Used luxury cars come with a big discount on the price and none at all on the upkeep.
A five-year-old Range Rover lists for about 38 cents on the dollar. In a March 2026 study of more than 950,000 five-year-old cars, iSeeCars found the Range Rover had lost 61.7% of its value, or $69,856 on average. The BMW 7 Series lost 61.6%. Luxury models filled 18 of the top 25 spots on the study’s list of cars that lost the most. Across all cars, the drop was 41.8%.
That fall is why so many smart buyers shop used, and I think they’re right to. Someone else has already paid for the steepest part of it.
But the discount ends with the car itself. A Range Rover’s parts and labor cost the same whether the car is new or five years old, and lately those costs have been rising. The price on the windshield is where your spending starts.
REPAIRS COME AT FULL PRICE
Luxury cars carry more hardware than ordinary ones, and each piece costs more to replace. Many big luxury sedans and SUVs ride on air springs instead of steel coils, and the rubber wears out with age. RepairPal’s estimate for an air spring replacement on a 2019 to 2023 Porsche Panamera is $4,110 to $4,293.
Carbon-ceramic brakes are another. Many Porsches have them, and Autotrader warned in February that replacing them can run deep into five figures.
The small stuff adds up too. A windshield on a car with a head-up display can cost $800 to $2,000 or more, according to Cascade Auto Glass. The safety cameras behind it need to be recalibrated afterward, which Car Talk puts at $200 to $700. One BMW owner was quoted $856 by a dealer for a single replacement key fob, Autoblog reported. Labor isn’t cheap either. In 2023, The Drive found a Manhattan Porsche dealer charging $349 an hour for service and a Brooklyn Land Rover dealer charging $499.99.
Over time, the gap gets wide. CarEdge puts 10 years of maintenance and repairs at $36,400 for a Bentley and $16,021 for a BMW. For a Toyota, it’s about $5,470.
Those bills are growing, too. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the cost of car maintenance and repair rose 5.2% in the year to August 2026, while prices overall rose 3.4%. Tariffs haven’t helped. Car parts made in the European Union now carry a 15% U.S. tariff.
THE BILL THE LAST OWNER SKIPPED
Every used car comes with a to-do list. What matters is how much of it the last owner left for you.
Ask for the service records and read them. Look for gaps, and look ahead. Find out when the next big service is due, how worn the brakes are and when the tires were made. A seller who is facing a large service bill has every reason to pass it on to you.
Low miles don’t always help. Rubber and seals age whether a car moves or not, so a car that sat in a garage for years can need tires, fluids and a battery on day one. Federal safety regulators note that some carmakers and tire makers advise replacing tires at six to 10 years old, no matter how much tread is left.
On a car with 22-inch wheels, that’s real money. Tire Rack lists a 22-inch Pirelli P Zero approved for Mercedes-Benz at about $634 a tire, or more than $2,500 for a set before anyone mounts them.
INSURANCE AND A MANHATTAN PARKING SPOT
Insurance is the next line on the bill. Insure.com found the Maserati Quattroporte was the most costly car to insure in 2026, costing an average of $7,090 a year. Its national average for full coverage is $2,513.
Then there’s the question of where the car sleeps. Monthly garage spots in Midtown Manhattan run between $900 to $1,200 or more, according to the parking site Spacer. The city adds an 18.375% parking tax on top. Manhattan residents who qualify can cut that to 10.375%, but they have to apply.
THE PAPERWORK ADDS UP
Sales tax grows with the price, and in New York City it’s 8.875%. On a $90,000 car, that’s almost $8,000. You can’t dodge it by buying out of state.
New York collects its tax when you register the car here, though you may get credit for tax you paid in another state.
Ask about the paperwork fee, too. New York caps dealer documentation fees at $175. Most states have no cap. In September, CarEdge put the Florida average at $962. If the car is in Florida, an enclosed truck to bring it north costs about $1,900 to $2,300, by AmeriFreight’s estimate.
A loan costs more on a used car, too. Experian put the average used-car loan rate at 11.19% in the second quarter of 2026. For new cars, it was 6.35%.
Before you agree to anything, ask for the out-the- door price in writing.
WATER YOU CAN’T SEE
Some costs are hidden on purpose. As of August 2025, as many as 530,000 flood-damaged vehicles were on U.S. roads, according to Carfax figures cited by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Florida and Texas top Carfax’s list, but the cars often turn up far from the storm, in states like Pennsylvania and Illinois. Some are title washed, which means they’re moved to another state and retitled so the flood warning is weaker or gone.
Water and wiring don’t mix, and a modern luxury car is full of wiring. A history report is a start. A good inspector will also look for silt under the carpets, rust where it shouldn’t be and fog inside the lights.
READ THE WARRANTY’S FINE PRINT
A factory-backed certified pre-owned warranty is the best safety net in this market. Porsche’s covers two years with unlimited miles, starting when the new-car warranty ends or from the day you buy if that warranty has already run out. It’s open to cars up to 13 model years old with fewer than 124,000 miles. BMW and Mercedes-Benz each add one year with unlimited miles after their four-year, 50,000-mile coverage.
If the car is electric, check how much battery coverage is left. Porsche and Audi cover their batteries for eight years or 100,000 miles.
Third-party service contracts need a closer read. ConsumerAffairs puts an extended warranty for a BMW at $3,800 to $7,500. Routine maintenance and wear and tear are common exclusions, so the brakes and tires are still on you.
HOW TO BUY ONE WITHOUT REGRET
Pay a specialist in that brand to inspect the car. For a Porsche, LN Engineering, a maker of Porsche engine parts, says to expect at least $500 for a basic inspection. Ask for the engine computer’s over-rev report too. It shows whether the engine was ever pushed past its limit. The Porsche Club of America says a bad one can keep a car out of Porsche’s certified program. A paint gauge on every panel can find bodywork that never made it into a history report.
If a seller won’t allow an inspection, walk away. Then set money aside for tires, brakes and whatever the inspection turned up. The first owner already paid for the steepest part of the price drop. Before you sign, make sure you aren’t also paying for the service they skipped.
