Allow myself to introduce...myself

[StormBringer]

Hello Ford GT forum,
New member here from Virginia Beach, VA. I'm active duty US Navy. I've owned a couple of cars in my day, here they are in order:

1991 Honda Civic DX
1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL
1991 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4
2001 Ford Mustang GT
2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra
1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4
1993 Honda Civic CX
2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra
2013 Fiat 500 Abarth (wife's daily)
2002 Honda Insight
2014 Nissan GT-R (garage queen/weekend warrior)
2015 Honda Fit (my daily)

After the reveal of the Ford GT aka Phoenix at the Detroit Auto Show, it really piqued my interest. I actually wanted a 2005/2006 Ford GT when I started hunting for the car that eventually became my GT-R, but I had no idea that they had appreciated as much as they did :eek I'm hoping that the Phoenix is priced at a point where I can obtain it.

Here is a picture of the current ride:

Well I think with the announcement of a new GT there is a slight momentary pause on the rise of the 05-06 GT's price. It's wait and see time. The prices are still up there but many are already worrying about the future price of the Phoenix. Now if (and it may not be a big if) the new GT is severely limited in production you may see new buyers of the 05-06 GT's because those are available FOR NOW. I sort of wish Ford announced a run of 500-600 units as other manufacturers have in the past with their limited runs. Ford needs to have a Special Ops division and raise their game to clients that expect that sort of thing.

Thanks for your dedicated service!

BC... NSWC/SOG

 

[roketman]

I too had 2 GTR’S .Just sold my 2012 for a Porsche GT2.
Great cars though.Wish I could have keep both.Welcome aboard !

 

[PeteK]

P-Tree; Welcome to the GT Forum. This is one of the best car forums/mailing lists I've found.

I also am former Navy, 8 years active helicopter pilot, then 14 years reserve, then 2 more years active duty after 9-11, followed by a stint in Iraq, then 3 years reserve. I know from my background and continuing work in the national security field that it would be hard to afford one of these cars on a Navy salary without some additional source of income or capital. However, if there's any way you can swing one, go for it.

Like you, I was looking for one several years ago, but decided to hold off until I moved to another house with a more garage space. I did that a year ago, and then resumed the search--and was surprised by the increase in prices. If I had bought my car a year or so earlier, it would have cost $50k less!

The prices seem to have plateaued in the past 6 months or so, but I expect that's temporary after a fast run-up in 2012-2014. I've inquired among the cognoscenti here and several exotic car dealers and importers/exporters about how many are left in the USA. About 3500 were sold here originally (someone can jump in with the exact number), but over the past decade a large proportion have been totaled, converted to race cars, or exported. It's hard to pin down the numbers, but based on the questions I've asked, I think about 10% (or 400) have been wrecked and parted out or converted, and maybe 1000 have been exported. I know that export number seems high, but that is what I've deduced from the exotic dealers. So, about 2000+ cars are still in the USA, and a couple hundred in Canada. They continue to diminish in numbers, and therefore I think they will again appreciate in price in the next year or two. And I have to say, this is the most FUN investment I've ever owned!

They are not expensive to keep, in fact, for an exotic supercar, they are probably the cheapest to keep and operate by an order of magnitude. I use USAA for insurance (you probably do too), and my full coverage insurance for the FGT is only a little more than my 2006 Mustang GT. The big nut for you will be personal property tax in Virginia. I don't know what the rate is in Virginia Beach, or whether active military have an exemption, but that could be pretty high (they rape me in Fairfax County). From a maintenance perspective, they are pretty low maintenance, and the regular parts are out of the Ford catalog. Add it all up, and you probably can make a case that a FGT is cheaper to own than a GTR, because you don't have any depreciation.

Sell that to your wife (if you have one)!

 

[NavyVet]

Pete K, I tried getting an agreed value policy with USAA, but they farm that out it appears. Did that happen to you?

 

[Tomcat]

Pete K, I tried getting an agreed value policy with USAA, but they farm that out it appears. Did that happen to you?

I insure my cars with USAA as "regular cars". You may have to negotiate for the final value but they have always been reasonable with me. My USAA insured NSX got hit/totalled and I went after the at-fault driver's insurance to "make me whole"...which they did!

 

[Tomcat]

Judging from your pic you were a Tomcat pilot? I was supposed to be an aviator, but got screwed out of it (long story, people messed up my paperwork) so I am a SWO. Not a fan of the job, hence trying to lateral transfer.

I am an F-14 RIO ("Goose") mainly due to "NAMI whammy" (Navy medical) and manpower issues.
I was also Army Airborne (with a Navy/Marine group) before that and an AEDO (Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer) after active duty.

 

[PeteK]

Pete K, I tried getting an agreed value policy with USAA, but they farm that out it appears. Did that happen to you?

Like Tomcat, I just use the regular USAA insurance. They've always been fair with me, so I see no need to go with an agreed value policy.

I understand the NAMI whammy, almost got that myself until a more experienced flight surgeon understood that the EKG readings were not abnormal, just turned in axis, which is pretty common. He rearranged the electrodes, and presto, normal EKG. The problem with NAMI and Pensacola/Whiting is that they also train flight surgeons there, and the young'uns don't have any common sense or experience yet, so they will "down" you for anything, "just to be safe." There's good reason pilots don't trust flight docs and avoid them as much as possible. Some flight surgeons deserve their bad rap IMO, and give a bad rep to the rest.

 

[Tomcat]

I understand the NAMI whammy... There's good reason pilots don't trust flight docs and avoid them as much as possible. Some flight surgeons deserve their bad rap IMO, and give a bad rep to the rest.

I had a Pterygium (Surfer's Eye) on one eye (as I was a surfer/swimmer from Florida) that NAMI decided (after I was through AI and when they had excess Pilot applicants)...that this would be an NPQ. It was ironic because I had been in the pool status (awaiting a flight school start date) and had been part of the lab rats in a NAMRL (research lab) eye test that showed that my sight, etc...was in the top 3% in all tests.

Anyway, our (attached, imbedded) Squadron Flight Surgeons were always the BEST...but in general any other flight surgeon was to be avoided!

 

[fjpikul]

Pterygium is simple enough to fix. It's done every day by any competent ophthamologist.

 

[Tomcat]

Pterygium is simple enough to fix. It's done every day by any competent ophthamologist.

Fix was done perfectly!
BUT at that time, with an over abundance of applicants wanting to fly Navy jets, the Navy had the option to restrict anyone they chose for any reason they chose...
Naval Flight Officer "Backseater" is a profession (not a default for student pilots who don't make it through the program)...and that pipeline was full too, so I had to re-apply and compete (in the next fiscal year cycle) for a slot in that program.