The Real Cost of Owning a Used Supercar

The purchase price is the number everyone talks about. It's also the number that matters least over a few years of ownership. Once you add depreciation, scheduled service, wear items, insurance and storage, a used supercar can cost far more to keep than the listing suggests.

This guide breaks those costs into five buckets and gives typical ranges from published sources. Treat every figure as a starting point: your real costs depend on the exact car, its history, where you live, how much you drive and which shop you use. Before you buy, get written quotes from the dealer or specialist you plan to use.

1. Depreciation: the cost you don't see on an invoice

Depreciation is the gap between what you pay and what you'll get back when you sell. On most cars it's the biggest single cost.

The broad market data is useful context. iSeeCars analyzed more than 950,000 five-year-old cars sold between March 2025 and February 2026 and found an average five-year depreciation of 41.8%. The Porsche 718 Cayman (9.6%) and Porsche 911 (11.1%) lost the least of any model in the study. At the other end, luxury models made up 18 of the 25 worst performers. One caveat: iSeeCars removed low-volume models from its analysis, so cars like Ferraris and McLarens aren't in that ranking at all.

For those cars, we have to rely on narrower estimates. Goexoticar's 2026 total-cost comparison projects five-year depreciation from today's used prices of:

Those are one publication's projections, not guarantees. The same article notes that 2017 McLaren 570S coupes that were about $250,000 new now trade in the $135,000 to $155,000 range. That's the upside of buying used: the first owner already absorbed the steepest drop.

2. Scheduled maintenance

Every exotic has a factory service schedule, and skipping it is the fastest way to hurt both reliability and resale value. Exotics Hunter, a Florida exotic dealer, publishes these typical authorized-dealer ranges:

Sources don't always agree, which is itself a useful lesson. Goexoticar puts annual service on a Ferrari 488 at $2,500 to $5,000 at dealer rates ($1,500 to $3,000 at experienced independent specialists) and a major service at $8,000 to $15,000. The spread between dealers, regions and independent shops is real. Call two or three shops before you buy.

Two things can lower this bucket:

• Factory maintenance programs. Ferrari's 7-Year Genuine Maintenance program covers scheduled maintenance, parts and labor included, for a car's first seven years, according to Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale. Check how much coverage is left on the exact car.
• Shared engineering. Exotics Hunter and Goexoticar both note that the Huracán shares much of its mechanical hardware with the Audi R8, so qualified Audi and Volkswagen Group specialists can often service it for less than a Lamborghini dealer.

3. Wear items: tires, brakes, clutches and paint

Exotics Hunter argues that wear items, not scheduled service, are the bigger number over a long ownership period, and the one buyers forget to budget.

• Tires. About $2,200 to $3,200 a set for a Ferrari 488 or F8, $2,000 to $3,200 for McLaren sizes, and $1,800 to $2,800 for a 911 Turbo S or GT3, per Exotics Hunter. Goexoticar's figure for a 911 Turbo S is lower, at $1,400 to $2,000. Aggressive driving, track days or bad alignment can halve tire life.
• Carbon-ceramic brakes. A full set of carbon-ceramic rotors runs roughly $15,000 to $25,000 on modern Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches (PCCB), according to Exotics Hunter. They often last a street-driven car's whole ownership, but track use changes that. Porsche iron rotors are much cheaper, at roughly $3,000 to $5,000 for a full set with pads.
• Clutches. Older single-clutch Ferrari F1 gearboxes (360 and F430) need clutch replacement at set intervals. Exotics Hunter puts that at $5,000 to $8,000. An Aventador clutch can run $8,000 to $15,000+ depending on what else is done at the same time.
• Paint protection. Full-car paint protection film runs $5,000 to $12,000+, and Exotics Hunter suggests budgeting $3,000 to $8,000 just for a McLaren's low, exposed front end.

4. Insurance

Insurance varies more than any other cost, because it depends on you as much as the car: your age, record, ZIP code, garage and annual mileage.

• Exotics Hunter's broad range for specialty exotic coverage is $3,000 to $15,000+ a year.
• Goexoticar's agreed-value bands, for a driver over 35 with a clean record, suburban garaging and 5,000 miles a year, are $2,500 to $4,500 for a 911 Turbo S, $3,500 to $7,000 for a 488 GTB, $3,500 to $6,000 for a 570S, and $4,000 to $7,500 for a Huracán.
• Supercar Blondie reports that ValuePenguin found an average rate of $448 a month across four U.S. insurers and ten Ferrari models.

Get real quotes before you commit. Agreed-value collector policies with mileage limits can be much cheaper than standard coverage if they fit how you'll use the car.

5. Everything else

These are the line items that catch new owners off guard, per Exotics Hunter:

• Storage: climate-controlled storage runs about $200 to $600+ a month in many markets if you don't have a suitable garage.
• Detailing: $400 to $1,500 a visit depending on scope.
• Transport: enclosed transport to a dealer or specialist runs about $1 to $3 a mile.
• Registration and taxes: on a six-figure car this can be a real annual number, and some states also charge property tax on vehicles.
• Fuel: Goexoticar estimates $2,500 to $3,500 a year for a Huracán and $1,800 to $2,800 for a 911 Turbo S at 5,000 miles a year.

Putting it together

Exotics Hunter's rule of thumb is to budget 5% to 10% of the car's value per year for total running costs, excluding depreciation and financing. On a $200,000 car, that's $10,000 to $20,000 a year. Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale says most Ferrari owners budget roughly $15,000 to $30,000 a year.

Then add a contingency for the unexpected. Goexoticar estimates that a pre-2019 McLaren 570S out of warranty can need $2,000 to $5,000 a year in repairs beyond scheduled service, which is why it strongly recommends a certified pre-owned warranty extension for any 570S that doesn't have one.

How to keep the costs sane

• Buy the best example you can afford, not the cheapest. Deferred maintenance becomes your bill.
• Get a pre-purchase inspection from a brand specialist every time. See our inspection checklist.
• Line up a specialist before you buy, and get quotes for the next scheduled service.
• Price the warranty. On complex cars, an extended or certified pre-owned warranty can change the math.
• Keep a repair fund. Money set aside for surprises makes ownership far less stressful.

Sources

• The Top 25 Cars That Hold Their Value Best, and the 25 Worst, iSeeCars (2026)
• Total Cost of Ownership: 5 Exotic Cars Compared, Goexoticar
• Exotic Car Maintenance Costs by Brand, Exotics Hunter
• How Much Does It Cost to Own a Ferrari Per Year?, Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale
• Owning a Ferrari: The real costs, Supercar Blondie