11 Things You Should Know Before Buying A Luxury Car

Are you in the market for buying a luxury car?  While buying a luxury car can be a fun experience but they can also come with some hidden costs that people may not think about.  Luxury cars can cost more to maintain and most require premium fuel for starters.

Below is a list of all the considerations I think you should take before buying a luxury car.  Some may be more important to you 

1. Luxury Cars Are Expensive

Because luxury cars are designed to have the best modern tech and features that money can buy they also happen to be expensive.  All of that bleeding-edge technology will come at a hefty price. New luxury cars will typically have a host of safety features such as blind-spot monitoring, lane keep assist, and automatic braking.

All of these safety features will start to cause the price of luxury cars to rise over time.  As more and more safety features and systems are implemented into cars the prices of the cars will start to rise as well.  Which makes sense because vehicle manufacturers have to make a profit on the cars that they sell or they would go out of business.

2. Luxury Cars Have the Latest Tech

When you are buying a new luxury car you can expect that it will have the latest technology from vehicle manufacturers.  While the latest tech can add to your driving experience it can also be confusing to some drivers. More vehicle manufacturers moving from physical buttons to using a touchpad to control various settings in the car.

Luxury cars will usually have features like heated and cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, a heads up display, and digital displays.  They will also have the latest safety features like lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and driving modes like autopilot that will drive your car for you for a limited amount of time.

Using a touchpad to control the settings in your car can become a distraction if you have to look at a screen while you are driving.  If you are concerned about being overwhelmed by the amount of technology in a luxury car then I would do your research and find one that you can live with on a daily basis.

I would definitely test drive whatever vehicle you plan on purchasing before you buy it to make sure that you can access the different systems of the vehicle.  While you may not need to know how to get access to all of the different menus off the bat you at least want to make sure that you will be able to live with the infotainment system on a daily basis.

3. Luxury Cars Weigh More

Because luxury cars are usually larger vehicles and they are packed with all of the latest technology and nicest interiors they also tend to weigh more than a typical family sedan. Luxury cars will usually have leather seats and use high-quality materials like real wood or leather to make the interior of the car nicer.

With all of these added systems and nicer materials added to the vehicle, you have to expect that luxury cars are going to weigh more than a normal car.  They are usually a bit larger to give the occupants more room to move around inside.

The larger the interior of the vehicle the larger the exterior has to be.  The larger the exterior of a vehicle the more that vehicle is going to weigh.  

Usually, luxury cars will have a large v8 engine to help them get the large vehicle going. While having a good amount of horsepower is nice having a large v8 will also contribute to the overall weight of the vehicle.  After all, a v8 is going to weigh more than an inline four-cylinder or v6 engine.

4. Luxury Cars Get Poor Gas Mileage

With the added weight and large engines of luxury cars, you can also expect them to get poor gas mileage.  Luxury cars have to haul around a lot of weight from the vehicle and their engines are usually tuned to provide the most horsepower.  

This means that you can expect to be visiting the gas station frequently.  Cars like Mercedes Benz and BMW are not marketed as having the best gas mileage.  People buy them for the driving experience that they provide and the way that it makes them look.

Luxury vehicle manufacturer almost expects that if you are willing to pay more for a luxury vehicle that you would be willing to pay more in fuel costs every month.  They think if you can afford to pay for our vehicle you should be able to afford to put fuel in when it runs out.

5. They Can Be Unreliable

Like I mentioned above with luxury cars you are paying for a luxury experience over reliability and functionality.  With all of that latest tech luxury cars tend to have a lot of issues once they are out of their warranty period.

As the new electronics start to age sensors can malfunction and parts will start to break down.  The more complicated systems that you have installed on your car the more that can go wrong with them.  Air ride suspension can be nice but adds complexity to the suspension of your car.

What a lot of people are finding is that luxury vehicle manufacturers are not testing out these new electronics for long periods of time before putting them into vehicles.  This essentially makes you their test subject to see how long the electronics of the vehicle will hold up.

Mercedes and Audi are notorious for developing really nice vehicles when they are brand new.  But as the vehicles start to age they require more and more maintenance and replacement parts that can start to add up.  That is why they typically don’t hold their value for a long time. People want to get rid of them instead of fixing something else that constantly breaking on them.

Lexus and Acura are going to produce a more reliable vehicle when compared to Audi, BMW, and Mercedes Benz.  Lexus is actually one of the most reliable car brands usually rivaling their parent brand Toyota for the most reliable vehicle manufacturer.

6. Maintenance Costs Can Be High

With the more complex systems in luxury cars, the costs to maintain them can be high.  Oil changes and basic maintenance can also incur a large fee especially if you take your luxury vehicle to a dealership.  

My advice would be to find a local mechanic that works on luxury vehicles that will charge you a fair price for parts and labor.

If you take your car to a dealership and don’t shop around the costs of the parts and labor with other mechanic shops you may be letting the dealership take advantage of you.  Just because they made the vehicle doesn’t mean that they can be the only ones to work on it.

If you can find a luxury vehicle with a warranty or buy an extended warranty you may be saving yourself some headache down the line.  With normal cars, you may be better off not buying a warranty for the car because not much should go wrong.

With luxury cars, you should expect some things to go wrong over the ownership of the car. A pump will go out, or a sensor will start to malfunction. That’s just the way it goes. Some luxury vehicles are more reliable than others.  

7. Repairs Can Be Costly

With luxury cars, the manufacturers typically use higher quality materials so when something does break it will cost more to replace than on a normal sedan.   Usually the more complex the part or system the more it will cost to replace.

With a typical suspension consisting of shock absorbers you typically only need to replace the shock once it is worn out.  With air ride suspension you may have to replace the airbag that acts as a shock absorber, one of the airlines, or even the compressor that keeps the airbags inflated.

Premium parts usually incur a premium price.   If your headlight goes out on your Honda Accord it will likely cost you a few hundred dollars to replace.  If your headlight stops working on a Cadillac you may be spending a thousand dollars to replace it with a new one.

This is because with luxury cars the vehicle manufacturer will add in complex lighting systems and use the latest lighting technology in their headlights.  Usually, the latest technology is going to cost more than using outdated technology.

8. They May Use Premium Fuel

With new luxury vehicles, vehicle manufacturers try to squeeze every ounce of power that they can out of their engines.  To do this they will usually resort to using premium gasoline to increase the power output of the engine.

If you have never bought premium fuel before you may not know how much more it costs over the price of regular octane gasoline.  If you’d like to learn more about premium fuel and what the different octane levels mean check out my other article.

Premium fuel can get pricy depending on which gas station you go to.  Some gas stations will only charge 30 cents more but other gas stations will charge 50 to 70 cents more a gallon over normal octane gasoline.

9. Insurance Costs Will Be Higher

Because luxury cars can be more expensive than a typical Japanese sedan you can expect them to have higher insurance costs as well.  The amount it costs to insure your vehicle will typically correlate with how much the car costs. As it would cost the insurance company more to repair or replace your vehicle.

You may want to get an estimate as to how much it would cost you to insure the car that you are looking at buying before you pull the trigger.  That way you can get a better understanding of how much the total cost of ownership will be for the car. You have to factor insurance in the total monthly costs of your car.

10. Luxury Cars Are Well Insulated

With luxury cars, the vehicle manufacturer tries to make the driving experience as nice as possible.  To deliver that experience they typically fit luxury cars with a lot of insulation under the car and in the door panels to help you feel distanced from the world.  

This can be nice to help reduce the amount of noise that gets into the cabin.  Luxury vehicle manufacturers will also typically use thicker or double pane glass to help keep any unwanted noise from entering the cabin.  They will typically also add extra panels underneath the vehicle to aid with noise reduction.

11. They Have the Latest Safety Features

Luxury cars will typically be loaded with different safety systems and features.  Safety systems like lane keep assist, automatic braking, and blind-spot monitoring will help make sure that you don’t get in any accidents on the road.  

You can also expect to have camera systems to help you maneuver your luxury car in parking lots.  Most new vehicles will come with a backup camera as standard (this was mandated by US laws in 2018) but in some new vehicles, they come with a camera system to be able to see around the whole vehicle.

With these sorts of camera systems, cameras will be positioned on all corners of the vehicle to be able to show you all the different angles around the car.  Some systems can even give you a birds-eye view of your vehicle in real-time. These systems can be nice in tight parking spots because you can see around the entire vehicle.

Related Questions

Is It Better To Buy A New Or Used Luxury Car?  It depends on your situation.  With buying a new luxury car you will be paying a high upfront price but the vehicle will likely be under warranty for at least a few years.  When buying a used luxury car the price of the vehicle will have depreciated a bit but you are likely going to have to pay for repairs on the vehicle if it doesn’t have an extended warranty.

I would recommend getting an extended warranty if possible on any luxury European luxury vehicle.  That way you won’t have to pay for any expensive repairs down the line.

Are Luxury Cars a Waste Of Money?  Some people would say that luxury cars are a waste of money.  I think it really comes down to where you are at in your life and how much you have in savings.  

If you are barely able to get by every week on your current income you probably shouldn’t be driving a luxury car.  If you have most things in your life paid off and have plenty of money left over every month then you likely could afford to live with a luxury car.  Don’t try to buy a luxury car to impress people if you don’t have the money to pay for repairs.

What Are The Best Luxury Car Brands?   The best overall luxury car manufacturers are going the German auto manufacturers BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes Benz.  The most reliable luxury car brands are going to be Lexus followed by Acura. In regards to United States manufacturers, Cadillac has the upper hand over Lincoln and Buick.  

If we are talking about the best luxury car brand for the money  Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti are going to give you the most luxury car experience bang for the buck.  Jaguar makes good looking cars but has had a history of being unreliable.

Volvo makes very safe luxury cars but is a bit reserved in their looks to get a lot of attention from mainstream luxury car buyers.  

Genesis is a new luxury brand that is the luxury branch of Hyundai and Kia vehicles.  While most South Korean made cars have proved to be somewhat reliable they have yet to prove to Americans that they can make high-end luxury cars.

Porsche makes very nice looking race-inspired sports cars and SUV’s.  Their sports cars will typically maintain their value fairly well over time.  Their SUV’s however typically don’t maintain their value as well over time.

Alfa Romeo has just started selling its vehicles in North America again so the story is still out to see how reliable they will be.  In the past, Alfa Romeo has had a problem with reliability issues so we will see if those issues have been addressed.

Land Rover has been the pinnacle of a luxury off-road vehicle for some time now.  That isn’t to say that there haven’t been issues with Land Rovers. Land Rovers typically depreciate rapidly because of the costs associated with maintaining the vehicle.

Things To Know Before Buying A Luxury Car – In Conclusion

Hopefully, if you made it this far you were able to get something out of this article.  These are the top things that I think you should consider when buying a luxury car. Luxury cars can provide an opulent experience but it typically comes at a cost.  

Luxury cars cost more than typical vehicles because of the amount of technology that is crammed into them.  The more new technology that is available in the vehicle the more you can expect to pay.