Which cars are the most expensive to run?
Not all cars are created equal. Some cost a heck of a lot more than others to maintain over the course of their lifetime, something that was recently spelt out in black and white by car experts, Your Mechanic.
The site, which helps match people to mechanics, took all of its data and tried to work out which owners of which brands were shelling out the most money for car repairs. Top of the list was German carmaker, BMW at a dizzying $17,800 following closely by rival Mercedes-Benz at more than $12,900 a year. Most other carmakers were somewhere between $12,000 and $8,000, although some brands, mainly Japanese, were much lower. Lexus came in at a lowly $7,000 over ten years, and Toyota was even more impressive, costing as little as $5,500 per year. The cheapest European carmaker, on average, was Volkswagen, clocking in at around $7,800.
With that said, the most expensive brands don’t always match up one-to-one with the most expensive cars. Here are some of the most expensive cars to maintain according to the Your Mechanic survey.
Mercedes-Benz E350
Like the BMW M5 and the Audi Quattro, Mercedes-Benz luxury cars tend to be very expensive to maintain. In general Mercedes-Benz cars have costly upkeep, but the E350 is an outlier, even for Mercedes. The data show that the average cost of maintaining one of these cars over 10 years is more than $14,700, or about four month’s worth for the average American.
Chevrolet Cobalt
The Chevrolet Cobalt is no longer manufactured. And given how many things have gone wrong with this car, it’s not hard to see why. Thanks to massive maintenance bills, you’ll be running to businesses like Swift Money, to get the extra cash you need to pay for repairs. According to the data, the average cost of repairing a Chevrolet over ten years is $8,800. Not bad. But the cost of repairing a Cobalt is nearly double that at more than $14,500 thanks to things like faulty clutches and poor engine management.
Nissan Murano
Japanese cars have a reputation for being cheap to maintain. Nissan, in particular, has a good record. But that doesn’t mean that all of its cars are cheap to run. The Nissan Murano, for instance, doesn’t have the same low maintenance costs of earlier, simpler models. Estimates suggest that it now costs the average driver more than $14,700 to run over the course of 10 years, more than double the average cost of Nissan cars. Pro tip: if you want to save money, stay away from Japanese SUVs.
BMW 328i
It has been claimed in the past that BMWs are the cheapest German cars to maintain. Clearly, the adverts that argued this weren’t telling the whole truth. BMWs are the most expensive to maintain in general, and things are no different for the 328i. According to the data, the i328 costs more than $15,600 to maintain over the course of 10 years, making it one of the most expensive cars in the world.
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