When shopping for a car, it is easy to focus on the sticker price and monthly payment. But what happens after you drive it home matters too. Routine maintenance, replacement parts, labor, and the occasional major repair can add thousands of dollars to the cost of owning a vehicle over time.
Buying a car is one thing. Keeping it on the road is another entirely. Costs also tend to rise as vehicles get older and warranties expire, particularly when a repair involves complicated electronics, luxury-car components, or heavy-duty hardware.
The vehicles below run the gamut from luxury SUVs to family minivans and heavy-duty pickups. Some carry high maintenance costs overall, while others have particular repairs that can produce an unpleasant surprise. Actual bills vary considerably by model year, mileage, location, driving habits, and the shop doing the work.
Range Rover
The Range Rover has long combined serious off-road capability with high-end luxury. All of that sophisticated hardware can become considerably less glamorous when something needs to be replaced, especially as the vehicle gets older.
RepairPal estimates average annual repair and maintenance costs for the Range Rover at $1,258. Air suspension can be one of the pricier areas: an active suspension air spring replacement currently averages about $1,227 to $1,335, although the estimate varies considerably by model year.
That is the important thing to remember with a Range Rover. A single national average cannot predict what every owner will spend. Age, mileage, location, and the specific equipment on the vehicle can all make a major difference once repairs begin.
BMW 5 Series
The 5 Series has spent decades blending luxury-car comfort with the driving feel BMW is known for. That combination also means there is a lot going on underneath the hood, and repair costs can climb as individual cars age.
Costs vary significantly between generations and engines. RepairPal currently puts the average annual repair and maintenance cost across BMW vehicles at $968. For the older BMW 535i, a member of the 5 Series family, the estimate is $977 per year.
Even relatively familiar repairs can get expensive. RepairPal estimates a valve cover gasket replacement on a BMW 535i at roughly $678 to $964, depending on the specific vehicle and location. That is why buyers looking at a used 5 Series should pay as much attention to its model year, engine, mileage, and service history as they do to the badge on the trunk.
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
The E-Class has been one of Mercedes-Benz’s core luxury cars for decades. It brings plenty of technology and comfort to the equation, but some repairs can still come with distinctly luxury-car prices. RepairPal estimates average annual repair and maintenance costs for the E350 at about $788.
The painful part can be the individual repair rather than the yearly average. RepairPal’s estimates for the E350 include roughly $1,234 to $1,410 for a power-steering pump replacement and $1,763 to $2,050 for a steering-knuckle replacement. Exactly what an E-Class costs to own depends heavily on its age, generation, mileage, and equipment, so a well-maintained example can be a very different proposition from one with years of deferred repairs.
Porsche Cayenne
The Cayenne helped Porsche move well beyond its traditional sports-car audience by putting the company’s performance formula into a practical SUV. It also brought Porsche-level parts and repair costs into a vehicle owners might use every single day.
RepairPal estimates average annual repair and maintenance costs for the Cayenne at $1,231, compared with $807 for luxury midsize SUVs in its dataset. It also estimates that Cayenne owners make about 1.1 unscheduled repair-shop visits per year, versus 0.6 for the segment. Some individual jobs go much higher: an active suspension air spring replacement is currently estimated at about $3,241 to $3,488. That can turn an otherwise routine trip to the shop into a memorable one.
Maserati Ghibli
The Maserati Ghibli has long offered buyers something a little different from the usual German luxury sedans. Used examples can also look surprisingly affordable compared with what they cost when new. The purchase price, however, is only one part of the ownership equation. CarEdge currently estimates about $3,304 in maintenance and repairs during the first five years.
Maserati recommends regular scheduled service and offers maintenance programs covering parts, consumables, and inspections specified in the vehicle’s maintenance schedule. As with most luxury performance cars, the final bill can vary sharply depending on where the vehicle is serviced, what work is required, and which Ghibli model is involved.
Depreciation may be an even bigger ownership cost. CarEdge’s current model estimates that a Ghibli can lose about 71% of its value over five years under its standard assumptions. That can make a used Ghibli look like a bargain, but it also explains why owners need to look beyond the price on the dealer’s windshield.
Cadillac Escalade
The Escalade packs a lot of luxury equipment into a very large SUV, and there is plenty to maintain as the miles add up. RepairPal estimates average annual repair and maintenance costs at $1,007. That is substantial, although it is actually below RepairPal’s $1,127 average for luxury full-size SUVs.
The individual repairs are where things can hurt. RepairPal currently estimates a suspension shock or strut replacement at about $1,654 to $1,975, while an AC evaporator replacement can run roughly $1,757 to $2,397. The site also lists broken interior or exterior door handles and HVAC door-actuator failures among commonly reported Escalade problems. None of those guarantees trouble for every owner, but they are worth knowing about before buying an older example.
Ram 2500 and Ram 3500
Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks are built for jobs that would overwhelm an ordinary pickup. Their heavy-duty engines, drivetrains, brakes, and suspension components are designed around serious towing and hauling, and maintaining all of that equipment over a decade adds up.
CarEdge estimates that a Ram 2500 will accumulate about $27,228 in maintenance and repair costs during its first 10 years, while the Ram 3500 comes in at roughly $27,245. Those are big numbers, but there is some important context: CarEdge says both estimates are about $8,400 lower than its average for comparable heavy-duty vehicles. In other words, these trucks can cost plenty to maintain in absolute dollars without necessarily being unusually expensive for their class.
Chrysler Pacifica
The Pacifica is a reminder that a vehicle does not need a luxury badge to produce the occasional expensive repair. In fact, RepairPal’s overall numbers are fairly reassuring: it estimates average annual repair and maintenance costs at $483. A single repair can still sting, however. A power sliding-door motor replacement, for example, is currently estimated at roughly $779 to $853.
The plug-in hybrid version also has additional high-voltage components that the gasoline-only Pacifica does not. In June 2026, Chrysler recalled certain 2020-2022 Pacifica PHEVs after determining that the high-voltage battery pack could cause a vehicle fire, even while the vehicle was parked with the ignition off. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lists 17,277 vehicles in that campaign.
Safety recalls are different from normal ownership costs because required recall repairs are performed free of charge. They are also specific to particular model years and vehicles, so owners and used-car shoppers should check the 17-digit VIN through NHTSA rather than assuming every Pacifica is affected.
Audi A6
The A6 sits near the heart of Audi’s sedan lineup, combining a comfortable luxury-car cabin with plenty of technology and performance. RepairPal estimates average annual repair and maintenance costs at $913. CarEdge, meanwhile, estimates about $10,004 over the first 10 years, which is actually around $655 below its average for luxury sedans.
That does not mean every repair is cheap. RepairPal identifies carbon buildup on the intake valves as a reported problem on several direct-injection A6 engines from the 2006-2016 model years. Its current repair estimates also put an A6 alternator replacement at roughly $1,296 to $1,858 and a head-gasket replacement at about $2,432 to $3,359. As always, the engine and model year matter enormously.
So the A6 is less a story of unusually high average maintenance costs and more a reminder that sophisticated luxury cars can occasionally produce very expensive individual repairs.
Jeep Wrangler
The Wrangler is built around off-road capability, with a design that has made it one of the most recognizable vehicles on American roads. Owners can take one far beyond the places an ordinary crossover was designed to go, but age, mileage, modifications, and how aggressively it is used can all affect what it costs to keep running.
CarEdge currently estimates about $11,129 in maintenance and repairs during a Wrangler’s first 10 years. That sounds steep, but its comparison tells a different story: the figure is about $2,617 below CarEdge’s average for SUVs. RepairPal puts average annual Wrangler repair and maintenance costs at $694, compared with $521 for compact SUVs in its dataset.
The Wrangler series was specifically redesigned to be safer and more comfortable on-road.
Individual jobs can still get expensive. RepairPal estimates an engine front-cover gasket replacement at roughly $865 to $1,188, while an AC condenser replacement runs about $822 to $919. A lightly driven stock Wrangler and a modified one that spends weekends crawling over rocks can also have very different maintenance histories, making a careful pre-purchase inspection especially useful on the used market.