Under-The-Radar Clunkers to Avoid

The Dodge Ram 3500 placed No. 1 on Forbes.com's list of hidden clunkers, due to its almost $18,000 fuel cost and $3,600 maintenance costs over five years.

(AP Photo)

Since July 1, the Cash for Clunkers program has spurred 358,851 vehicle sales valued at a total $1.5 billion, according to the Department of Transportation. The most popular trade-ins include the Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Caravan and Chevrolet Blazer.

Though clunker sales may be waning--and there's no word yet on how many of those $3,500 and $4,500 rebates have been processed--the program has given an undeniable boost to some automakers. Toyota, General Motors and Ford Motor have benefited the most, receiving 18.9%, 17.6% and 15.4%, respectively, of total sales made under the program.

But owners of foreign cars might want to take a closer look at the government-backed initiative; many of these cars carry the highest out-of-pocket costs of any models this year.

Click here to read more about 10 clunkers to avoid at our partner site, Forbes.com.

The BMW M5 sedan, for instance, exacts an average of $5,700 for repairs and maintenance over five years, while the Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster and E63 AMG Wagon fall closely behind, each with maintenance and repair costs of more than $6,000. By contrast, Honda's $23,550 Civic sedan costs $2,700 to repair and maintain for five years.

Behind the Numbers
To compile our list of clunkers in the making, we used data from Vincentric, an auto-industry analysis firm based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. We added the five-year costs of fuel, repairs and maintenance for model-year 2009 vehicles, eliminating any vehicles with production fewer than 500 units per year. We did not factor in rates of depreciation, since expensive cars depreciate at a faster and proportionately greater rate, effectively skewing our results toward super rides like the Audi R8 and BMW M6.

Granted, to qualify for the program, a vehicle must have been registered and insured continuously for a full year preceding the trade-in. But our list applies to drivers who purchased a 2009 model early last year and hope to trade it in right at the end of the program, Nov. 1. And it serves as a guide for uncovering future models with unusually expensive maintenance and repair requirements.