6 Expensive Luxury Cars That Will Break Down and Add More Costs

If you’re shopping for a luxury vehicle, the dealer will want to tell you all about its precision manufacturing, raw power, invigorating speed, agile performance, premium materials, cutting-edge technology and (of course) head-turning cool factor.

What most dealers don’t want to discuss with well-heeled buyers is that luxury cars aren’t only expensive to buy, but the least reliable among them can cost you another car’s worth of money on repairs over a decade of ownership — and this could affect your personal finances.

CarEdge, a platform for buying, selling and researching vehicles, used millions of automotive data points to analyze and rank more than 200 models according to their frequency of breaking down, probability of needing major repairs and long-term ownership costs.

The study found that the following luxury vehicles break down the most often and have the highest repair costs. 

The Porsche Cayenne starts at $84,700, with trim options going up to a starting MSRP of $157,000. An SUV known for luxury and precision performance both on and off the road, the Cayenne will make you pay you over time.

CarEdge says it has the highest repair and maintenance costs of any luxury vehicle, with average expenses of $20,552 over 10 years, which is $4,838 more than the luxury SUV segment average.

During that time, there is a 60.89% chance a Cayenne will require a major repair — 21.33% worse than the segment average.

With four models starting between $62,900 and $89,000, the Porsche Macan is more affordable than the Cayenne — but it will cost you nearly as much in repairs.

With 10-year repair and maintenance costs of $20,137 — $4,423 more than the segment average — the lower-end luxury SUV saves you only around $400 during a decade of ownership.

By year five, owners have a roughly 30% chance of enduring a major repair. Over 10 years, the percentage jumps to 60.89%, which is 21.33% worse than similar vehicles in this segment.

The first-ever fusion of X and M, the BMW X6 M is billed as a “competition SUV” and with 617 horsepower, performance wheel design and an eight-speed M Sport automatic transmission, it’s not hard to understand why.

It starts at $129,700.

With 10-year maintenance and repair expenses of $18,900, it costs $3,186 more to keep the X6 M running and on the road during a decade of ownership than similar vehicles. It has a 54.61% chance of suffering a major repair in that time, more than 15% worse than the segment average. The probability of a major repair triples from 10.48% in year three to 32.18% in year seven.

The three most expensive vehicles on the list are all luxury SUVs, but the fourth is a high-end van — the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. The three Sprinter options start at $49,900 for a cargo van, $52,120 for a crew van and $55,800 for a passenger van.

Over 10 years, the average Sprinter costs its owner $18,634 in maintenance and repair costs — $1,802 more than the typical vehicle in the segment. During a decade of ownership, there’s a 56.68% chance of a major repair, 17.12% worse than the average luxury full-size van. The probability of a major repair reaches nearly 10% in the second year of ownership alone.

There are three different BMW X7 models, and they start at $83,500, $110,900 and $152,400. The full-size luxury SUV is rugged, powerful, tech-heavy, opulent — and expensive to keep up and running.

Over 10 years, you can expect to spend $18,550 in repairs and maintenance — $2,836 more than the average luxury SUV. In that time, there’s a 54.61% probability that your X7 will need a major repair, more than 15% worse than similar vehicles. There’s more than a 10% chance of a major repair by the third year of ownership alone.

The final vehicle on the list is the BMW X5, which means that half of the top six most expensive luxury vehicles to repair and maintain are BMWs

The mid-size luxury crossover SUV comes in four available models with starting MSRPs ranging from $65,700 to $73,100.

With maintenance and repair costs of $18,389 over 10 years, it costs $2,675 more to keep an X5 on the road than similar vehicles. Over a decade of ownership, there’s a 54.61% probability of encountering a major repair, more than 15% worse than the segment average.