Mercedes-Benz R 63 AMG Racked Up $42,000 In Service Costs Over 5 Years

Mercedes-Benz R 63 AMG is a snarling beast wrapped in the body of a minivan. There’s nothing like it. Beneath its unassuming, people-carrier exterior lies a rumbling 6.2-liter V8 capable of belting out a brutal 503 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. It seats six with all the luxury you’d expect from a top-end Benz, channels power to all four wheels, and may be one of the purest expressions of a “sleeper” on four wheels.
 

One of these unicorns recently appeared at auction, and that’s interesting because this model is incredibly rare. Mercedes only made 200 of these for the whole world, making it not only the rarest of the R-Class family but also among the rarest AMG models ever produced. It’s believed that just over half made it to the USA, so owners are truly in rarified automotive air. That might be why values are consistently above $30,000, even though it’s been nearly two decades since the sole production run in 2007, and why this example sold for $50,000 on Cars&Bids.
 
Here’s the real kicker about a car like this: they can be wildly expensive to maintain and this particular example proves it. Since the start of 2019, the seller has receipts that add up to around $42,500.
 
How does one even rack up a bill like that? Ah, the sweet innocence of someone who’s never owned a used German luxury car without a warranty. Well, one bill alone totaled $17,020.06. It included replacing head studs which take approximately 25 hours of labor time. While in the process, the owner decided to upgrade the car with Weistec Engineering parts including a $4,495 exhaust system. Clearly, they loved this car.
 

On top of that consider this; there are no less than 78 pages of service records dating back to 2015 uploaded to the listing. On the plus side, this is likely one of the very best R63 examples out there considering that all of this work is already done. Does that make it a good buy now? Probably not, but I’d still be interested if I had the kind of cash required to buy this supervan.
 
Interestingly, this particular car evidently has some performance enhancements that allow it to make 623 horsepower and 552 lb-ft of torque. Notably, there is no dyno sheet to substantiate those figures. Still, this car is likely powerful enough that it doesn’t need them. How many other 500-horsepower production minivans exist? Zero.