A Corvette owner friend of mine sent me the following article about "cost-effective" ownership. In particular, the article states that Corvettes retain 68% of their original cost after 5 years (this is a pretty impressive number). I found it interesting that Porsche is not mentioned at all in this article nor does it make any of the lists at Intellichoice.com. This is in contrast to a large number of articles in the UK that state that Porsche models retain a consistently winning percentage of value over the years. The Boxster is frequently mentioned as a winner in the "retained value" sweepstakes.

All cars depreciate, but I would expect that winning JD Power quality awards would lead naturally to higher retained value over the years. How does Porsche really stack up to the Corvette? How do the Boxster/Cayman cars stack up to 911's in this area? Are their differences in the % of retained value?

I excised most of the other cars in the list to shorten this post but the URL to the complete article is provided.


http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home...ve-Fuel-Savers


5 Really Cost-Effective Fuel Savers
by Peter Valdes-Dapena
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
provided byCNNMoney.com

Surprisingly, some fuel efficient vehicles aren't the most economical choices out there. Here are some that are.

CNNMoney.com asked analysts at IntelliChoice.com, a Website that specializes in tracking auto ownership costs, to find the the most fuel-efficient vehicles in various classes, then figure out which of those are really the most cost-effective once total value and ownership costs are factored in.

Only cars that delivered at least 10% better fuel economy than the average vehicle in their class were considered. In some categories, only one vehicle delivered that kind of fuel economy advantage. (For instance, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid among mid-sized SUVs and the Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon Hybrid among full-sized SUVS.) The five vehicles featured here represent categories where there was a choice of fuel-efficiency stand-outs.

Instead of just comparing ownership costs directly, which would always favor the cheapest car, IntelliChoice.com scores vehicles based on computed "expected ownership costs" for a given type of vehicle at that price, then compares those scores. That keeps the playing field even since, to be fair, someone who pays $50,000 for a new car instead of $20,000 is getting something -- features, quality,comfort and performance, for instance -- for that money. Any measure of "cost effectiveness" has to take that added value into account.

In the end, the most fuel-efficient car isn't always the most cost effective to own. But in many cases, it actually is, as rising gas prices have made fuel costs a bigger factor in auto ownership.

3. Sports Car: Chevrolet Corvette

Price: Chevrolet Corvette
Mileage: $47,045 - $102,450
26 mpg Hwy, 16 mpg City

Two questions just popped into your mind.

First: "Fuel efficient?"

Second: "Cost effective?"

The answer to both is a resounding "Oh, yes."

As far as fuel economy goes, look at the numbers, not under the hood. Even with that big V-8 engine and 430 horsepower output, the Corvette gets 26 mpg in highway driving.

The smaller, four-cylinder Pontiac Solstice GXP, which ranks second in this category, has a two mile per gallon advantage. The Corvette more than makes up the difference with its amazing value retention.

After five years on the road, the Corvette convertible is still worth 65% of its original cost compared to the Solstice's 58%. The Corvette also has far lower insurance costs than other cars in its class.

4. Sport Sedan: Lexus GS

Price: $44,550 - $52,375
Mileage: 27 mpg Hwy, 19 mpg City (GS 350)

This is not the GS Hybrid, which finished third in this segment, after the Pontiac Grand Prix GXP. The GS doesn't quite get the fuel economy the hybrid version, but the difference is less that you'd expect: about one mile per gallon. That's why the non-hybrid comes out ahead in the final analysis.

Either way, Lexus's stellar reliabiity and resale value -- 62% after five years for this one -- make the GS a stand-out in total cost.

Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved

It is true, I get about 19mpg around town in my 2008 C6 and on a recent 1200 mile round trip from Atlanta Ga to West palm Florida, I got an average of 28mpg running between 75mph most of the way...

In 6th gear the engine is running about 1600rpm at 75mph. It has so much torque you rarely have to down shift to maintain speed.

That's going by GM's DIC, could be off, but given the exceptional drag coefficient and ridiculous 0.5 over drive in sixth, I doubt it. If you baby a 'Vette, and watch your "Instant Fuel Mileage" indicator, you can easily get 30 + on the highway. One trick is to gently accelerate on the downhills, and then coast on the uphills. (Going at speeds of 70-80) I find not using the cruise control helps too. Yes, I guess that does constitute "hyper miling" in a sports car. Interesting, I've only been able to hit about 29 MPG in my Cayman...