Used Maybach 57 Saloon 2003 - 2012 review
Category: Luxury car
If you've got the cash and the ego, then maybe a Maybach is right for you.
What's the used Maybach 57 saloon like?
A Maybach offers acres of space, a beautifully refined engine and outright opulence. With 2.2 million different permutations of colour, trim and equipment available you can rest assured that if you own one there really is no other car like it.
It has everything. Ten airbags, a cabin full of wood and leather with silver goblets ready and waiting in the rear centre console.
On the 57 base model, you get a five-speed automatic gearbox complemented by a 5.5-litre V12 engine that will take you from 0.60mph in 5.4sec. It's impossibly smooth and inordinately fast for a car that weighs 2.7 tonnes, but it'll emit 363g/km of carbon dioxide.
There's a fraction of road noise on rough surfaces, but when idling the engine is virtually silent. Handling is supple and precise, but there's a little too much body roll to allow rear passengers to rest or work unhindered.
Ownership cost
What used Maybach 57 saloon will I get for my budget?
How much does it cost to run a Maybach 57 saloon?
This car is for the super-rich. The price for a new Maybach 57S approaches £300,000, which is hardly competitive when you compare that with similar luxury offerings from Bentley and Rolls Royce.
Depreciation will make your eyes water, but Maybach has tried to limit this with a buy-back scheme. That said, expect to lose tens of thousands of pounds in the course of a 12-month ownership. We found a 12-month 62 on offer from a US dealership at £77,000 less than the original list price.
There are two ways of looking at this: you'll save thousands if you don't buy new, but you'll still lose thousands - it depends whether your silver goblet is half empty or half full.
Insurance and running costs are similarly exorbitant. The Maybach is in group 20 but fuel consumption is not as bad as you might expect, at 17mpg. Unsurprisingly, it's in the top road tax band for carbon dioxide emissions.
Our recommendations
Which used Maybach 57 saloon should I buy?
The 57S is probably the best option, but whatever specification you choose, you can't get more unique than a used Maybach.
What Car? found a dark green 'standard' 57 with Maui Pearl exclusive leather replete with all manner of wonderful extras: a heated steering wheel, cooling box in rear armrest, rear door curtains, television, DVD, a surround-sound audio system, champagne flutes and silver goblets fixed in clamps.
The roof, made of photochromatic glass, could be frosted or completely opaque at the touch of a button. All this is on top of the more 'traditional' gizmos such as cruise control, electronic memory front seats, heated mirrors and sat-nav.
You also get a 6.0-litre V12 with 61bhp more than the standard 57, so you get to 60mph 0.2sec quicker. You can put the auto gearbox into manual mode and use one of two sport modes for the air suspension to keep body roll to minimum. Oh, and top speed is 171mph.
