
Mercedes-Maybach S-Class
Why 0.5: Doug clocked a 7 for Acceleration on the hybrid inline-six, unusually athletic for a chauffeur car — but Comfort and Quality both hit 9, and that's the actual sales pitch. Nobody cross-shops this against anything with a manual gearbox.
Layout
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €166k (2021) → €106k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
The long version
Mercedes builds the Maybach on the same line as the standard S-Class, then spends the difference entirely on the rear compartment — reclining seats, four-zone climate, glass separating the driver from a cabin tuned like a private jet. Depreciation here is famously brutal, steeper than the S-Class it's based on, because buyers churn through the newest model year rather than holding one the way a Rolls-Royce owner might. That trade-off is the point: a luxury good bought to be current, not a collectible bought to be kept, and the ownership data reads exactly like that.