Top 10 Costliest Cars to Own ......
03-08-09, 10:08 AM
#1
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Top 10 Costliest Cars to Own ......
Costliest Cars To Own
Hannah Elliott, 03.03.09
These coupes, SUVs and sedans are anything but wallet-friendly over the long term.
It remains to be seen if President Obama's $787 billion stimulus bill, with $17.4 billion allocated for automakers, could be the shot in the arm they need to restore flagging sales--which were down 36.6% in the U.S. in January.
Unfortunately, today's popular, downsized, fuel-efficient vehicles that promise dependability and affordability over the long-term are not the cars that translate to profits for the automakers. Instead it's the higher-priced, less-practical vehicles that make more money; they also continue to cost consumers long after they've driven off the lot.
People need to be looking at all these various costs, such as depreciation and insurance and maintenance and repairs and fuel efficiency," says David Wurster, who leads product development and industry analysis for Vincentric, an auto-industry data analysis firm based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "Those always should be areas to be considering when you're purchasing a car because they separate a good buy from a money vacuum."
To wit: Most buyers will do just fine with the $98,500 Mercedes-Benz SL550 Roadster as opposed to its $190,700 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Roadster counterpart. The AMG costs so much more because of its ultra-specialized, ultra-powerful engine, which guzzles more gas. Never mind that the AMG has some of the highest depreciation, insurance and maintenance costs of any car on the road.
Behind the Numbers
To find the costliest vehicles to own, we used data from Vincentric to calculate the costs of depreciation; interest on the loan; fuel; maintenance and repairs; taxes and fees; and insurance over five years, then divided the results into 11 segments (excluding low-production vehicles from the likes of Aston Martin and Bugatti) to find the most expensive models in each class.
What we found is common sense: Cars with high sticker prices tend to cost the most over the long haul. German automaker Mercedes-Benz, in particular, dominated our list, with five segment winners, including the $194,950 S65 AMG sedan and $88,500 E63 AMG wagon.
But exceptions do occur. At $53,460, the Chevrolet Suburban is priced less than the $55,340 Lincoln Navigator SUV but has a higher ownership cost due to its higher depreciation rates and poor fuel economy.
Hannah Elliott, 03.03.09
These coupes, SUVs and sedans are anything but wallet-friendly over the long term.
It remains to be seen if President Obama's $787 billion stimulus bill, with $17.4 billion allocated for automakers, could be the shot in the arm they need to restore flagging sales--which were down 36.6% in the U.S. in January.
Unfortunately, today's popular, downsized, fuel-efficient vehicles that promise dependability and affordability over the long-term are not the cars that translate to profits for the automakers. Instead it's the higher-priced, less-practical vehicles that make more money; they also continue to cost consumers long after they've driven off the lot.
People need to be looking at all these various costs, such as depreciation and insurance and maintenance and repairs and fuel efficiency," says David Wurster, who leads product development and industry analysis for Vincentric, an auto-industry data analysis firm based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "Those always should be areas to be considering when you're purchasing a car because they separate a good buy from a money vacuum."
To wit: Most buyers will do just fine with the $98,500 Mercedes-Benz SL550 Roadster as opposed to its $190,700 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Roadster counterpart. The AMG costs so much more because of its ultra-specialized, ultra-powerful engine, which guzzles more gas. Never mind that the AMG has some of the highest depreciation, insurance and maintenance costs of any car on the road.
Behind the Numbers
To find the costliest vehicles to own, we used data from Vincentric to calculate the costs of depreciation; interest on the loan; fuel; maintenance and repairs; taxes and fees; and insurance over five years, then divided the results into 11 segments (excluding low-production vehicles from the likes of Aston Martin and Bugatti) to find the most expensive models in each class.
What we found is common sense: Cars with high sticker prices tend to cost the most over the long haul. German automaker Mercedes-Benz, in particular, dominated our list, with five segment winners, including the $194,950 S65 AMG sedan and $88,500 E63 AMG wagon.
But exceptions do occur. At $53,460, the Chevrolet Suburban is priced less than the $55,340 Lincoln Navigator SUV but has a higher ownership cost due to its higher depreciation rates and poor fuel economy.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/03/cos...iest_cars.html
03-08-09, 12:16 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
how many years is that depreciation after? 3? 5?
i would love to buy raw amg power for a $135000 discount.
maybe i can put the engine block in my lexus, and finally be able to put a legit AMG badge on my rear end
i would love to buy raw amg power for a $135000 discount.
maybe i can put the engine block in my lexus, and finally be able to put a legit AMG badge on my rear end
03-08-09, 12:36 PM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
I wonder how Porsches compare to Mercedes in the average cost of ownership. It is odd that there were no Porsches on the list. Among mass-produced cars, both makes have some of the highest parts/repair/service costs in the industry, when not warranty-related or covered by free service.....Porsche even more so. Perhaps the difference is in depreciation. 
03-08-09, 01:55 PM
#5
That sucks for Mercedes. Just the other day I saw a 2005 S500 with 70,000 miles for sale. Asking price: $20,000. I'm sure the owner would take a bit less if it were in cash. I thought to myself, "Man.... this car depreciated really bad. It's only 4 years old and now worth only about 1/4 of what it was purchased for."
03-08-09, 02:29 PM
#6
Lexus Test Driver
I wonder how Porsches compare to Mercedes in the average cost of ownership. It is odd that there were no Porsches on the list. Among mass-produced cars, both makes have some of the highest parts/repair/service costs in the industry, when not warranty-related or covered by free service.....Porsche even more so. Perhaps the difference is in depreciation.
Just look at all the engine failure issues with Porsche. Interesting perspective
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03-08-09, 09:33 PM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
I remember reading a while ago the Dodge Viper was the costliest car to own because it was so rare, had so many reliability problems/issues, was so expensive to work on and get parts for, and lost so much value. I am surprised Ferrari is not on that list as they are insanely expensive to own and are unreliable but they do hold their value pretty well, also surprised Porsche is not on that list especially the 911 as it is also very expensive to maintain.
03-09-09, 06:35 AM
#9
Hang on a second...they say that they are "excluding low-production vehicles from the likes of Aston Martin and Bugatti"...but, they include the Merc. SL65 AMG Roadster? I did a quick Google Search and, in 2006, Mercedes made a grand-total of 390 SL65 AMG's. If that's not a "low-production vehicle" I'm not really sure what is.
The AMG's are all specialty, low-production vehicles (and, not suprisingly, the first FIVE vehicles on their top-10 list are AMG cars).
The AMG's are all specialty, low-production vehicles (and, not suprisingly, the first FIVE vehicles on their top-10 list are AMG cars).
03-09-09, 01:40 PM
#12
Also, I do not think they are including the exotic supercar brands such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, ect.
03-09-09, 01:45 PM
#13
lol kudos to mb, they are really high up on the list and dominated it too 
that's some major depreciation they take on the 65 series car. seems like after a few years one can pick up a 65 amg for dirt. only problem is one will have to spend a lot more to fix?
that's some major depreciation they take on the 65 series car. seems like after a few years one can pick up a 65 amg for dirt. only problem is one will have to spend a lot more to fix?
03-09-09, 04:27 PM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
I think he's talking about the engine reliability issue that is impacting some significant percentage of recent 996/997/986/987 Carreras and Boxsters. The IMS failure usually requires total engine replacement before 40K miles when it happens. And Porsche has been known to assist even after warranty expires for original owners.
03-09-09, 05:57 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic