General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If there's one thing I simply cannot stand, it's poverty shaming. [View all]jeff47
(26,549 posts)Is that the used market for high-end cars is really, really cheap.
There's a huge premium on the new cars, but a 5-year-old C-class Mercedes costs about the same as a 5-year-old Camry. Because the people paying for the Mercedes want the prestige of the new car, or lease so that they always get newer cars. So there's not much demand for the used ones. Meanwhile, the people looking for the Camry really don't mind if it's 5 years old.
The price difference is even more stark when you're talking about less-popular brands...like Cadillac.
That leads to a whole lot of crap like "but she was driving a Mercedes to the food bank! She should sell it and buy a cheaper car!". She wouldn't get much for a used Mercedes, and the cars will run for a very long time even without "proper" maintenance.