Mercedes has always been known as a company that charges top dollars for impressive vehicles, and its E350 certainly doesn’t disappoint. The German automaker uses this model as its flagship product for technological advancements, which makes it one of the most sought-after and beloved luxury cars in the entire world.
While being relatively affordable when you consider all the luxury you get inside, the E350 does come with a fairly high annual cost. You should expect to pay around $1,300 in annual upkeep, and in the rare case that something really goes wrong, costs can run quite steep. For example, just replacing a standard alternator would cost you over $1,200.
Chevrolet Corvette
The Corvette is one of the world’s most recognized and beloved supercars. It’s extremely fast and beautiful and it makes one of the most aggressive engine noises you can find on the market. The supercar is also extremely affordable relative to its performance and status, as a new model will cost you around $55,000 at base cost. When you’re actually careful not to crash this monster into oblivion, annual upkeep costs are surprisingly low.
You can expect to pay around $1,200 annually for maintaining the Corvette, including various frequent visits for oil changes and other minor repairs. What really costs a lot of money is having to replace your clutch and other parts, which is often caused by overusing the Corvette. These repairs and fixes will likely end up costing you thousands of dollars on average.
Dodge SRT Viper
The Dodge SRT Viper is one of the most aggressive street-legal racing cars you’ll ever see. The SRT can go from zero to sixty in less than four seconds and has impressive triple-digit horsepower. It's also one of the baddest-looking cars in the world. Unfortunately, the SRT is also a massive drainer when it comes to repairs and maintenance.
The SRT itself costs up to $120,000, but basic repairs such as replacing the control arm start at roughly $5,000. This is because the car is quite rare, and servicing it must require quite a high markup to be profitable. It's definitely not for everyone. We only hope that if you get one of these, you knew exactly what you were getting yourself into.
Acura TL
What’s even more impressive than how popular the Acura TL got over the past few years, is just how low its average annual upkeep was. Owning one of these used to cost around $1,000 annually, which is not too bad considering it's an entry-level luxury vehicle. Unfortunately, it had high costs when it came to repairs and suffered from much public dissatisfaction and criticism.
The car was discontinued more than a decade ago, after going through a lot of problems with its clients. Getting a new air conditioning fan would cost an unbelievably expensive price of over $329, and a windshield washer pump replacement could cost well over $100. It almost seems like the company sold its affordable luxury car just to make its money later in repairs.
Mercedes-Benz CL-Class
This Mercedes model is the CL-Class. This means that it belongs to a niche line of cars made by the German automaker that is meant to be a lot lighter than a regular one. The CL in the name stands for Coupe Light and Coupe Luxury, but as we have stated in the title, it’s definitely not light on the wallet.
You can expect to pay anywhere from three to five times as much as the average asking price for any type of service with the CL-Class. Hopefully, you came fully prepared for this before deciding to buy one of these.