Rapid depreciation means that, if you're a luxury car buff, you run into a lot of "too good to be true" listings. A Land Rover Range Rover, for instance, launched at a whopping $92,000 for the 2021 model year's base model, but, five years on, it sells for well under half its price.And that's how they get ya. You find out that you can buy a top-of-the-line luxury off-roader for less than you'd spend on a brand-new Toyota (even with tariff-era price increases), and you're forking the money over before you've even taken it for the test-drive, only to wind up spending more on repairs than you did on the car.Here's why you should have gone with the Toyota. Land Rovers Lose Value Like Money Is Going Out Of Style Land Rover Even by luxury car standards, Land Rover has some of the fastest-depreciating vehicles on the planet. If we compare a Range Rover to a higher-end mainstream model, and another European luxury SUV, here's what the numbers look like, based on currently available data from our price tracking tool.This data is based on up-to-the-minute sales information, so it could be off by a few dollars by the time you read this, but it should give you a ballpark estimate of what to expect.Our own sales data actually seems a bit generous when you compare it to the same five and ten-year timeline on CarEdge's depreciation tracker, which sees the Land Rover losing 68% of its value in just three years, 74% of its value in five years, and 86% of its value after a decade. Meanwhile, a BMW X5 is still worth 40% of its initial MSRP after five years on the road, and a Land Cruiser, if it hasn't actually appreciated, would still be holding 65% of the sticker price. A Used Range Rover Purchase Is Tempting, But Inadvisable Land Rover When you look at available listings, it's not hard to see how people fall into the cheap luxury car trap. There are some dirt-cheap Rovers out there. The following listings come from our own marketplace. A 132,194-mile 2016 Rover SE is selling for just $9,495 in Florida. A 66,838-mile 2018 Rover SE is selling for $21,797 in North Carolina. A 130,188-mile 2020 Rover HST is selling for $21,995 in California. An 81,740-mile 2021 Rover HSE is selling for $26,895 in Florida. A 104,168-mile 2020 Rover P525 HSE is selling for $26,895 in Texas. A 56,642-mile 2022 Rover SVR is selling for $52,000 in Georgia. A 39,823-mile 2023 Rover P360 SE is selling for $52,797 in New Jersey. Note that these listings are only provided to give you an idea of what's available. There's no telling which of these cars will still be up for sale by the time you're ready to buy, so you'll want to run a search of your own.Our advice, if you insist on buying a used Range Rover, buy the cheapest thing you can find. Make sure it passes the test drive, but don't worry about putting another 100,000 miles on it. Sling it around dirt tracks, enter it into a demolition derby if you like, and just have some fun beating it to heck and back. Then sell it for scrap at the first sign of transmission or engine trouble, and cherish the memories.If you try to baby a used Range Rover, you're in for a world of hurt. You're going to see repair bills stacking up while you keep telling yourself, "Well, I didget it for cheap." Trust us, it's not worth it, and you'd wind up spending more money than you would have on a brand-new Toyota. Even New Range Rover Buyers Can't Afford To Keep A Range Rover Land Rover You know why you see a sudden price drop-off at around the four-year point? That's because the Range Rover limited warranty coverage lasts for exactly four years, or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. As soon as that warranty is up, any repair that isn't covered by a recall comes right out of your pocket.Even people who buy their Rovers brand-new, people who think nothing of spending six figures on a luxury SUV, look at those maintenance costs and say "ask some other sucker." Every luxury SUV is expensive to maintain, but the Range Rover is an outlier.According to RepairPal, a mainstream full-size SUV costs around $784 each year to maintain. A luxury model should cost you around $1,127 each year to keep running. A Range Rover will cost you $1,258 to maintain. That's $131 above the segment average, thanks to the following fixes. Active suspension system air compressor replacement $1,968 - $2,052 Power steering hose replacement $1,895 - $1,992 Sunroof motor replacement $1,508 - $1,725 Horn replacement $307 - $335 Spark plug wire replacement $277 - $384 If we look at routine maintenance for the Range Rover, we find that an oil change can cost up to $423. A new air filter can cost you $195. Getting your transmission fluid changed can cost $372. These costs are all well above average, even by luxury SUV standards.And if that weren't enough, CarEdge estimates an annual insurance cost of around $5,079 for full coverage for a 40-year-old driver with good credit and a clean record. Comparatively, a Land Cruiser will cost you just $2,712 to insure, barely over half the cost to insure a Rover. Luxury Cars Tend To Be More Expensive To Repair, But... Land Rover In Land Rover's case, it's not just that the cars are more expensive and require premium parts and specialized servicing. The brand ranks near the bottom in the latest J.D. Power dependability survey, with an average problems-per-100-units rating of 274, compared to an industry average of just 204. This means a Range Rover is making around three trips to the shop for every two visits a Hyundai makes.This doesn't necessarily mean that Land Rovers are prone to excessive breakdown. Rather, these cars are loaded with electronic gadgets, meaning that you have a high rate of low-severity technical hiccups.Not that more serious failures don't occur. Checking in with the actual owners via the NHTSA, a 2023 Range Rover driver reports that their transmission slipped into park and refused to shift into drive while on the road. Another driver reports the vehicle jerking abnormally while driving. Timing chains are known to go out on the 5.0-liter gas-powered models, costing drivers up to $3,456 to replace the part if it doesn't destroy the whole engine before you can get it fixed.These major breakdowns aren't common, but they can become more common in used models after the warranty runs out and drivers have given up on keeping the car in like-new condition. Any Range Rover on the used market with more than 50,000 miles on the odometer should be looked at with some degree of suspicion. Just Go Ahead And Buy The Toyota Toyota The best advice we have for anyone in the market for a used Range Rover is to skip it and get yourself a Toyota Land Cruiser instead. New or used, it doesn't matter; it's still a better deal than any Range Rover.The Land Cruiser does everything a Range Rover does (it even has a similar name) and looks just as cool, but it costs just $843 a year to maintain, and its depreciation curve could have you earning money if you sell it at the right time. And even if you miss the window to turn a profit, you'll likely trade it in at only a marginal loss by the time you're done with it.The only major downside to buying a Land Cruiser is that you might have to wait a long time for the price to come down. If resale value is important to you, your best bet is to buy a new one and keep it until its resale value starts to decline.