Who hasn't dreamed of owning a supercar at least once in their lives? For every gearhead in the world, a supercar is the ultimate dream. Brilliantly-crafted machines, housing phenomenal power paired with the utmost luxury, supercars truly make the world go round. However, there's another side to owning a supercar that mostly goes unnoticed. Sure, you'd love to bring home a brand-new, sparkly supercar, but there's also a certain peace of mind you'd need, knowing you could re-sell it if need be without losing too much of your money.
In fact, many supercars have built a reputation of having great resale value, like the Lexus LFA or the Ferrari LaFerrari. These cars were made in small numbers, and were nearly perfect. Thus, not only have they gone up in value today, but their rarity continues to hike up their asking price even today. On the flip side, there are some supercars that can simply be deemed bad investments, as they have some of the poorest resale values in the used car market. These cars are either ridden with problems, suffer from bad reputation, or were far too common to command any value. Here are 9 supercars that have terrible resale value.
9 McLaren 720S: Used Price $219,999
The McLaren 720S is one of the best supercars money can buy. Every gearhead is bound to fall in love with this British supercar, and yet, the 720S, which comes brand new for $310,000, has lost a huge chunk of its value in the used car market.
This depreciation, not just for the 720S, but most McLarens, is possibly due to the questionable reliability of their cars, or the build-to-stock strategy McLaren used to employ. Despite being an excellent car, don't hold out hope that your McLaren 720S would go up in value or retain it as time goes.
8 2015 McLaren 650S Spider: Used Price $71,000
The 650S Spider re-introduced McLaren to the automotive world (for, like, the third time). To go up against their Italian supercar rivals, McLaren updated the MP4-12C, and we had the 650S.
Before it went out in 2017, the 650S sold for around $290,000, and Edmunds quotes a value of around $71,000 for the car today. If that isn't a steep drop, we don't know what is. Newer models like the 675 LT and the 720S have caused the value of the McLaren 650S to go down into the dumps, sadly.
7 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera: Used Price $200,000
The DBS is Aston Martin's flagship product. The DBS Superleggera holds more powerful than even the DB11, and it manages to cut an even more striking figure. While the power increase was a welcome addition, Aston Martin definitely flaked out on the interior.
You wouldn't be too happy to pay over $300,000 to be getting pretty much the same cabin as the DB11 that cost over $100,000 less. This could explain the drop in the car's value, as one can get this baby for just under $200,000 today.
6 Mercedes-AMG GT: Used Price $120,000
Much like the Audi R8, the Mercedes-AMG GT is a higher-level super sports car. Of course, it sports the Silver Arrows, which makes its badge a slightly more conventional one. This is always a big reason for any supercar to lose its value, since the brand also mass-produces numerous other vehicles by the thousands.
Today, you'd have to shell out about $400,000 for a new Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series, but prices for a 5-year-old model of the AMG GT are about $120,000 today, with some Roadster models going for as low as $80,000.
5 McLaren GT: Used Price $160,000
Boy are there a lot of McLarens here on this list. McLaren positioned the GT as a brave move, a grand tourer that could reach speeds of up to 200mph, while remaining comfortable as well as practical. In fact, the British marque achieved pretty much all they hoped for with the McLaren GT.
The GT, however, for all its plus points, has depreciated greatly. While a brand-new McLaren GT costs around $208,000 today, one could find models barely two years old for just around $160,000, which is pretty steep drop. Suffice to say, the GT isn't going up in value any time soon.
4 McLaren 570S: Used Price $150,000
The McLaren 570S, much like the 720, is an excellent supercar, and there isn't a whole lot we could fault it for. However, questions about the car's (and brand's) reliability remain. Making things worse for this supercar is that there are a lot of 570s on the market.
Sure, a few decades from now, 570s could fetch an extremely pretty penny, but right now, for a car that cost around $200,000 just two years ago, there are models on the market for around $150,000. In case you decide to get one, it would be wise to not expect that price to go up any time soon.
3 Aston Martin DB11 V8: Used Price $140,000
Aston Martin's DB11 remains a great car to look at, but it continued to suffer from the same reliability concerns as its siblings. Today, however, reliability is improving for the marque, but even then, the depreciation curve for the DB11 has remained steep.
High maintenance costs for the DB11, among other Aston cars, is also a major reason for the car's value to go down from a brand-new model at $210,000 to a used one at just about $140,000.
2 Audi R8: Used Price $90,000
True gearheads look at the Audi R8 quite fondly, but sadly, the market doesn't really follow suit. In the supercar market, Audi's R8 has plenty of factors working against it. There's relatively little model heritage with the car, the Audi badge itself isn't as exotic as others, and the high production numbers of the R8 don't do a lot for its rarity-induced value.
In 2023, the Audi R8 is in its last year. Another iconic gas-powered car we'll have to bid goodbye, the Audi R8 is pretty great, but definitely not an appreciating asset. A 2023 model would set you back either $150,000 or $200,000, while you could get an R8 of the same generation for around $90,000 on the used car market.
1 Aston Martin DB9 Volante: Used Price $80,000
Another Aston that has greatly diminished in value, the DB9 Volante was discontinued in 2016. Riding on a 450 horsepower engine that made 420 lb-ft of torque, the DB9 Volante, in its final year, cost as high as $203,000.
On the other hand, it is also one of the cheapest supercars you could buy today from the used car market. For just about $80,000, you could get yourself a DB9 Volante, showing just how much the car has depreciated over the years.
Sources: TrueCar, CarGurus, Hagerty, Edmunds