- Luxury, easily one of the fanciest
words in the English language.
It instantly calls to mind diamond rings, solid gold toilet,
and of course, luxury cars.
Today I'm going to show you nine cars
that were super expensive when they were new,
but now you can find them for less money than the cheapest
new car available in the US at this time,
the Chevy Spark.
Slap on a monocle and chug a whole barrel of caviar,
because it's time to get fancy.
This is D-list.
Big old thanks to Kove speakers
for sponsoring today's episode of the D-list.
Okay.
So, you guys know that I bought a new old car
and it's got a Corolla Copia of leaks and issues,
currently running on two cylinders.
That means I've been spending a long time in my garage,
gas station, side of the road,
dealing with some of these issues.
It's been a challenge.
Do I love the car?
Yes.
Do I regret the purchase?
No, no.
One thing that has helped me through
is my Kove speaker Commuter Two.
It's awesome because I can just beep, beep, boop,
connect blue tooth and crank up some tunes.
It's great because it's water resistant,
so when I'm out cleaning my drive way,
to get rid of all the oil stains,
I don't have to worry about my speaker getting wet.
But the coolest thing about
the new version of this speaker is this.
It fricking breaks in half.
Now you can separate the left and the right channels
and when they stay together,
they create a 360 degree surround sound effect.
Click the link in the description
or head over to KoveAudio.com/donut64
and you will get 64% off.
Now, back to the show.
I just want to start off this episode by saying
while these cars are cheap to buy,
none of them are cheap to own.
Nothing is more expensive than a cheap luxury car.
Moving on.
Maserati Quattroporte.
Italians know two things.
Pasta and luxury cars
and art and I think they invented democracy.
Let's just say that Italians
probably know a lot of things
and I should learn not to generalize any nationality
down to just one or two characteristics.
So, it's my bad.
We're growing together, you guys.
So, let me start over.
Do you want to own a Maserati?
Of course you do.
Well, today, you can get a fifth gen Quattroporte,
aka 4-Porte, for cheap.
Not a bad deal for a car
that retailed for 95 large when it was new
or 125 thousand dollars with inflation.
So, why so expensive?
Because Maseratis are marketed
as both luxury and performance vehicles.
The Quattroporte has a 4.2 liter V8,
coupled with luxury sedan feel on the sides and back.
It's like the opposite of a mullet.
Party in the front, business in the back.
But don't expect to only spend $11000 on this car.
The biggest problem with this big old boy
is it's immensely complex drive train
which is very difficult to repair.
That said, when it is in working order,
the Quattroporte can go zero to 60 in five seconds
and tops out at 171 miles per hour.
So, that's a spicy meatball.
I have learned nothing.
BMW 750IL.
Question, who's classier than 007, Mr. Jake Bond?
Answer, not a single person on this flat green earth.
The super spy himself drove a BMW 750IL
in the classic 1997 film, Tomorrow Never Dies,
from the golden era of Bond, the Brosnan years.
The 750IL was the top level of the E38,
produced between 1994 and 2001.
Not only was it stocked with a 5.4 liter V12,
with 322 horsepowers,
it also was the first BMW to come with a TV.
In the very first vehicle period
with curtain air bags.
Trust me, there's nothing more luxurious than not dying.
I not died last year.
Back in 2001, these German driving machines
retailed for $92000.
That's over $134000 in today's money.
But, now, you can get them for like 5000 bucks.
It's not like some 20 year old,
aging old people car.
I think the E38 is still
one of the coolest looking cars ever.
It's aged incredibly well.
I love them.
Surprisingly enough,
you can even find the next generation,
the E65 for pretty cheap.
Maybe that's because
that particular car was not
known for it's reliability or it's efficiency
but the styling and comfort
still hold up even 20 years later.
That's the most important thing
for you, me and Bond, Jeff Bond.
Mercedes S-Class.
The S-Class or as I like to call it, the Sclass,
is one of the most awarded cars ever.
We're talking multiple car of the year awards,
from places like JD Power and US News.
Not to mention honors like Best Luxury Car,
Safest Passenger Car,
European Car Of The Year, and more.
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised
If someone gave the S-Class a Streamy
for best sports channel just like we got last year.
(crowd cheering)
The S-600 budded in 1999
as the highest performance car in S-Class history
with an MSRP of $134250,
which would be over 200 grand nowadays.
It's got a 5.5 liter V12 twin turbio motor
with 493 horsepower.
This car was so loaded
that it even came with it's own website.
According to Car and Driver,
a 2001 S600 included your own
personal web page on MBUSA.com.
The things it did are hilarious and very rich guy.
You could check stocks, news, sports, weather.
Rich guy stuff.
I never really understood the weather channel.
(mumbles).
That site could be downloaded
and displayed on your dash screen,
making the S600 one of the first internet connected cars.
Guys, this is before we had all the watches
with the smart watches and tablets.
Today, smart shoppers can find a used S600,
well, I wouldn't say smart,
today, brave shoppers can find a used S600 for 13 grand
which aint cheap, but also aint bad
for one of the highest end sedans
in the history of cars.
If you're Michael Jordan,
then you're going to get a return on your investment
because his just sold for like 200 grand.
You're probably not Michael Jordan.
If you are Michael Jordan,
and you are watching this,
slide in the DMs, let's hang out.
Range Rover Sport HSE.
This car's easily the most luxurious
way to drive through a lake.
(laughing).
These mamma jammas have serious all terrain power,
maxing out at 503 horse powers,
plus they've got an air suspension system
that allows you to change the ride height for off road.
Land Rover's patented terrain response system
offers custom chassis and transmission settings
for five different landscapes.
Road, Grass, Mud, Sand and Heart.
I've got a Captain Planet haircut now.
Problem, as with many of the cars on today's list,
this Range Rover is notoriously unreliable.
Actually, just about every Range Rover
is notoriously unreliable.
Check out Range Rover enthusiast's forums
and you'll find a million questions like
what's this noise mean?
What's this warning light mean?
What's this explosion mean?
(explosion sound)
But for all the problems you might run into,
it's still a Range Rover
which is the car
that actual rich people drive.
The high trim interior
detailing on the HSC absolutely
puts competitors to shame.
When the Sport HSC debuted in 2004,
it was $72000,
but these days, you can get them for less than 10.
Not bad grommet.
Audi S8.
Picture yourself in Neckersulm, Germany.
Okay?
It's a small hamlet in northern Baden-Württemberg.
Here you are, you're just eating a schnitzel,
you're drinking a Doppelbock,
you're wearing leather shorts
and you drive an Audi S8,
because that's the only place
that they make the Audi S8.
If you ask me, German words are funny and easy to say.
Also, if you ask me,
Audi is a fancy rich guy German car.
The S8 is a jazzed up version of the A8,
Audi's flagship sedan.
It's got some sportier features,
like firmer suspension,
bigger wheels, it's got ceramic brakes,
and debuted in North America in 1999,
the same year as Woodstock Two,
for $65000, which would be
pretty much exactly $100000 today.
But now, you can find an early 2000s S8
for eight to ten grand.
Audi's are generally though to be
some of the more reliable luxury cars,
which makes a used S8 a good deal.
Porsche Cayenne.
Oh, that's a little spicy.
What is it?
Cayenne baby.
When the Cayenne debuted in 2001,
some people thought it was dumb
for Porsche to make SUVs.
They said an SUV
just couldn't be a true P car.
To that I say nay.
It's never dumb for any company
to make any car unless it blows up
because cars are awesome
and there are never enough of them
unless they blow up.
Luckily, the doubters were soon proven wrong
because the Cayenne turned out to be pretty super duper.
All right?
Business Insider called it the...
They're not German.
The undisputed king of high performance SUVs.
In a sport utility market
dominated by American and Japanese brands,
suddenly there was a Porsche to compete with.
But, the Cayenne has depreciated a lot more
than other Porsches,
despite the original MSRP of 89 grand,
you can get a mid-2000s Cayenne Turbo
for like 8000 bucks.
Compared to the same year 911s
that sell for close to 30 grand.
There are a couple of reasons.
Okay?
For one thing, Porsche produces
about twice as many Cayennes as 911s,
so there's just more of them.
For another, a lot of Porsche enthusiasts
just don't want a Cayenne.
Okay?
It doesn't scratch their itch.
If they do want one, they're going to buy a new one,
which by the way,
if you have a serious case of Porsche itch,
you should call 911.
VW Phaeton.
The Volkswagen Phaeton
was only sold in America
for a glorious three year period,
the golden age known as 2004 to 2006.
When I was supposed to be in college.
VW created it after Mercedes
introduced the new low cost A-Class,
which was a clear attempt
to compete with Volkswagen's offerings
like the Passat
and because VW already makes luxury class vehicles,
under the Audi badge,
Mercedes tried to horn in on VW's family market,
it was easy for VW to say, ah hell nein.
The Phaeton had a ton of luxury bonafides
including a draftless four zone climate system
that Volkswagen actually invented
and patented for this vehicle.
The real icing on this little cup cake was the W12.
This is the same engine from the VW Nardo
concept we talked about a few episodes ago.
It's also the same engine from the Bentley Continental
which is a very, very fancy rich guy car.
But, much like Quibi,
the Phaeton was a huge expensive failure,
in part because VW priced it
comparably to more established luxury brands
and no one wanted to spend
a gugillion dollars on a Volkswagen.
2005, it's second model year,
they sold only 820 Phaetons in the US
and only 21 in Canada.
So, they stopped selling the Phaeton
in North America altogether
and because no one really ever wanted this car
except for me,
now you can find them for a fraction of the original price.
But, I really, really wouldn't recommend
actually buying one,
especially when you consider that
Chevy Spark comes with built in WiFi
and it only costs $14000,
and I'd like to reiterate,
this episode is not sponsored by Chevy,
I'm just saying W12s are cool,
but look at how scary these timing chains look.
Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit.
The Silver Spirit
was the last car Rolls-Royce made
before the company was purchased
and relaunched by BMW
and it was a doozy.
Talking ultra luxurious,
ultra spacious sedan,
fit to carry the Rolls legacy.
It's got all the interior flare
you'd expect from Rolls-Royce
including a walnut dash,
seats that are either all leather
or if you're naughty, velour.
Yes, you can have a car
that is exactly as comfortable
as my Fenty track suit.
Perhaps most uniquely,
it was the first Rolls
with a retractable hood ornament.
They made Rolls-Royce's famous spirit of ecstasy statue
spring loaded, so it would retract
into the hood in case of a fender bender to protect it,
or in case hooligans like Nolan
try to steal it and glue it onto his car.
The Silver Spirit comes with Rolls-Royce's
famous 6.75 liter L410 V8 under the bonnet grommet.
This engine has the second longest production run in history
and you can still find it in brand new Bentlys today.
I know, this is a Rolls-Royce engine,
but the two companies weirdly are intertwined.
If you want to learn more about it,
check out the episode of Up To Speed on Rolls-Royce.
I'll put the link in the description below.
While repairs can get extremely expensive,
this car is famous for it's durability.
Find one without any major problems,
they can last for 500000 miles.
I don't know if you're into math,
but that's half of a million.
Nowadays, you can find one for like 14 grand.
You're getting an absolute steal.
Just make sure your garage is big enough
because the standard one is 17 feet long
which is very long,
but still almost an entire foot shorter
than the car that Nolan has parked at my house.
Toyota Century.
Can you believe that a Toyota
is at the top of our list of luxury cars?
I can't
and I'm in the freaking video.
But the Century is straight up a masterpiece.
That is the reason why
this is the second time it's crest at the top of our D-list.
A sign at the Toyota factory calls it
The Best Car In The World,
and that might actually be correct.
This land yacht is called the Century
because it was created for the 100th birthday
of Sakichi Toyota
who was the father
of Toyota founder, Kiichiro.
It's even the official car
of the emperor of Japan.
Each car takes six weeks to build
and only four workers are qualified
to work on the Century's paint
which was required to have a mirror finish.
New ones today are $180000,
but what's even crazier
is that Toyota chooses who can buy one.
So, even if you have $180000,
you still might not be able to get it.
But here's the thing.
Thanks to the 25 year import rule,
you can buy an imported Century
for under $10000.
This is literally one of the most coveted cars
on the face of this flat green earth,
but is super cheap in America,
because nobody even knows what they are.
So, my friends, it is up to you
to take advantage of America's ignorance
and go get yourself a banging car
that happens to be a little bit nicer than a Chevy Spark.
For their latest line,
Chinatown Market has collabed with
legendary 60s rock band, The Grateful Dead
and you can't have a Grateful Dead collab
without a VW bus.
That's where we came in.
If you watched last week's episode of Money Pit,
then you saw Zack, Gerald and our friend Dan
bust their booties,
trying to put this van back together.
In honor of that van,
China Town put together this sick t-shirt.
It's only going to be available
starting at 3:00 PM on Saturday
and ending at 10:00 AM on Monday.
So, set your alarms,
head over to TheChinaTownMarket.com
to grab this piece of history.
Guys, I am so fricking exited about this.
There are no words.
China Town is very cool.
Buy all of these shirts
so we can do more stuff like this.
Hit that subscribe button or I'm going to tell your teacher
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Follow me on Instagram and Twitter
at JamesPumphrey,
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To learn more about Rolls-Royce,
check out this episode of Up To Speed
and to learn more about the W12 engine,
check out this episode of Bumper to Bumper,
hosted by one of my best boys, Jeremiah.
He's one of the best boys in the world.
I love you.