The Five Most Expensive Vehicles to Repair

It all really does make perfect sense if you think about it. Luxury cars and SUVs have many more complex features like adjustable air suspensions, ventilated seats to cool your backside, radar cruise control, DVD entertainment screens, multiple turbochargers, transmissions with up to 8-gear ratios and much more. As such, these often times unproven technologies break down or go haywire.

The other problem with adding unproven electronic equipment to a new car (it took BMW years to perfect iDrive) is that these problems are much more difficult to diagnose and fix. A leaking power steering pump is easy to diagnose and fix but an intermittently nonfunctioning navigation unit is not. Technicians nowadays need to be better with computers than with their wrenches.

So how is that a problem and why does that cause a luxury car to be more expensive to repair? Because service departments bill by the hour so the longer it takes for the technician to finish the job, the more you or the warranty company will have to pay.

Another problem with repairing high end luxury cars is that premium brand dealers charge $100 an hour on average to repair your vehicle. A mainstream automaker's service department charges $70 an hour on average. That can really add up over the course of a few small repairs or during a complicated transmission rebuild.

You may have spent almost $100,000 on your new luxury car but hopefully you didn't take a second mortgage on the house to pay for it. You may need a lot of extra pocket change to keep this vehicle not only maintained but to pay for the repairs that may intermittently pop up.

You would think that the wealthy buyers who shop for the following luxury cars and SUVs would regularly read Forbes, the magazine that came up with this list of the 5 most expensive vehicles to repair. Perhaps they were too busy making all that money to have time to read this article.

The totals quoted are for the average repair costs over a 5 year period. So, technically, your total could actually be higher if you wind up with a duffer. Maybe buying a Kia isn't such a bad idea after all?

Audi A8-($1,640)

This super luxury sedan is made completely out of aluminum, has full time all-wheel drive and is the technological showplace for the Audi brand. So it is no surprise that it is pricey to repair.

Mercedes Benz G-Class-($1,640)

These 7-passenger SUV may pretty much only be seen in upscale gated communities but it has a lot of complex off-road hardware. Differentials, adjustable air suspensions and transfer cases all add weight and complexity. If you don't really need to go off-road, find a two wheel drive SUV or buy a car.

Jaguar XK-($1,629)

Apparently Jaguar's aren't as reliable as their stellar customer satisfaction rankings would lead us to believe. The only conclusion is that they are just really, really nice to you when you arrive at the dealer in a tow truck.

Range Rover-($1,600)

This is possibly the most technologically complex SUV in the world. Although it is hugely luxurious inside, this puppy is built to cross rivers, deserts and jungles. Apparently suburban life doesn't agree with it.

Mercedes CL-Class-($1,540)

This is, essentially, a two door Mercedes S-class. While this is an opulent car it is worrisome that the cost to repair it is so high especially as it shares so many parts with the more widely sold S-Class.

So, if you are looking at a range topping luxury car, think twice before you buy! Especially if you want to buy one of these vehicles used. Yikes! Imagine what happens AFTER five years?

Source: Forbes Magazine