Oh what a fall from grace for this crashed 2004 Maybach 57 being auctioned off by Copart. The vehicle cost $305,000 back in 2004 — that’s over half a million of today’s inflated dollars — but today its “estimated retail value” is a paltry $45,029.00. That’s a drop in value of over $450,000! That’s a damn house! This might have you thinking: “This Maybach must be absolutely roached.” But no, it actually looks fairly solid.
It’s pretty crazy to think that DaimlerChrysler — the same company that brought us the rock-hard-plastic-interior-having Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass — also offered a $300,000+ ultra-luxury machine whose opulence left pretty much every other luxury car in the dust. The Maybach 57 truly was the ultimate back in the early 2000s, making its way into song lyrics, shuttling dignitaries, and building its name as the premier “flex” for the ultra-rich (a name that remains to this day).
But as baller as the Maybach once was, this Copart listing should remind us all that old age, combined with just a minor setback, can knock us all on our asses. This Maybach used to be a car that hotels would try hard to park out front, but now the thing is parked in an insurance auction lot in Sun Valley, California — home of the LA areas’s biggest junkyards.
The Maybach’s list of luxury features might have seemed swanky 20 years ago, but today they’re features you’ll find in Jeep Grand Cherokee:
- Heated & cooled seats
- Individual climate controls
- DVD players
- Navigation system
- Ultra-premium sound system
- Heated steering wheels
- Back-of-seat video monitors
Okay, that’s not a full list (and to be honest, the Maybach’s most impressive features are mechanical — it’s got a twin-turbo V12 that makes 543 horsepower and 663 lb-ft of torque as well as humongous pizza-sized brakes). Here, let Car and Drive try to break down the Maybach’s luxury by talking n:
Here’s what the Maybach does have: cloth curtains in the rear window and a miniature refrigerator. In this regard, this “ultra-luxury” car is just like a VW Camper van. Otherwise, not so much.
The Maybach 57-this is the little Maybach (say my-bahk) not the limo-length 62 model-also has six brake calipers, 10 distinct light sources serving as the headlamps, 528 red LEDs acting as taillights, 20 memory buttons for the four seats, two video screens, one DVD player, 21 speakers, two independent air-conditioning units, one remote control, two mobile phones, two champagne-flute holders, 12 combustion chambers, two turbochargers, and one umbrella. Our test car had 80 pieces of Amboyna wood veneer-a hardwood with a burled and swirled grain that is carried out of the jungles of Indonesia on the backs of elephants. Buyers can also choose less exotic burled-walnut or cherry trim
That’s the tricky thing about old luxury cars; swanky features quickly become standard features. Just look at heated seats; once reserved for luxury cars, you can now get them in most entry-level economy cars. Big fancy screens are the norm in everything. Dual zone climate control is common these days (I’m currently writing this from a base-spec Mazda CX-5 rental car; it has dual zone climate control, heated seats, and a nice screen), and a Navigation system? Those are essentially worthless in an era of Apple Carplay and Android Auto.
Add together the no-longer-so-luxury-features with the fact that most people no longer associate a car with luxury once it’s a couple years old (regardless of its features), plus this little dent in the rear bumper, and you’ve got a car that’s thoroughly washed up:
I don’t know much about this Maybach other than that it’s being sold by an insurance company after some rear-end damage that doesn’t prevent the car from running or driving. The auction listing states:
Run and Drive
I actually think this thing will sell for under $45,000, as I’m finding dent-free Maybach 57s for right around that price. Check out this 2015:
My god that’s absurd depreciation.
The question is: If you could snag this Copart Maybach for, say, under $30,000, would that be a good deal in your eyes? The luxury features really don’t hold up, but a twin-turbo V12 is a twin-turbo V12. And also, a Maybach is a Maybach…
These have aged so badly… I mean, it basically looks like a cheap knock-off of an S-class. Good thing those who could afford one had no taste anyhow, so no harm done.