Depreciation is a slow, quiet predator. It doesn’t announce itself. It just shows up one day, looks at your six-figure German electric sedan, and takes $78,000 off the table without blinking. That’s exactly what happened to this 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+. When the first owner signed on the dotted line, the sticker read $104,200.
The EQS came loaded. 20-inch wheels, rear-axle steering, Airmatic air suspension, panoramic sunroof, Burmester audio, heated and ventilated front seats, and a full leather interior in Macchiato Beige and Sidereal Gray. Under the skin, a single rear-mounted motor pushing 329 HP and 417 lb-ft of torque, fed by a 107-kWh battery pack capable of an EPA-rated 350 miles of range. On paper, a masterpiece. In the real world, a cautionary tale.
The Mercedes sedan sold on March 12, 2026, through a Cars&Bids auction, for $26,100. Not a flood car. Just a slightly used luxury EV with 85,200 miles on the clock, tinted windows, a few scratches on the center console trim, some creasing in the upholstery, paint chips front and rear, a scuff on the lower left lip spoiler, and some swirl marks on the exterior. In other words: a normal used car that happens to have lost roughly 75% of its original value in under four years.
The second owner picked it up in April 2025 and called it “an absolute dream” to own and drive. They covered roughly 8,000 miles before passing it along. Mercedes itself has quietly acknowledged what critics have been saying since the EQS launched. The styling is polarizing at best, alienating at worst. The current four-door version is already slated for discontinuation, with a fully electric future S-Class set to take over. The EQS was a technical tour de force wrapped in a shape that never fully convinced the market it deserved to exist.
The fundamentals? Solid. Polar White paint, clean California title, four new tires mounted in October 2024, fresh brake fluid from the spring before. Rear seat cushions, floor mats, owner’s manuals, window sticker, one key, everything included.
For $26,100, someone got a near-silent, technology-laden luxury sedan that would have cost four times as much three years ago. For the original buyer, a very expensive lesson in what the word depreciation actually means when it’s applied to a segment the market hasn’t fully trusted yet. A new Honda Civic runs about $26,000. Just saying.
