Cars: They cost too much. Big cars, little cars, fast cars, slow cars — the only things they all share are that they’re too expensive to buy, too expensive to own, and never worth enough when you’re trying to sell yours. Earlier this week, we asked you for the most overpriced new cars, and you gave us a wealth of answers. Here are some of the best.
For me, it’s the 2024 Infiniti QX80 (MSRP: $74,150 - $88,450). I’ve driven one as a rental car and couldn’t believe the price they charge for this land barge. It’s old, slow, inefficient, large (but not roomy), cumbersome to drive, and, at least to my eyes, not even great to look at.
To top it off, Infiniti has already teased a replacement that will (ostensibly) be a whole heck of a lot nicer, so why would you plunk down your hard-earned greenbacks on a new one of these? Literally any other option at this price point is a win, or do the responsible thing and get the Toyota Grand Highlander/GR86 combo: have your cake, eat it too, and you would still save thousands.
I’ve always thought that the QX80 looks like a Lexus GX 460 that’s sitting underwater. You could also be underwater, looking at the Infiniti on dry land. Either way, it’s a watery Lexus.
Really hard to justify this thing being $13,090 more than the Nissan Z, with (in my opinion) worse looks, objectively less power, and the inherent BMW-ness of the whole thing.
It’s okay to be wrong sometimes. The Z is great-looking, but to say it’s better than the Supra? C’mon.
The Supra is really an interesting case, because I can’t think of a vehicle for its price that I’d rather own. The Z, the Mustang, nothing else really grabs me the way the Supra does.
The Jeep Grand Wagoneer is the first car that comes to mind. First off, its hideous at any price, especially for a 6-figure car competing with the Escalade, Range Rover Heavy, X7, and others in its class. Second, why make it a Jeep? Sure, its the only passenger vehicle brand in Stellantis’ portfolio that is doing well and has a future, but nobody is going offroading in this behemoth. It should have been a Chrysler, especially at this high pricepoint. If this vehicle started out around $50K or $60K and topped out at around $80K, it might be more paletable. Third, does the market really need another full-size, gas-guzzling vehicle like this?
Regardless, this ugly-ass monster is selling like hotcakes in my town so there are plenty of people feel the need to have a huge, ugly vehicle so what do I know?
The Grand Wagoneer is difficult to understand until you see one in person. It’s sort of like the Grand Canyon — it always looks smaller in photos. Then you actually see it, and you go “Jesus Christ, people go inside that? Why?
The new Dodge Hornet. Somehow, Dodge has decided a car that’s smaller than a Honda CR-V, should cost $49,000 when spec’d with AWD and a hybrid powertrain. The interior has some very nice features, but for what you get, $49K is a tough pill to swallow.
I appreciate the Hornet’s design, but I can’t get over that badge. Just two red stripes slashed diagonally down the center of the uppermost grille. Uppermost of three grilles, by the way.
I can’t get behind the Lucid Air Sapphire being worth $219,000 more than the Air Pure. In Canada the Air Pure is $108,000. The Sapphire is $327,000.
It’s a weird scenario because I do think the Pure is a $100K car and the Sapphire has hypercar numbers: 1200(+) hp, 0-60 in 2 seconds, 330km/h top speed, and it has 675 km of range. Those are $300,000 car stats.
But to have a $200,000 price variation on the same platform seems absurd to me.
I know Porsche has a similar spread but when you get to the $300,000 and up mark, you’re getting some pretty dedicated equipment. Plus there’s like 37,000 models between a 911 Carrera and a top end GT3 RS.
Yeah, but that’s 219,000 Canadian dollars difference. Here in the U.S., that’s something like 30 bucks. Not a small jump, to be sure, but many buyers find it worth it for what they get.
Any internal combustion engined car. When gas costs $100 / gallon in 2030 and you’re still paying your 96 month loan, you will have regrets
Eventually, sure, the lack of demand will cause a collapse on the supplier side of the supply chain for gasoline and negate any benefits gained from the past few decades of economies of scale. I’m not sure it’ll happen in the next 96 months, though. We’ve got at least a 120-month loan before we hit $100/gallon.
GMC Denali. Tahoes/Yukons are already over priced lumps of junk. Then you have a dressed up version pushing 100K? I can not think of one redeeming quality for one of these.
You can guarantee its transporting max 1 kid, maybe a Toy size dog, a couple Stanley cups, overpriced pocket book, golf clubs, your missing visor and half zip pullover, your Target pickup order and ChickFila lunch.
I used to work at a GM dealer, and I can tell you that no Yukon Denali has ever held more cargo than listed in that comment. Most of them have less.
if new old car that you can bought via special program is included then Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, R33 and R34 (via Skyline Restoration Program)
It started from 400k usd excluding the car, and yes you can request them to source the car for additional cost so I suspect it’s around 500k USD
Hayase, we’re really pushing the definition of a car’s MSRP here, but I’ll allow it purely because I love Skyline GT-Rs so much. If I ever win Powerball, I’ll have to get myself a new-old-stock R34. I’ll let you drive it, to see if it’s worth the cost.
Anything Mansory releases.
Sure, I’d love to pay way more than MSRP for a exotic, that has been beaten within an inch of it’s life with an ugly stick.
I genuinely wonder who the target market is for these builds. People with way too much money, way too little taste, and a desperate need for everyone they see to know both those facts? It’s a car for Logan Paul, I guess.
It’s a shorter list of what actually IS worth the money. But I’ll try to show how nuanced and tricky this is:
Take, for example, the Jeep Wrangler. Accounting for inflation, the Base model 2 door at 31,895 has SO MUCH more standard than you could ever get on a JK, TJ, YJ, etc. Adjusted for inflation, it’s no more expensive than a Jeep has ever been.
Couple that with the resale, you have yourself a vehicle that is worth every penny.
However, if you go crazy ordering the options up, and you do it wrongly enough, you can end up with a $60,000 jeep that has bone stock wheels, cloth seats, no heated seats or remote start, just a base model looking Jeep that somehow costs $60,000 dollars. Worth that? Not even close.
I still think base Jeeps should sell in the low $20k range new. You should be able to go out as a young adult and purchase a convertible SUV to take all your friends down to the beach in, and it should be genuinely affordably on entry-level wages.
Dodge Durango. It was last redesigned 13 years ago and still costs over $41k for a 2WD base trim with cloth seats.
If that $41k included the Hemi, maybe Stellantis would have something nice on its hands. Probably not, but maybe.
BMW XM. Starting price is $160K for what is essentially a spruced up X5 PHEV with a V8 and polarizing style. Is it a nice car to drive? Yes, absolutely. It is worth as much as a new M3 and an X5 50e combined? Hell no.
The thing with the XM is that it doesn’t look comparable to the X5. It looks about six times larger. Bavarian Canyonero energy.
I mean, pretty much all of them. Car prices are stupid high. However, gun to my head time? Pretty much any Mini. They aren’t bad cars, per se, but for what they are they are weirdly overpriced.
Skeffles, who’s threatening your life over this question? Tell them to stop. Better yet, put me on the phone, and I’ll tell them to stop. There’s no need for this to be difficult.
Toyota Crown, I really like it for its weirdness. But the interior is not worth its $40,000 base price, for that price you could almost get the fully loaded Outback Wilderness far better appointed.
The Toyota Crown has a head start in earning its MSRP, in that it seems targeted at folks who’ve been earning Social Security and their union pension for 15 years by the time of purchase.
The Mitsubishi Mirage. (How many people were either just reminded that the Mirage is a thing or googled if it’s still being made?) For ages, the only thing going for it was that it was cheap. With promos and dealer discounts, not too long ago you could get one new off the lot for under $10k. They may still be the cheapest new car, but they’re venturing for from cheap.
Let me correct that, the price is venturing far from cheap. The car itself is still cheap as hell. Now the only thing it has going for it is that it’s one of the few cars still on the market.
This is an interesting question here. The Mirage is one of, if not the singular cheapest car on the market right now, but it’s still possible for it to feel too cheap for its asking price. So long as Mitsubishi keeps finance rates down, though, it may not be an issue.