Buying a car can be a thrilling experience. You get to play around with a new vehicle and if it’s new, you drive home with the satisfaction that the driver seat is free from anyone’s farts but your own. It’s often reported that the average price of a new car in America is expensive and is getting only more pricey. That gets me thinking, what’s the most expensive car you’ve ever purchased?
Admittedly, my fleet has grown to such a size that I keep a note on my phone about my vehicles and their current status. Many people wonder how on Earth I’ve achieved keeping so many vehicles running and driving. A part of my secret is the fact that I live in one of the cheapest apartments in my area. I also share expenses with my wife, freeing up money for vehicular shenanigans.
The other part of it is the fact that I almost always buy a vehicle at the bottom of its depreciation curve. I don’t shop on Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids, or any of the specialty online car markets. No, I search the bottom of the barrel on Facebook and buy cars with tons of miles, rust, or a mechanical issue here or there. It’s telling that the nicest car I’ve purchased used was the Bishop’s 178,000-mile 2007 BMW 530xi wagon.
New cars are a different story. I’ve been lucky enough to purchase four vehicles in my life thus far. The two motorcycles were a 2023 Royal Enfield Classic 350 purchased for $5,850 and a 2024 CFMoto Papio SS for $4,500. The two cars were a 2012 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe and a 2016 Smart Fortwo Edition #1. The 2012 Smart stickered for $16,200 new and after financing, I paid about $19,200 total for the car. The 2016 Smart was about $17,000 and change when it was new, and I got a stellar 0 percent financing deal on that one.
So, I’ve spent $36,000-ish on two Smart Fortwos, which basically means I got one real car out of the other end. I still have both of those cars today and I plan to take them to the grave with me, so I think it’s money well spent.
Here’s where I turn things to you. Are you one of the Americans to have spent over $48,000 on a new car? Have you gone all of your life never spending more than $10,000 on a ride?
Until well into my 30’s, I owned a couple of (brass) musical instruments that were worth more than any car I purchased, and I’m not even a professional musician. Through college and grad school, and then into my first job I kept driving old Buick sedans that just kept driving for years.
Now I drive a Chevy Bolt that was somewhere around $25K new because I wanted to try the EV-experience. I plan to drive it until something breaks that’s not worth repairing. I feel like I’m a disappointment as a ‘car guy’… some day I’ll drive something fun!
Disappointment?!?! Chevy Bolt is a sweet little car! Wish I had cash for one. It was a little embarrassing, but I recently pulled up next to one and wanted to tell the driver “cool car” but my Datsun started spewing smoke and I got the stink eye.
lol — back in the ~2005 era parent’s neighbor sold a 240Z that had been parked (never started) in his garage for at least 15 yrs. I think he wanted like $10k for it, which I thought was insanely expensive. In retrospect, that probably would have been a great deal!
Don’t down yourself. Whether you carve corners —or hypermile, an enthusiast is someone into cars. I have a couple traditional quickish cars, but a Bolt is very high on my list of potential future cars because they’re quirky and cool and fit for purpose.
thanks for the kind words — I do think the Bolt is very efficient for exactly what I use it for: driving about 20 miles/day on a commute. And it’s a hatchback, which is my favorite car type.
I’ve spent $3k several times: a 300D, 300TD, and a Bugeye WRX. Then last year I blew $10k on an M Roadster—which I have spent $8k on in the last few weeks acquiring a much lower mileage motor & all the ‘while you’re there’ stuff after I hooned the oil pump nut off the shaft.
-at least this has gotten me off my lazy arse & swingin’ wrenches again. That part feels good.
$4250, for my ‘96 GMC K1500 with (at the time) 155,000 miles. That was 9 years ago, and 80,000 miles later, the ol’ boy is still my favorite vehicle I’ve ever owned. It’s scruffy, the body is beat up, it leaks a little oil, but I love it. It’s been a commuter, a work truck, a winter beater, and most importantly it hauls my kiddos around comfortably and I don’t have to be afraid about it getting dirty on the farm. Money well spent.
Bought a 2016 VW GTI SE which was ~32K MSRP, but it got wrecked and sold it a few months later at a loss, so I don’t consider that fully purchased. I bought a 2018 GTI Autobahn for $30K cash last year, and I feel the price was decent given it only had 26 or 27K miles.
Since you mentioned the costs of keeping a car running on top of purchase, I would offer up as an honorable mention that my first car, a Mazda Millenia, only cost like $2-3K to buy used with 125K miles, but I kept it around for 13 years and put just shy of $30k in repairs, maintenance, insurance, and registration into it. That would count as my top lifetime cost.
Expensive as in the *original* MSRP or expensive in what was paid? Because the car I bought used was a lot more expensive new than the one I bought new.
Assuming you mean “most expensive in what was paid,” it would be the 2023 911 GTS Targa 50 Year Porsche Design, which was…a lot. But it came with a watch.
Most expensive car would be the Ferrari 612 which was $320k back in 2006 when it was new (but considerably less last year).
$11,500 for a 4-year old 2012 Chevy Volt off of Craigslist with almost exactly 40,000 miles on it. I still have it – currently has just under 118,000 miles. The electric-only range has dropped a bit, but it still runs great. It would’ve paid for itself in fuel-savings around the fourth year of ownership, but ended up being more like four-and-a-half years due to the extra money I had to spend on plates and insurance. Plan to drive it until it something goes out that costs more to fix than it’s worth and then part it out.
Three thousand British pounds (about $4000) in January, plus shipping from the UK to the US, but I got a Triumph Acclaim out of the deal so, you know, money well spent.
$30k for a new 2015 F150. I needed a completely reliable truck to plow snow and haul a one car trailer. I worked it hard for 5 years then sold it and got half my money back. It was well worth it to me, that truck made me a lot of money.
2023 M3 “base” (manual), around $90k with options
Wow, y’all rich.
The most expensive car I have ever bought was $800.
The most expensive car I have been involved in buying(my mom’s car, not my money) was $1100.
I like your style. My last two cars have fallen in that budget.
Those are the most expensive. My four cars cost me $800, $650, $0, and $0.
2023 Honda CRV EX-L for $37,XXX in Nov 2022. The first new car we’ve purchased since 2005. This was during the tail end of COVID and used car prices were still astronomical.
We bought my wife a brand new 2015 CX-5 in November of 2014. It was a top trim, AWD, but not quite fully loaded. Paid $27,xxx. It only has 23,500 miles on it still, since my wife doesn’t drive many miles, so it’s got a lot of life left in it. In fact, this coming weekend it will be going on it’s first trip outside of like a 3 county radius. I’m curious to see what kind of fuel economy it gets on the highway, as it’s never had a full tank used on the highway before.
As I thought about this question I just realized I’ve never technically purchased a new car. My most expensive purchase is my current ride, a 2022 Veloster N 6-speed manual that I bought used with 1500 miles on it for a little over $30k. That was right at the top of what I budgeted, but I’m glad I got one while I still could as new Veloster Ns with a stick had basically disappeared.
The only new car I ever had was 1999 Integra 5MT, and that was leased. Everything else has been nice, but affordably used, and all with manual transmissions.
The 2015 Nissan Frontier I bought new for about $26K.
~$54K for a 2013 Ram 2500 Mega Cab diesel with a 6MT and nearly all the options. Bought it new, paid cash.
My 2018 Cayman stickered for ~$72k when new, I bought it for ~$48K last year, with half of that being my trade-in value for my 2017 Golf-R. Financed the rest but paid it off last week.
2011 Jaguar XFR for about $84K with tax. Sold it 4 years later while it was still under warranty. Loved the power, but it was no replacement for the e39 540. So sold it, bought a XT Subaru Forrester (WRX motor), an expensive Chello, and a kick butt computer.
About $45k for the RAV4 Prime, though we did buy when it was still tax credit eligible. After that would be the ‘05 Subaru Legacy Spec B I bought new back in the day…I think that was around $35k? That was a fun car…
I technically spent just under $44k on a Honda Ridgeline in 2021. Thankfully my actual note was far than that because of my trade. A couple years prior, I bought a Buick Regal TourX for a little over half it’s $40k MSRP because it sat on the lot for a year and was a loaner. Buying a year old “new” car with 3000 miles let me drive the car with effectively zero depreciation for two years and convert that value into a 50% down payment on a new car.
How did you like the TourX? I want one based on shape and size, but for all I know it’s terrible.
I liked it a lot and would still have it if I didn’t need something that could tow. Granted, it wasn’t on the same level as the German or Swedish wagons, but it was very comfortable. It had pretty good utility. It’s just unique enough that people are interested but not so unique that the local GM dealer can’t service it easily.
My major complaint was that it ‘recommended’ premium gas. It also had a very European seating position, so wider folks might not find it so comfortable up front. Throttle response and transmission mapping were a bit lazy, but I fixed that with a Trifecta Tune. The lower control arms also went bad within 5,000 miles (replaced under a tech bulletin) and I heard about rear diff failure at around 45,000 miles for some people.
Thanks!
I am tied at 11K for my last two trucks.
One was a 2002 F350 with the V10 and a 6 spd with 30k on it. I bought it in 2017. It still had the original tires on it!
2 years ago mid pandemic I bought a 2015 Tacoma with 60k for the same price…
$44k for my S5 bought during Covid times. Put a butt load down so I’m still well above water, but trade in values give me the big sad. Before that I leased a Giulia which was a terrible idea, my first and only brand new car, and the reason I ended up buying during Covid, but that stickered at $48k had I purchased it. Doubt it would’ve sold for MSRP though. I couldn’t care less about having a brand new car and I did not enjoy leasing, so it’s more used shit from here on out.
In 2012 bought a Raptor, sticker was $56k, they offered it with $3500 off, gave me more for my trade-in than expected, walked out with an extended warranty for $41k. Still have it to this day.
My most expensive ride is my Datsun 280Z. I bought it when the hype train had already left the station at 16500€ (around the same amount in USD).
It seemed like a lot for an unrestored car back then but now it seems reasonable. I then proceeded to spend all my savings into that rust heap.
~35k€ in restoration later, it’s still the best decision I ever made. It should be back on the road this summer.
Last … LAST … new car … 2005 BMW M3. Had a love hate relationship with that car. Had just moved to Ohio, sold house in California (paid for car). Hated moving, associated the car with the move, so eventually sold it just to be rid of it.
Was about $60,000+ if I remember right.
Now, I have a 2010 Audi A5 that I’m not going to get rid of. Just got a 1997 Chevy Tahoe from a friend for $0 (long story, I used to own it) that runs fantastic. Putting some money into my 2002 F250 7.3 diesel. Fantastic truck!
G87 M2 manual. I think it was a bit under $70k with a couple of options.
12K for a 2010 GMC Sierra with 100K miles on it.
Everything else has been 2k or under.