The Golden Age of the Preowned ICE Enthusiast is Over

We had a good run, but we’ve reached the end. Let’s pour one out for all the second, third, and thirteenth owners of cool enthusiast-spec vehicles with internal combustion engines everywhere. As recently as two or three years ago, the common man could hop on craigslist or marketplace and find a nice used BMW, Porsche, Mustang, Corvette, etc that wasn’t fresh off the showroom floor, but it was still ready to drive. I’ve made it a bit of a lifestyle to buy and enjoy just these types of vehicles. I’ve managed to buy a few “needs TLC” types of vehicles in the sub- $10,000 range that I was able to enjoy and then re-sell without taking a loss, and I’ve also bought some genuinely nice, reliable cars at a steep discount too.


I fear these days have passed. Simply put, there are no deals out there anymore on gently-used vehicles, enthusiast or otherwise. Several years of nearly-free-to-borrow money, choked supply lines, and quarantine-driven boredom have taken their toll on the preowned market.


To make matters worse, the reasonably-priced preowned car is getting squeezed at both ends. On the one hand, you have your “whale” customers. These buyers are wealthy enough to be unaffected by (or have benefited from) pandemic economics. The inconvenience they are facing is that the lead times on their usual staple of paint-to-sample GT2RS Weissach editions have gone through the roof, creating an artificial bubble on nearly-new cars having market values tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars above MSRP. These collectors are now seeking out other interesting projects and have gone down market. That fifteen-year-old 911 no one has liked in a long time? That’s a classic now. “It’ll look great in the collection; just make sure you outbid whoever else is on Bring a Trailer” these buyers tell their secretaries. E46 M3s, Porsche 996 and 997s, Honda S2000’s and many more have all suffered similar fates. It’s nice that they’re being appreciated, but I’d rather see them at the track than under an indoor car cover.

Okay, no problem, us regular folk will just buy some of those sub-$10k “TLC required” projects and fix them up, right?

On the other end of the spectrum, Drift Tax is killing the beater car market. Every beat-up car with Christmas tree dash and rusted rocker panels that was $900 in 2019 is now a $7000 car. Don’t get me started on rear wheel drive manual cars like the 350Z, the E36 or E46. To make matters worse, a lot of car culture has now embraced destroying your car as cool, which further increases the rarity and price of the nice-ish cars and reduces the market value penalty for having significant damage. This effectively eliminates the price benefit of buying a fixer-upper because the pool of buyers who are okay with the car being wrecked has increased dramatically. Especially when interest rates are lower, the eagerness of poor-taste buyers to borrow big and ruin cars outpaces the patience of mechanically-inclined enthusiasts that are exercising even the slightest financial discipline.
To further complicate matters, dealerships have been ruthless with “market adjustment” markup greed, which has made buying an entry-level enthusiast vehicle like a Toyota 86 expensive even if you can manage to get one delivered after a year-long wait.

By the time supply catches up to deliver the needs of new-car buyers, the Golden ICE Age will be long gone. $5+ gasoline coupled with the introduction of more and better “normal person” EVs like the F-150 Lightning will relegate the remaining ICE-powered vehicles into the garages of collectors, and not into the hands of your average track day enthusiasts.

EV Federal Tax Credit Explained: Put the Fun in Non-Refundable

If you pay federal income tax, drop what you’re doing and call your local Mini dealer and order a Mini SE right now. I just did. I chose a green one with a sunroof delete.
Kind of a bold claim, right? Allow me to explain.

Disclaimer: I am not a financial professional. This is not financial advice. I am just a guy with a business degree who reads blogs and sometimes writes them. Consume this information at your own peril.

As the law currently stands, there is an up-to $7500 Federal Tax Credit for the purchase of a new Electric Vehicle. For the sake of brevity, we will skip over a list of which vehicles qualify for the full amount, but the long and short of it is this: Tesla and GM currently don’t qualify because they made too many EV’s. Plug-in hybrids usually only qualify for a smaller amount. Pretty much all other fully electric BEV’s qualify for the full amount. Leasing a vehicle won’t get the leasee a credit but it will earn the vehicle owner (the dealership) a credit.

But I don’t pay any federal income taxes. I even got a check this year from the IRS! Well, it’s true that a lot of Americans do not have to pay federal income taxes. This federal tax credit does them no good whatsoever (which is why the law will likely soon become a point-of-sale refund instead of a tax credit). However, check your pay stubs and you might see “federal income tax withholding” taken out of every one. Depending on your IRS form W-4, a certain amount of federal income tax comes out of every pay check. Often, the sum of withholding throughout the year exceeds the amount of tax you actually owed for that year, so the IRS sends you a tax refund (often called a tax “return”). Sad epiphany: it’s not a gift from the IRS. You simply made an interest-free loan to the IRS for a year and they kindly gave you your own money back. Sadder epiphany: not only did you not earn interest on it throughout the year, but due to inflation it now has less buying power than when you lent it to the IRS at each paycheck.

So where does the EV federal tax credit come in? It’s a “non-refundable tax credit.” It is not a deduction, which only decreases your taxable income. It’s a full-on credit. If you owe $7500 in federal tax, and have a $7500 credit, you now owe no federal tax. Pretty great. The “non-refundable” term only means that if you only owe $1000 in federal tax, but have $7500 (or more) in credits, the credits are only worth the amount you owe and nothing more.

What’s important to note here is that even though the credit is “non-refundable,” it can very much end up in your bank account in the form of a tax refund. The definition of “owe” here comes down to IRS form 1040, line 24. This is your “total tax,” and is very different from the amount that you owe (or are refunded) after filing your taxes. That amount after filing is the difference between your withholdings and your line 24 total tax. So, for example, if you owed $10,000 in federal tax on line 24, but your withholdings for the year were $11,000 out of your pay checks, then you would receive a refund for $1,000. Likewise, if your withholdings were only $9,000, you would get a nice letter from the IRS saying you owe them an additional $1,000 plus interest! Funny how they don’t give you interest when you over-pay on withholding, but do charge you interest when you under-withhold.

You can reduce your line 24 “total tax.” Most people do this by having children or other dependents. A much more economical way is to buy a new EV. Despite their newfangled technology, they require much less maintenance than human children. The destination charge is much less than what a hospital birth costs. Even the insurance for EV’s costs less than human insurance. You’ll use form 8936 and 1040 schedule 3 to reduce your total tax by up to $7500. If your withholdings already covered your tax liability before the $7500 credit, then the $7500 will very much end up as a tax refund paid to you after filing. Turns out that it isn’t so non-refundable after all.

Who does this benefit? People who earn enough to owe federal income taxes, but don’t have any of the traditional deductions or credits to offset them. This person is probably paying above-average federal income tax if she lives in a state with no state income tax like Florida, for example, where you can’t credit any state income taxes in order to reduce federal taxes. This person doesn’t have any dependents, and is either single or is married filing separately, or if filing jointly their spouse also owes considerable federal income tax. This is especially beneficial if you have a low debt-to-income ratio and excellent credit, because then you can reduce the amount of on-hand cash and interest payment required in order to reap the tax benefit of the EV purchase.

Seems too good to be true. Free money for buying an EV? It’s not. This is your one fleeting chance to stick it to The Man by buying a fun car. At least it isn’t too good to be true yet, but it probably will be soon when the law is re-written. It does feel like the benefits of the credit are not well-known, and are somewhat obfuscated by the term “non-refundable” since nearly no salaried employee actually has to write a $7500 check to the IRS after filing. I think most people believe that “non-refundable” indicates they can’t get the $7500 back as a tax refund.

What’s to stop me from buying two cheap EV’s and getting $15,000 in federal tax credit? Nothing. Literally nothing is stopping anyone from buying as many EV’s, and associated tax credits, as their hearts desire. The non-refundable part here simply means that at some point you’ll max out your liability, but for well-paid professionals, one could conceivably buy a small fleet of EV’s before running out of tax liability. The only requirements are listed on Instructions for Form 8936:

• You are the owner of the vehicle. If the vehicle is leased, only the lessor and not the lessee, is entitled to the credit.

• You placed the vehicle in service during your tax year.

• The vehicle is manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways.

• The original use of the vehicle began with you.

• You acquired the vehicle for use or to lease to others, and not for resale.

• You use the vehicle primarily in the United States.

Conceivably, as long as the car is placed in service (i.e. registered and insured) and actually driven some, you could enjoy your EV for a relatively short time (let’s say a year) and then trade it in or sell it, having dutifully earned your tax credit. If the vehicle depreciates less than $7500 over your time of ownership, you will have essentially owned the car for that time period for free.


Are there any other sweet rebates or credits for EV’s? You betcha. My local utility company is starting up a program to offer rebates on power used at night (when stress on the grid is lower) to charge the EV. Basically, they’ll pay you to schedule your charging for certain hours. On top of that, there is currently a $1,000 federal rebate for getting a charger installed at your home.

My 2022 Mini SE is slated for delivery in December ‘21, just in time to take advantage of the credit for the 2021 tax year. If the law remains in place, I just might buy another one next year! I’d like to start a Spec Mini SE sprint race series with all my friends, if possible.

So You Want to do a Track Day

The following article was written by SR for the Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park

and reposted here.

You’ve got the sweetest sports car.  You joined all the forums.  You’re in the Facebook groups.  You’ve hung out at the shows and at the meets.  As you saddle up for your Sunday drive on your favorite twisty backroad, you don your perforated leather driving gloves, your manufacturer-emblazoned Puma driving shoes, your shades, and it’s on.  You are God’s gift to driving.  That fervently-blinking Stability Control warning light in the dash certainly thinks so, at least.

What if there were a place that you could exercise your car the way it was meant to be driven, without inhibition or restriction?  A place with no speed limits, no traffic, plenty of open pavement, and lots of like-minded car enthusiasts to share the fun with?  Open Track Days and High Performance Driver’s Education events offer just this experience, and our local 1.6 mile North Florida track, the Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park, is a great venue for experienced drivers and first-timers alike.

If you’re reading this, you likely already possess the driving skill and finely-tuned race car comparable to any professional racing team’s.  But just in case you’d like to brush up on some tips for preparing yourself and your car, both physically and mentally, we’ve summarized the most important ones. 

Check your ego at the door.  Everyone goes to the track to have fun.  It’s not a race, there is no competition, no prize, no trophy, nor payout.  Your prize is going home with a huge grin at the end of the day with your car in just as good of shape as you arrived, and as a more skilled driver.  The only way you’ll impress your instructors and your fellow drivers is with an open-minded attitude, good listening skills, and patience. 

Do your homework.  Reading this article is a great starting point.  I’d recommend finding on-track videos posted by an experienced instructor, such as The FIRM’s John Van Buskirk.  Take a look at a track map- you’ll need to know the names/numbers of the turns, as well as where each corner worker station is located.  The corner workers might seem like they’re just some chumps hanging out in a little shed, but they are your first line of defense against on-track incidents.  They’re your lifeline, so pay attention!

Be informed on insurance.  In all likelihood, your normal insurance that covers you and your car on public roads will NOT cover any sort of incident on a “racing surface,” even if you aren’t doing any sort of racing.  There are special insurance policies available from The FIRM’s insurance partner, Hagerty, which do cover track days.  I’d recommend reading about them and purchasing one, especially if you rely on your track car for transportation as well. 

Prep your car.  This is a whole topic in itself, but these are the very basics.  Make sure your tires have a good amount of tread remaining above the wear bars, with none of the belts or cords showing, and no leaks of any kind.  Tire age matters, so check the 4-digit code for when they were made (1516 would be the fifteenth week of 2016, for example).  Even a new tire can be dangerous if it was stored, handled, or fitted improperly.  The track staff will help identify any potential issues at the tech inspection, but set yourself up for success by having a set of fresh tires mounted, sized in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations.  Consult with your instructor regarding tire pressures. 

On-track driving is very demanding on your car’s braking system.  While cars from many brands will be perfectly capable of driving on track in completely stock form, brake pads and brake fluid are the two consumable parts that you absolutely should upgrade before going on track.  Factory brakes are meant to be quiet, clean, and long-lasting, but will quickly deteriorate with track temperatures.  If you feel your brake pedal beginning to get soft, that’s called “brake fade” and it’s the last warning you’ll get before the heat in the braking system makes your brakes completely ineffective!  Avoid disaster by installing track-capable pads and fluid, as well as knowing when to relax your pace on track to allow your brakes to cool.

The FIRM can be particularly hard on brakes due to several acceleration sections with hard braking zones in between.  Brake fluid requirements vary by car, but a majority of cars benefit from flushing with a high-performance DOT4 fluid such as ATE TYP 200, Motul RBF 600, RBF 660, or Castrol SRF.  Regarding pads, consult with experienced drivers who have driven the same model car you have on track. 

Check for leaks.  If your car is leaking oil, coolant, fuel, power steering fluid, brake fluid, windshield washer cleaning fluid, blinker fluid, elbow grease, or any other liquid of any kind, you must get it fixed before coming out to the track!  Dropping fluids on track is dangerous not only to your car, but to the other drivers on track as well.

Last but not least, come with a full tank of gas and install your tow hook or hooks.  Hopefully you won’t need them, but even a factory tow hook is a lot better than nothing should your car need a tow.

Safety First.  Requirements for clothing and equipment vary by track and by club, but most require, at the very least, long sleeves and long pants made of natural fibers such as cotton, as well as closed-toed shoes.  Stay away from synthetic fibers (like sweat-wicking workout clothes) that may melt in the event of a vehicle fire.  Helmets are mandatory and are available to rent from The FIRM, however if you’d like to purchase your own, you’ll need a Special Applications “SA” Snell-approved helmet.  It will need to be from either the current standard or the one before; for example in 2019 the most recent standard is Snell SA 2015, but an SA 2010 would also be acceptable.  Head and neck restraints such as the HANS device are quickly becoming mandatory, and I highly, highly recommend using a helmet that provides anchors for such a device.  While most head and neck restraints require fixed 5- or 6-point harnesses, the Simpson Hybrid S can be used with factory 3-point seat belts.

Speaking of seat belts, don’t feel like you have to install harnesses for your first track day.  While I do encourage everyone to research the benefits of rollover protection, FIA-approved seats, and 6-point fixed harnesses, your car’s factory safety equipment meets the requirements to get on track.  I don’t recommend using a 4-point harness while on track.  If you do choose to upgrade your seats and/or belts, it’s okay at The FIRM to change the driver’s equipment only, but many organizations require equal levels of protection for both the driver and passenger.

Pay attention to the driver’s meeting.  Your friendly track staff will explain all the crucial details: flags and their meanings, run groups, timing of sessions, passing rules and any important points to note about track conditions.  Of particular importance are the flags.  Green means the track is open, yellow means there is a caution on track such as dirt or other debris, or a disabled vehicle.  Red means come to a controlled stop, preferably near a corner worker station.  Something bad has happened and rescue vehicles need to get out on track.  The black flag means there is a problem with either your driving or your car, and you need to relax your pace and come into the pit to check in with the track staff.  A blue flag with a yellow diagonal is a signal for you to check your rear view mirrors and let a faster car pass at the next passing zone.

All this knowledge and we haven’t even talked about the actual driving yet!  For your first time, you’ll have an experienced in-car instructor with you to help you with where to look, what path or “line” to take around the track, where to brake, where to turn, and so on.  The following guidelines apply to all on-track driving:

Get comfortable.  Your driving position is important.  You’ll want to be close enough to the steering wheel that your elbows remain bent, and that you are able to comfortably use the pedals with the ball of your foot, not your toes.  Sit fairly upright and not leaned back.  Keep both hands on the wheel unless it’s absolutely necessary to take one off, such as when shifting gears in a manual-transmission car.  Even then, only let go long enough to shift, and get the hand back on.  This isn’t the Fast and the Furious, so don’t rest your right hand on the gearshift.  I use a 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock hand position, but many use a 10 and 2.  I don’t recommend putting both hands up at the top of the steering wheel in an 11 and 1; for some reason people want to do this.

It’s not a race; drive at your own pace.  While you should be aware of other cars on track, drivers behind you will forgive you for driving at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.  What no one will forgive you for is driving beyond your abilities and wrecking.

Look ahead.  The car goes where your eyes go.  Most new drivers focus too close off the nose of the car.  Concentrate on looking far head into and through the next turn.  This is one of the hardest, yet most rewarding skills to learn for a new driver, so practice early.  It is unsettling to get used to not checking right next to the car as you drive, so ease into it.  Think of looking ahead as feeding your brain; the further you look ahead, the more information your brain has to make decisions, and the sooner it gets it.  You’ll be able to pilot the car smoother, safer, and faster just by providing your subconscious with all the extra information.

Be smooth.  At higher speeds, every input into the car- turning, braking, and accelerating- has a larger effect than it would at regular speeds.  Be deliberate, but be smooth.  Resist the urge to death grip the steering wheel with white knuckles.  When you apply the brakes, lean into them hard, but not so hard as to activate Anti-Lock Braking or “ABS”.  You’ll know ABS activates by the pulsation you feel through the brake pedal.  Roll the throttle on, but don’t stomp it.

Listen to your car.  Listen to your tires especially.  Tires, street tires in particular, “talk” when driven near, at, and beyond their limits of grip.  If your tires are screaming in agony all the way around the track, not only are you going slower than you could be going, but you’re rapidly wearing the tires out with excess heat.  As you increase the turning angle of the steering wheel, you’ll first notice a bit of low groan or growl, followed by louder, higher pitched screeching, and then ultimately an all-out squeal.  Do your best to get around the track with at most just a bit of that low growling noise, and you’ll be rewarded with smooth, fast laps and longer tire life.

Be courteous.  You’ll need to pass and be passed by other cars on track.  It doesn’t mean anyone is winning or losing.  Each track and run group has passing rules about where cars are allowed to pass and where they aren’t.  At The FIRM, the main straight is the safest place to pass.  The slower car should remain “on line” where they would normally drive (at the main straight, this is on the right) and put a pointing finger out the window.  In this example, you would point the faster car to your left, and stay to the right, allowing the passing car to go by on your left.  Don’t slam on the brakes, but do breathe off the throttle a bit to allow them to go by.  If you find yourself needing to let a car go by on your right side, then point up and over the roof of the car to your right.

Don’t panic if you have a “moment.”  Eventually you may find that you have driven beyond what the car can take and put a wheel, or two, or four off of the pavement.  First of all, for the most part The FIRM doesn’t have any hard objects to run into, and a trip “mowing the lawn” off of the track surface will likely not harm your car.  If you do find yourself in extremis, get on the brakes as soon as you can and, if your car has a clutch pedal, press and hold it in as well.  Try to keep the car mostly straight as you exit the track into the grass, to prevent the unlikely event of a roll-over.  If you get stuck in the mud, the track staff will come extract you.  Let’s hope you put that tow hook in!  Most importantly, DO NOT get out of your car on track unless it is on fire!  You’re much safer inside the vehicle than out of it.  After putting two or more wheels off of the track, come into the pits ant the track staff will help you check your car for damage.

Know when to cool down and pit in.  Your track session should not exceed twenty minutes, even though at The FIRM you’ll likely be able to come in and then immediately go back out on track.  Street cars, even with reliability modifications, need time to cool off after all the hard driving.  If you see the corner worker at the pit wall display a white flag, that is your signal to perform a cool-down lap.  Use brakes as little as possible and try to coast around the track to allow your car, and especially your brakes, to cool.  If possible, pay attention to time and cool down before the white flag is thrown.  Once you see the checkered flag, it’s time to come in.  If it gets thrown right as you approach the pit, don’t feel like you have to dive on the brakes and come screeching into the pit, but you do want to come in at your first safe opportunity.  As you approach pit in, stay track left and put a closed fist out of the window as a signal that you are coming in.  As you enter the pits, slow down to walking speed, but also keep an eye on your rear view mirror in case a car is coming in fast behind you with failed brakes.  I recommend continuing on outside the gate onto the gravel road and doing a u-turn before parking your car, to allow even more time for brake cool down.  When you park, park somewhere level and try not to engage the brakes.  Use wheel chocks or leave the car in gear, but do not set the parking brake.  Allowing hot brake pads or parking brake shoes to touch the rotor while the car is stopped will put pad deposits on to the rotors and cause the brakes to shake or judder.

Hydrate.  Driving is much more physically demanding than most realize, especially in the Florida heat.  You’ll need to run with windows down (for pointing by and so rescue workers can access you should there be an incident), and using the air-conditioner is frowned upon as it drops condensation water on track.  To stay in mental and physical shape, drink lots of water.  Bring a cooler with at least two gallons of water per person during the summer.  Find some shade.

Know when to quit.  If your car seems to be doing something abnormal or you start to feel mentally cloudy, take a break, or even pack it up and call it a day.  One of the great benefits of track days at The FIRM is that there is more seat time available than most drivers can handle in a single day.  Don’t feel like you have to drive until the track closes; most people pack up early.

The FIRM is unique in its relaxed, accommodating atmosphere.  It is especially suited for new track drivers due to all corners having good vision, and the track having plenty of runoff should a driver find themselves performing an unplanned exit of the pavement, as well as the average amount of other cars on track being quite low.  Once you get a taste you’ll find yourself becoming a regular; I know I did.