Buying a luxury car or SUV is the dream of many readers, and while a BMW or Mercedes will buy you some instant street-cred, they'll also cost you an arm and a leg if it ever needs fixing. A repair that may be no big deal for a Chevy Cobalt can cost much more in a luxury vehicle due to high-tech gadgets and more expensive materials. Forbes put together lists of the ten most expensive to repair luxury and non-luxury vehicles over a five year period.
The most costly vehicle to fix overall was the Dodge Viper, which came in at $1,641, and the most expensive luxury vehicle was the Audi A8 at $1,640. On the luxury list, every vehicle came from Europe, with zero entries from Detroit or Japan. The story was much different for the non-luxury vehicles, with heavy-duty trucks and SUVs making up the lion's share of the list. The Subaru Impreza and Mini Cooper were the only imports to make Forbes' dubious top ten. Hit the jump to view the most expensive luxury cars to repair, and click on the link below to view the priciest non-luxury list.
[Source: Forbes]
Forbes top-ten most expensive luxury cars to repair (over five years)
1. Audi A8: $1,640
1. Mercedes-Benz G Class: $1,640
3. Jaguar XK: $1,629
4. Land Rover Range Rover $1,600
5. Mercedes-Benz CL Class: $1,540
6. BMW 7 Series $1,529
7. Audi Q7: $1,400
8. Land Rover LR2/LR3 $1,360
9. BMW M6: $1,300
9. Porsche Cayman: $1,300
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
LloydChiro @ May 6th 2008 9:43AM
Some of those cars are worth the cost, though,
British_Rover @ May 6th 2008 9:44AM
You know I have a hard time buying a Forbes article in general but I have a really hard time when they confuse a LR2 and LR3 for platform mates.
The LR2 doesn't share a single component with the LR3 at all so how can you lump them in together? The LR2 uses portions of the Volvo S80, they share engines and transmissions, on the EUCD platform. The LR3 is on the T-5 platform with the Range Rover Sport and uses the engine/transmission from the Range Rover. That engine is a modified version of the Jaguar V8 used in the XK, XF, S-type and XJ.
Benfolio @ May 6th 2008 9:45AM
WOW these guys are idiots.
"Audis, for example, according to an Audi technician in Los Angeles, have electronic sensors on their brakes, so replacing their brake pads is more complicated and takes more time."
Um, nothing new there. Been a German standard for a decade or more.
"Wurster estimates that owners of these vehicles may pay $100 per hour for labor, while owners of normal cars may only pay $70."
$70??!?!?!?!?! Not at any dealership. Corner garage, yes.
And I think Mercedes, Audi, etc are WELL OVER $100 per hour. Here at our lowly Mazda dealer we are at $105.
"Most owners like to race their Vipers on tracks, and to help the vehicle better handle such an environment, Dodge added a front sporter that hangs low on the car and is easily damaged if it scrapes a cement parking-lot block. The cost to replace it is $1,800"
What's a sporter?? Why is this figured in? That's not a 'normal' repair. That's abuse. RETARDS!
Rick @ May 6th 2008 9:54AM
I think it's $75-$85 here in Orlando, so costs might fluctuate regionally ?
mikomi @ May 6th 2008 9:54AM
You should keep in mind that the general audience the article panders to are people who know very little about cars or ignorant people.
What they should have looked at is the cost of getting vehicles fixed after they get egged.
British_Rover @ May 6th 2008 9:55AM
Oh man I just read that part too man they are so dumb. You can still find some main stream full line brands with labor rates in the 60-70 dollar range but the norm is 90 dollars plus. In areas that have a lower standard of living 60-70 bucks wouldn't be unusual for a non-luxury brand but 100 dollars plus for a luxury brand is the norm now.
We are at 85-105 depending of the skill level of the job.
Mobius_1 @ May 6th 2008 10:13AM
@ mikomi
Forbes Auto, written by people with no knowledge of cars, for people with no knowledge of cars
And yeah, wtf is a "sporter"?
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 6th 2008 11:12AM
You can call damage like that abuse if you want. But on cars like the Viper or the C5 Vette, there is a little flap that hangs down that scrapes on even normal dips, forcing you to drive into and out of gas stations at a 45 degree angle like you have a slammed Civic. And on the Audi A6 (2000-2005), you may find the front of your car hooked on a parking stop or curb if you pull too far forward. If you don't notice and back up, it can pull the entire bumper cap off your car. Even if you do notice, figuring out how to unhook the car can be rather difficult if you don't have anything around to shove under the wheels.
Oh yeah, and on 2000-2002 models they didn't notice that when they made the bumper larger for the US regs, they changed the aerodynamics down at the headlight washers. If you use your headlight washers at highways speeds, the airflow is likely to rip the covers off. And they're of course body-colored so you have to then run back and try to find them or else good luck finding a matching one to replace it. Audi had a TSB (or at least replacement program) for this, after people on the internet figured out to just put a tie wrap around the attachment point.
Oh yeah, good old Audi. Between this and the $130/hr labor costs (and that was two years ago, I haven't taken my car to the dealer since), it's shocking I still own this car.
SPG @ May 6th 2008 9:53AM
I hardly think this news comees as a suprise to many people.
However as pointed out by a few posters already, Forbes is hardly an expert in automotive news.
Rick @ May 6th 2008 9:54AM
Expensive cars have expensive parts and material, no surprise there. As for German cars versus Japanese cars cost of repair, shipping plays a big part of cost I'm sure.
dpb! @ May 6th 2008 10:50AM
How is shipping from Japan different than Germany? Plus most parts are subletted out anyhow and come from other locations.
nagmashot @ May 6th 2008 11:25AM
Euro $ exchange rate...the reason why only Europen in the list.. from 2001 till today the $ lost over 50% in worth to the Euro.. you realy wonder why repairs are more expansive?
M @ May 6th 2008 12:27PM
well it's also because Japanese cars are more reliable and so over the 5 year period Forbes chose to use, repair costs are likely to be lower.
M @ May 6th 2008 12:31PM
For the record, I'm not some blinded Japanese car lover. I'm a BMW technician
rsfourever @ May 6th 2008 9:56AM
I agree with Benfolio that labor for the germans is WELL over $100 - i know at my Audi dealership, i've seen the cost sheets, and labor is at $175. However, all this doesn't really matter to most luxury buyers, as your vehicle is under full warranty for the first 4 (sometimes 5) years (except for brakes, and BMW even covers that).
Therefore, these repair issues are only for people either keeping a German luxury more than 5 years (which you should never do unless it will become a collector's item i.e. R8, RS6, M3 CSL, Z8 etc.) or for people who are buying luxury vehicles used.
Jim in Tampa @ May 6th 2008 10:02AM
This is why we lease cars like these. Three years and we turn them in before things start to break or wear out.
Tom Winch @ May 7th 2008 3:01AM
+1
Avinash machado @ May 6th 2008 10:07AM
Except for Jerry Flint's column there does not seem to be much good automotive stuff in Forbes.
Mr. Oak @ May 6th 2008 10:11AM
This all points back to my beef with German cars being over engineered.
Ever had to have a water pump changed on an A6? I did, it was buried in the valley of the Vee, practically had to dismantle the entire motor to change a stupid water pump.
Disconnect all impacted electrical connections.
Disconnect & remove throttle body/MAF assy.
Remove fuel Rail assy. which means the injectors come out too.
Remove Plenum chamber.
remove plate covering chamber in the valley that covered the waterpump.
Now you may proceed to changing out your water pump.
Water pump cost $187.xx labor and taxes took the tab up to $600.00+
This would be a 30 min. job on a LSx motor.
Commuter @ May 6th 2008 10:51AM
You seem to be a domestic guy, so it this isn't directed at you but at your comment.
The Japanese do make similarly STUPID decisions. In order to do the water pump in my wife's Camry I had to dismantle everything between the right shock tower and the engine's front cover. Whoever thought it would be a good idea for the water pump to live under the timing belt cover and share a common part with the camshaft ought to be dragged out into the street and caned. Why the rice-boys appoligze for things like that is beyond me.
I've done water pumps on both a 3.4L Impala and a 302 Bronco and neither one took more than 2 hours.