Top Ten Best Used Luxury Cars

With more and more of today’s cars incorporating features formerly reserved for luxury automobiles, premium manufacturers have to innovate in ever greater degrees to differentiate their products. Thus, the line between mainstream and luxury cars is becoming increasingly blurred. Further, in an effort to increase profitability, many premium manufacturers are offering lower-priced models in an effort to leverage their brand names into a larger pool of potential buyers. Still, a luxury car is a luxury car and the luxury sedan occupies a hallowed place in the imaginations of the car buying public.

Good used luxury cars all share one common attribute—an aura of unquestionable desirability. So even though the best luxury car features are being used by less expensive models, their quiet, sophistication, and elegance along with their dealer’s reputation for outstanding customer service remains exclusive. What follows is a selection of ten of the best used luxury cars for sale today.

1) Audi A8

The first all-aluminum luxury sedan in the world, Audi’s A8 is a paragon of style, performance and features. A showcase of outstanding technology, a used Audi A8 delivers exceptional value, particularly because most car buyers aren’t aware of the model. This has a softening effect on the price of the A8, making it one best used luxury cars for sale in terms of price. Meanwhile, it has one of the nicest interiors on the road, exceptional handling, great power and stunning good looks.

2) Audi A6

One of the most distinctively styled cars on the road today, Audi’s A6 delivers cachet, outstanding comfort, all-wheel drive and a broad palette of luxury features. One of the best used car values out there, the Audi A6 also has a timeless quality. Even an A6 from a generation ago looks thoroughly modern and up to date. Additionally, the A6 offers a driving experience rivaling that of many so-called sport sedans. As good used luxury cars go, the Audi A6 ranks among the best available. 

3) BMW 7 Series

BMW’s 7 Series is the ultimate driving machine company’s ultimate luxury car. Offering a sporting driving experience with lavish interior accoutrements, the 7 Series BMW is very much one of the best used luxury cars out there. In addition to appealing to traditional luxury car buyers, the 7 Series also holds considerable allure for driving enthusiasts. Thus the versatility of the big BMW ranks it quite highly among the best used luxury cars.

4) Cadillac CTS

The model that began the turnaround at Cadillac is universally recognized as one of the world’s best luxury sedans. In addition to the exceptionally luxurious interiors one expects of a Cadillac, the CTS also delivers driving pleasure in the form of a Nurburgring-tuned suspension system. With more than adequate power and the option of a manual transmission, the CTS signaled to the world Cadillac had changed. For these reasons and more, the Cadillac CTS makes our list of the best used luxury cars.

5) Cadillac DTS

While the name adopted the new alphabetic nomenclature scheme for Cadillac, the DTS was in fact the DeVille Touring Sedan. Anyone infatuated with what Cadillac used to be, but still searching for a bit of the driving pleasure defining what Cadillac is today, will thoroughly appreciate the size and feature-set of the Cadillac DTS. One of the finest used luxury cars out there, you will also find joy in the dynamic suspension system fitted to the car to improve its handling. That it does so while maintaining the ride quality Cadillac cars are traditionally known for is a serious plus.

6) Chrysler 300

The Chrysler 300 launched a career as well as a turnaround at the Pentastar brand. Ralph Gilles, the name most closely associated with the design of the 300, was made president of the Dodge division after his work on that car. Further, the bold style of the Chrysler attracted buyers in droves. The 300 quickly became the must-have car of its era and brought major profits to Chrysler. As a used luxury car for sale, the 300 has considerable appeal. With its broad palette of engines and even a high performance SRT variant, the Chrysler 300 still pushes all the right buttons.

7) Lexus LS

The Lexus LS was so good when it was introduced, the car forced Mercedes-Benz to abandon the market segment it had traditionally ruled and scurry farther upmarket. When that didn’t work out, the Germans made the S Class even better and came back to go toe-to-toe with the Japanese luxury car. The leather lined, wood trimmed, ultra quiet and thoroughly equipped Lexus LS makes for a very good used luxury car. Factor in the reliability inherent to its parent Toyota brand and you’ll get one of the best used luxury car values on the road.

8) Lincoln MKS

Long, low, sleek and beautiful, what cements the Lincoln MKS’s spot on this list is the fact its relative lack of popularity makes it easily the best used luxury car value you’ll find. Remarkably, the Lincoln handles well, is palatially equipped, and features a stunningly beautiful interior treatment in addition to highly favorable driving characteristics. The Lincoln’s only apparent flaw is that its logo is a four-pointed star, rather than a three-pointed one. In other words, anyone looking for one of the best used luxury cars for sale can take advantage of the fact that perception tends to lag reality by about 10 years, and can get one of these wonderful cars for a song—before everyone else wakes up and realizes how good they are.

9) Mercedes-Benz E Class

The beauty of the Mercedes-Benz E Class lies in its versatility. How a car can carry such a premium image, yet be a taxi in nearly every European country is mind-boggling. It’s as if the Ford Crown Victoria were to be considered a highly desirable luxury car in Germany. Yeah. Never. Gonna. Happen. As a used luxury car, the Mercedes-Benz E Class is remarkably robust, offers a broad range of trims, engines, and even suspension tunings to choose from. The cars are highly reliable, which is good because they are also a bit pricey to maintain. However, as a good used luxury car, few models are more desirable than the Mercedes-Benz E Class.

Photo by Mercedes-Benz

10) Mercedes-Benz S Class

The car everyone thinks of when they hear the name Mercedes-Benz, the S Class is the benchmark by which all other large luxury sedans are judged. And well it should be, after all, the founders of its company literally invented the car. An S Class Mercedes-Benz is easily one of the best used luxury cars you’ll find for sale. They are powerful, good looking, highly agile, packed with extraordinary tech, and immediately command respect for the driver anywhere they roll up. For these reasons and more, the Mercedes-Benz S Class is our pick for one of the ten best used luxury cars.