These Are The Heavily Depreciated V12s Our Readers Have Convinced Themselves Couldn't Actually Be That Bad To Own

The inline-six is arguably a perfect engine, but you know what's better than one inline-six? A V12, which is basically two inline-sixes put together. Or if you're a weird Volkswagen nerd, you'll say a W12. Sadly, V12s and their W12 cousins are typically only used in very expensive cars, and the cost of keeping those cars on the road outside of the warranty period tends to be substantial. So while you can pick up a 12-cylinder Bentley Continental Flying Spur for less than the price of a new, loaded Toyota Camry, most of the advice you'll find online says you shouldn't, because you'll probably go bankrupt fixing expensive things when they break.

Then again, most of the people giving out that advice are also nerds, and why would we listen to them? We're car enthusiasts, and we deserve a little V12 in our lives, as a treat. And while regular car buyers would probably go bankrupt buying a heavily depreciated V12, we could definitely find a way to make it work. Maybe. Possibly. On Tuesday, we asked you which 12-cylinder cars you thought you could get away with buying, and as it turns out, the Jalopnik staff isn't the only group of car enthusiasts who are convinced we'd totally be fine if we bought something with a V12.

Let's take a look at some of the most popular terrible ideas suggestions.

I once grabbed a 1994 Jaguar XJ12 (that's the sedan with the revamped 6-liter engine and the 4-speed transmission).

That was in 2000, and it was hugely depreciated – only $15,000 with a little over 50,000 miles on the odometer. Over the next 10 years, the only engine related issues were a failed power steering pump, the oxygen sensors that would regularly quit (later fixed in a recall), and – of course – the awful fuel economy (lucky to get 20 mpg on the highway). Also, the exhausts were too close to the rear shocks, and the incredible heat would damage them, so that was an expensive pain.

By the time I sold it, I had put 100,000 more miles on it. That should say something about how much I enjoyed driving it!

Suggested by: semica altoid

BMW 850i. I dream about these things regularly. I wish I were around when Jalop reader Bob sold his because I probably would have been at the front of the line.

Suggested by: Mercedes Streeter

80's Jag (either a Series 3 XJ12 or XJ-S, depending on what you can find). At this point, there's not much complex other than the engine, presumably the most unreliable examples have been taken out of service by this point, and cost of entry is still low enough just walking away when disaster strikes isn't ruinous.

Suggested by: Maymar

...This may not be Heavily depreciated (less than 50% of it's original Value is close enough), But hear me out!

Suggested by: Agon Targeryan

I think it was the 2001-2003 Mercedes S-Class V12. Naturally aspirated, cylinder deactivation (ran like a straight-six in low-stress conditions). Sure, the power wasn't much compared to today's cars, but it would still be a 12-cylinder vehicle.

Suggested by: DynamicPresence

Aston's v12 is bulletproof...

Suggested by: Winston Cuenant

Funny enough I've been toying with the idea of a 2010ish BMW 7 series. There's a handful of them near me for 15-17k with decent miles on them and the N74 12 is actually not horrible from a reliability standpoint outside the fuel pump

So as long as the turbos dont let go a properly maintained one shouldnt be too big a nightmare.

Suggested by: JaredOfLondon

The article read my mind. The Toyota Century is my pick.

Suggested by: The Dood

The Ferrari Colombo designed V-12 was complex in it's day, but simple by today's standards. Just the V-12 would cost an arm / leg to repair, not the rest of the Jerrari.

Suggested by: George Z

Audi Q7 V12 TDI so you don't have to worry about changing spark plugs

Suggested by: fabey