that community you can see how commonplace gen 3 hemi swaps have become in addition to all the guys building big block and small block strokers etc.... Point being a huge portion of the community purchased one with the intent of 'keeping up with the Jonses' in terms of performance, not just driving it around in all original/near original form. You see very few gen1/2 vipers being modded these days. I don't really know if that's because people think that originality is going to increase their value or if it's because of the cost of modifications though, maybe a mix of both. It's a tricky spot with the older V10's. It's a great engine, but it can get very costly very quickly to modify. Since it IS a v10, swapping it out for a much cheaper to mod late model v8 like you see tons of guys doing in most older GM or Mopar platforms with LS or Gen 3 hemi swaps sort of kills the car's identity since having a massive V10 was so much of what made a Viper a Viper.

Yup that’s what I was getting at.

It’s the costs of modifying them. Gen 1 to make any real power is going to require boost and a stand alone. You’re already at the $20k+ number. No one’s buying a Gen 1 to dump that type of money in it. Well except me because I’m an idiot.

Gen 2 you can arguably still do some stuff without a stand alone but to make serious power you’re talking the same neighborhood as well.

You can make the same power or more on other platforms for cheaper. That’s the real issue.

 

[Badsnek]

That’s interesting, but unless it’s literally your job to track prices year over year with a consistent methodology, a team of analysts, and real financial consequences tied to getting it wrong, I’m not sure why personal anecdotes should outweigh theirs.

Not to question anyone’s honesty, but if there’s a group whose anecdotes naturally skew optimistic, it’s owners of the cars themselves. That’s just human nature.

What I push back on is when people reduce the work of an organization whose entire business depends on accurate valuation data to “just anecdotes,” and then try to counter it with a handful of their own examples. Especially when Hagerty has decades of historical data using the same approach.

You can disagree with their methodology — that’s fair.

But dismissing structured research in favor of cherry-picked listings isn’t really stronger evidence.

At the end of the day, maybe Gen 2s go back up, maybe they don’t. But right now the only thing that isn’t anecdotal is the aggregated data, and that currently points to softening, which isn’t exactly shocking after the covid run-up.

I hear your argument and your opinion and you’re entitled to it. But yeah I’ve followed all Viper values like a psychopath for the last 6+ years. They are off base in their article. Gen 2 RT10’s have dropped about $10k on average in the last 1-2 years and went from selling in the mid $50’s to now being consistently in the mid $40’s. GTS’s have continued to rise. Unless they are red. It’s hard finding a nice condition sub 40k mile GTS for less than $70k (again unless it’s red).

I mean I’m sure you realize they don’t have a “Viper Price Specialist” and they just blindly look at some numbers/data and throw their half cocked articles out there. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re wrong.

So yeah I’m going to laugh when I read their articles that talk about Vipers for 2 seconds and you can pull all types of sales numbers over the last month and not understand where they are getting their info. Unless they’re looking at the RT10 downward trend but that’s been going on much longer than the beginning of the year.

 

[Kris396ss]

You can make the same power or more on other platforms for cheaper. That’s the real issue.

Agreed, and I definitely think that is part of the problem and will continue to be UNTIL the cars get to a point in age where they are considered more “classic”, “vintage” or whatever. That’s where you see that shift from people wanting to mod the car to keep up with today’s cars to people wanting to keep them all original.

They’re at a low point now where it’s too old to be the status symbol it was when new, too expensive to mod to be a contender as a unique older platform to mod and not old enough for sports car connoisseur to be taking note for their collections.

Normally that would make it a great car for people to buy and enjoy for what they are, but the cost of ownership even limits that audience.

Basically the demand just gets attacked from a bunch of different angles lol

The expensive cost of parts though is definitely going to lead these cars into true collector territory eventually though. I’ve seen gen 2’s and 3’s parted out for very superficial damage because how much money some of the parts are worth. The early days of these cars thinned the herd with all the novice drivers crashing them, and now the herd is further thinning from people being more likely to part out damaged cars than repair them. There’s going to be very few of them left at this rate in 10-15 years.

 

[Badsnek]

Agreed, and I definitely think that is part of the problem and will continue to be UNTIL the cars get to a point in age where they are considered more “classic”, “vintage” or whatever. That’s where you see that shift from people wanting to mod the car to keep up with today’s cars to people wanting to keep them all original.

They’re at a low point now where it’s too old to be the status symbol it was when new, too expensive to mod to be a contender as a unique older platform to mod and not old enough for sports car connoisseur to be taking note for their collections.

Normally that would make it a great car for people to buy and enjoy for what they are, but the cost of ownership even limits that audience.

Basically the demand just gets attacked from a bunch of different angles lol

The expensive cost of parts though is definitely going to lead these cars into true collector territory eventually though. I’ve seen gen 2’s and 3’s parted out for very superficial damage because how much money some of the parts are worth. The early days of these cars thinned the herd with all the novice drivers crashing them, and now the herd is further thinning from people being more likely to part out damaged cars than repair them. There’s going to be very few of them left at this rate in 10-15 years.

Agreed! Also insurance companies are totaling them because they can’t find simple parts. Mainly because they don’t know where to look.