It's not that the AMG variants' don't hold up well to hard driving, they do. After all, that's what they're made for, and they definitely perform well. True, the wear-and-tear items (brake pads, tires, etc.) will cost more than non-AMG parts. They just don't retain much value when it comes time to sell.

A client of mine bought a new (at the time) 2004 SL55 for about $115,000. Fourteen months, and 11,000 miles later, he couldn't give it away. Want-Ads, e-bay, brokers, he tried everything. He finally sold the car back to us for $83,000, and he was happy to get that much. You do the math. We wound up getting less than $90,000 for it at auction.


AMG = Additional Money Gone