Which Used Luxury Car Is the Biggest Maintenance Time Bomb?

Used and salvage-titled luxury cars are one of the most divisive subjects amongst enthusiasts. Does it make sense to plop down $10,000 on a Benz that cost the equivalent of six figures a few decades back, despite the obvious setbacks? Sure, it's way cheaper than when it first hit the market, but upkeep is still a massive undertaking due to rarity, complexity, and so on.

It's for that reason we want to know—which used luxury car is, in your opinion, the biggest maintenance time bomb?

Some of The Drive's editors would have you believe their cars deserve the crown. Editorial Director Patrick George only this morning bitterly recounted how a BMW 7 Series (E23) drained him of $3,000 over a few months. He was promptly shut down by our Editor in Chief Kyle Cheromcha, whose own Bimmer has sucked triple that amount from him in the past couple of years. Deputy Editor Jonathon Klein sought to end the maintenance bill-measuring contest by reminding everyone that keeping his Volkswagen Passat W-8 on the road cost him $9,000 in just eight months, not counting the price of the car.

My take? Something like this high-mile 2005 Maybach 57. It stickered for $325,000 when new and just a few weeks back, someone listed it for the relatively paltry sum of $25K. You might get the greatest Bush-era amenities on the cheap, but even the simplest of tune-ups will prove costlier than a reasonably priced Corolla of the same vintage.

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