Here's How Much A 2021 Audi RS 7 Has Depreciated In 5 Years

Audi has just released the mightily powerful RS 5, its first hybrid RS model. With 630 horsepower and 609 pound-feet of torque on hand from a twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 and a single electric motor, it's an attractive proposition. But there is a problem: it's estimated to cost north of $110,000. For many, that immediately writes off the hot new super-sedan as too expensive.

Fortunately, it is possible to get behind the wheel of a seriously powerful RennSport model for much less, by buying a depreciated RS 7. The C7 generation launched in 2014, but it's the later C8 generation going under the spotlight today, with a production run that spanned 2020 through 2025. According to recent sales data and reported statistics from CarEdge and Kelley Blue Book, a 5-year-old RS 7 is far more affordable than a new RS 5, with current values sitting between $65,000 and $74,000.

Despite clearly being an older product and lacking a full hybridized boost, a 2021 Audi RS 7 is still far from being an outdated slouch. It boasts a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, which directs 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels. Those with a few more dollars at their disposal could opt for a 2024-onward Performance RS 7, which sports an extra 30 horsepower.

Wind the clock back five years, and the Audi RS 7 was just as unattainable as a brand-new RS 5 is today, with an MSRP of $115,045. Kelley Blue Book provides a current fair purchase price for a 2021 model of $65,000, which represents a drop of $50,045 — a full $10,000 in value lost each year.

CarEdge gives us a slightly different way of looking at the RS 7's depreciation pattern. Instead of just highlighting the current value of a 2021 model, it allows us to pick a later model year and then predicts the value after a given number of years of ownership. The site pegs a 2-year-old model at $99,357, but after three years of ownership, it estimates the residual value to drop to $74,027. CarEdge also provides the same number for a 2021 model-year example today.

Looking at classified ads, we see that 2021 RS 7 models with around average mileage for the age – between 50,000 and 70,000 — do reflect what these two sources are predicting. The spread of cars available sits roughly between $65,500 and $77,000 for clean, dealer-supplied 2021 RS 7 models, and so the predictions given are clearly quite accurate. On average, then, a 5-year-old RS 7 has depreciated around $10,000 per annum.

The figure touted by CarEdge is a 43% rate of depreciation over five years for an Audi RS 7, which is a significant pill to swallow from a financial perspective, but it's not entirely unusual. Kelley Blue Book tells us that the average drop expected from a new vehicle after five years on the road is 45%, so by all accounts, the RS 7 is not exceptional when it comes to depreciation.

At this level, there isn't an awful lot of competition, but the RS 7's does face competition in the form of BMW's M8 Gran Coupe, the high-flying Panamera GTS, and the Mercedes-AMG GT 63. In that order, the respective MSRPs from 2021 were $131,995, $130,650, and $148,670, making the RS look relatively cheap at $115,045. For the record, only the M8 actually makes more power at 600 horses, with the Merc and Porsche churning out 577 and 473, respectively.

Today, CarEdge tells us that the M8 Gran Coupe loses 55% of its value over five years, while Kelley Blue Book pegs a Panamera GTS at $69,000, representing a loss of around 47%. The AMG GT is harder to pin down, but current ads show the Mercedes to have performed similarly in terms of depreciation, with average-mile examples still commanding around $80,000. With its higher MSRP accounted for, that still suggests a drop of around 46%.