Garbage with Leather Seats: 10 Cars I Wouldn't Take for FREE.

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Right now, someone is signing a $70,000 [music] loan for a car worth $28,000 in 4 years.

[00:00:07]The salesman is smiling. Here's what should terrify you. That car might be on your driveway already. The most dangerous vehicles in America aren't the lemons. They're the stunning ones.

[00:00:19]Famous badges, [music] leather seats, depreciation curves that erase your net worth before your third payment. I found 10 of them and I wouldn't take a single one for free. Because free isn't free when the math turns against you the moment your name hits the title. [music] This isn't a review. It's the conversation the dealer was praying you'd never have. Number 10, Cadillac CT5 Blackwing.

[00:00:45]Let me be clear about something right up front. This car is genuinely extraordinary to drive. The CT5-V Blackwing is arguably the last great naturally aspirated American performance sedan. 668 horsepower.

[00:01:00]>> [music] >> Manual transmission available. It embarrasses European cars that cost twice as much on a racetrack. And it is absolutely destroying the people who bought it new.

[00:01:11]Here's the problem nobody warned them about.

[00:01:14]Cadillac built the Blackwing for enthusiasts. Enthusiasts are a small, passionate, frequently broke audience.

[00:01:21]The general luxury market, the people who actually buy $90,000 sedans, does not want a high-strung track weapon with a manual gearbox and racing tune suspension that beats them up on the school run.

[00:01:34]So, what happens?

[00:01:37]The resale market is tiny. The pool of qualified interested buyers when you go to sell this thing is about the size of a college rugby team. That means dealers lowball you.

[00:01:48]Private buyers have all the leverage.

[00:01:51]And you're sitting there holding the bag on a car that stickered [music] at $92,000 and is now trading at $51,000 3 years later.

[00:02:00]The maintenance [music] costs are real, too.

[00:02:03]The supercharged V8 drinks premium fuel.

[00:02:06]The performance spec brakes eat pads faster than a regular sedan. And finding a technician who actually knows this platform outside of major metro areas, good luck.

[00:02:18]The tragedy of the Blackwing is that it's too good for the people who can afford it and too expensive for the people who would truly love it.

[00:02:26]That gap is where your retirement account disappeared.

[00:02:29]Number nine, Lincoln Corsair.

[00:02:33]I need you to understand what Lincoln is doing with the Corsair before I explain why it's a trap.

[00:02:39]Ford looked at the luxury crossover market, a market dominated by German engineering and Japanese reliability.

[00:02:47]And said, "What if we took an Escape, dressed it in nicer leather, and charged $20,000 more?"

[00:02:54]And [music] then they did exactly that.

[00:02:56]The Corsair starts around $42,000.

[00:02:59]It shares its platform, its powertrain architecture, and a disturbing number of its components with the Ford Escape.

[00:03:07]Not a bad vehicle, the Escape.

[00:03:09]But a $42,000 luxury statement, it is not. Here's where it gets painful.

[00:03:16]The luxury buyer shopping at $42,000 has options. Real options.

[00:03:22]And when [music] that buyer discovers that the Corsair's resale value craters, we're talking 45 to 50% depreciation over 5 years, >> [music] >> because the broader market correctly identifies it as a dressed-up compact crossover, the secondary market collapses.

[00:03:39]Dealers know this, which is why you'll see Corsairs sitting on lots for 90, 100, sometimes 120 days.

[00:03:48]They're hard to move used. They're hard to move new.

[00:03:52]The dealers discount them heavily, which further signals to the market that these aren't premium assets.

[00:03:59]You are paying [music] for a Lincoln badge on a Ford product. The badge costs you thousands.

[00:04:04]It recovers you nothing.

[00:04:06]Quick side note, most car problems come from small things people overlook. I put together a simple longevity guide based on everything I've learned, and it walks you through exactly what to watch for.

[00:04:17]It's linked in the description below.

[00:04:19]Number eight, RAM 1500 TRX.

[00:04:23]Before the comment section erupts, hear me out.

[00:04:27]The TRX is one of the most insane factory vehicles ever built on American soil.

[00:04:33]702 supercharged horsepower.

[00:04:37]0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds in a full-size pickup truck that weighs over 6,000 lb.

[00:04:44]It will jump over things. It will destroy things.

[00:04:48]It is genuinely beautiful completely unhinged.

[00:04:52]It is also one of the fastest depreciating performance trucks in the segment right now. Stellantis overproduced these.

[00:05:01]The market got flooded.

[00:05:03]What was a $90,000 truck with dealer markups pushing it to $110,000 or $120,000 during the shortage years is now sitting at $65,000 to $70,000 used.

[00:05:18]If you bought at the peak, you're underwater in a way that requires scuba gear.

[00:05:23]And then there's the ownership reality.

[00:05:26]The supercharged Hellcat engine in this truck requires premium fuel always.

[00:05:32]The fuel economy is so catastrophically bad that some owners report real-world figures in the single digits when driving with any enthusiasm.

[00:05:42]The tires, massive, specialized performance mud terrain units, >> [music] >> cost over $500 each.

[00:05:50]All four need replacement every 25,000 to 30,000 mi if you're actually using this thing the way it was designed to be used. The TRX is the perfect truck for someone else's money. If you lease one, great. If you're financing one, you bought it sticker price in 2022, I'm sorry. I genuinely am.

[00:06:11]Number seven, Chevrolet Blazer EV.

[00:06:15]This one is personal because GM had a real opportunity here and they squandered it spectacularly. [music] The Blazer name means something in American car culture. It [music] means capability. It means heritage. It means the kind of truck-based [music] SUV that people drove to do real things in real places.

[00:06:34]Reintroducing it as an electric crossover was already a controversial decision.

[00:06:39]Then the launch happened. The Blazer EV's first year of production was one of the most troubled in recent GM history.

[00:06:47]Software failures, charging system glitches, range that underdelivered against EPA estimates [music] in real-world conditions.

[00:06:56]GM actually paused sales of the Blazer EV early in its production run to address defects, which is not a sentence you ever want associated with a $55,000 vehicle.

[00:07:09]The depreciation hit from a rocky launch is brutal and long-lasting.

[00:07:14]Early adopter buyers took [music] losses that should not happen on a near-new vehicle.

[00:07:20]The reputation damage lingers in resale values even as GM has addressed the software issues.

[00:07:28]Here's what frustrates me most.

[00:07:30]The underlying platform has genuine potential, but you don't buy potential at $55,000.

[00:07:37]You buy a proven product. The Blazer EV in its early years was not that. And the buyers who trusted the Blazer name paid the price for GM's rushed timeline.

[00:07:48]Number six, Ford Expedition Max.

[00:07:53]The Expedition Max is a genuinely capable vehicle. I want to say that clearly because what I'm about to tell you has nothing to do with whether it works and everything to do with whether it makes financial sense. It does not.

[00:08:06]The Expedition Max is 221 in long.

[00:08:10]For reference, that is longer than many urban parking spaces. Longer than some garages. Long enough that a meaningful percentage of buyers realize within the first month of ownership that this vehicle does not fit comfortably in their actual life.

[00:08:24]And they need to get out of it.

[00:08:26]When that happens, they discover what the resale market already knows.

[00:08:31]The Max [music] is a niche vehicle with a niche buyer pool.

[00:08:35]You need a specific combination of circumstances to want [music] one.

[00:08:39]Genuinely large family, regular towing needs, a driveway that accommodates it, and the ability to absorb $80 fill-ups at the [music] pump.

[00:08:49]That combination is less common than the sales numbers suggest.

[00:08:53]Rental fleets love the Expedition Max, which means the used market is regularly flooded with high mileage, hard-driven fleet units that compete directly [music] with private sale and trade-in values.

[00:09:05]You are not competing with one previous owner when you try to sell yours.

[00:09:10]You are competing with Enterprise Rent-A-Car dumping 3,000 units at auction.

[00:09:16]The math on this vehicle only works if you are genuinely, consistently using all of it.

[00:09:22]Most buyers are [music] not.

[00:09:24]Most buyers wanted the feeling of capability without the reality of needing it. That feeling [music] cost them $15,000 to $20,000 in depreciation over 3 years.

[00:09:36]Number five, Dodge Challenger SXT.

[00:09:41]Stay with me. I'm not talking about the Hellcat. I'm not talking about the Scat Pack. I'm talking specifically [music] about the base Challenger, the SXT with a 305 horsepower V6 and the specific trap it represents.

[00:09:56]>> [music] >> The Challenger nameplate carries enormous emotional weight. It says [music] muscle. It says America. It says weekend warrior and open highway >> [music] >> and everything that is right about a rear-wheel drive coupe with a long hood and a short temper.

[00:10:13]The SXT delivers almost none of that feeling.

[00:10:16]It's heavy.

[00:10:18]The V6 is adequate but never exciting.

[00:10:22]The fuel economy is poor for what the engine actually delivers.

[00:10:26]And the interior, let's be honest, is a collection of hard plastic surrounding a touchscreen that felt modern in 2014.

[00:10:35]Here's the specific financial trap.

[00:10:38]Buyers pay for the Challenger image and get Charger with fewer doors performance.

[00:10:44]Then they discover that the SXT holds value like a wet paper bag compared to the V8 variants because the secondary market correctly prices the experience gap.

[00:10:55]You cannot sell an SXT as a muscle car to a muscle car buyer.

[00:11:00]They all want the V8 and you cannot sell it [music] as a practical vehicle because it has a tiny backseat and the visibility of a submarine.

[00:11:09]You end up stuck in the [music] middle paying muscle car insurance rates for a vehicle that drives like a heavy touring coupe. [music] The depreciation isn't as catastrophic as some others on this list, but the ownership experience relative [music] to the cost is one of the worst value propositions in the American market.

[00:11:29]>> [music] >> Number four, Jeep Wagoneer.

[00:11:32]This is the one that genuinely breaks my heart.

[00:11:36]The Wagoneer name is sacred. The original was one of the most important American vehicles ever built. It created the premium SUV segment before the term premium SUV existed. Bringing it back should have been a triumph. Instead, [music] Stellantis brought it back at prices that require real justification.

[00:11:56]$60,000 to $80,000 for a three-row family hauler and then didn't quite deliver the product that justifies those numbers.

[00:12:06]The interior quality on early Wagoneer models has been criticized in ways that are devastating for a vehicle positioned against the Escalade and the Navigator.

[00:12:16]Fit and finish issues.

[00:12:19]Technology that lags the competition. A driving experience [music] that doesn't match the luxury promise of the badge and the price.

[00:12:28]And then there's [music] the Stellantis inventory crisis sitting in the background of all of this.

[00:12:34]The company [music] built too many. The lots filled up. The discounting began.

[00:12:39]And once aggressive discounting begins on a luxury vehicle, the resale value [music] follows the discount down.

[00:12:47]Buyers who paid full sticker in 2022 and 2023 are watching the trade-in values collapse as dealers offload new inventory at prices that undercut what used Wagoneers should be worth.

[00:13:00]This is not the vehicle the name deserved. And the buyers who trusted that name are paying for the gap between the legend and the reality.

[00:13:08]Number three, Lincoln Navigator Black Label, $110,000.

[00:13:13]Sit with that number for a moment because here's what else $110,000 buys you in 2026.

[00:13:20]The lower range of a Cadillac Escalade, a base Range Rover, or a fully loaded German luxury SUV from any of the three major manufacturers.

[00:13:30]You have genuine options at this price point. Real ones.

[00:13:34]What the Navigator Black Label gives you in return is a beautiful interior, excellent [music] air suspension, and a powertrain that does its job without drama.

[00:13:44]I'm not dismissing those qualities.

[00:13:45]>> [music] >> They're real.

[00:13:47]But the depreciation number is where this vehicle reveals itself.

[00:13:53]The Navigator loses 55 to 60% of its value over 5 years.

[00:13:58]On a $110,000 purchase, that's $60,000 to $66,000 gone.

[00:14:05]Vanished.

[00:14:06]You have lost the equivalent of a fully loaded pickup truck just in depreciation [music] alone, while also paying for fuel, insurance, and maintenance on a vehicle this size.

[00:14:17]Here's why it's so bad specifically at this price point.

[00:14:21]The luxury market doesn't lie. Resale values are the market's honest verdict on where a brand actually sits in the hierarchy.

[00:14:28]And the market has consistently, repeatedly decided that Lincoln, despite Ford's genuine efforts, sits a tier below Cadillac and the European competition.

[00:14:39]Buyers at resale know they can get into a used Escalade or a used German SUV for similar money.

[00:14:46]The Navigator has to discount itself to compete.

[00:14:49]That discount comes directly out of your pocket.

[00:14:52]>> [music] >> You're paying flagship money for a vehicle the secondary market treats as a consolation prize.

[00:14:59]That gap [music] between what you paid and what the world decides it's worth is where your financial security quietly disappears.

[00:15:07]Number two, Cadillac Lyriq.

[00:15:11]The Lyriq is genuinely one of the most beautiful American vehicles built in the last decade.

[00:15:17]That 33-in curved LED display is legitimately world-class.

[00:15:23]The ride is smooth, [music] the interior is exceptional, and it makes a compelling case that American luxury EVs [music] can compete with anyone. So, why is it on this list?

[00:15:33]Because none of that matters when the depreciation numbers look like this.

[00:15:38]Early Lyriq buyers, people who paid $62,000 to $68,000 for first edition and launch models, are watching their vehicles trade in the low to mid $30,000 range.

[00:15:51]That's roughly half their purchase price [music] in under 3 years.

[00:15:56]Three reasons are driving this, and each one is structural, meaning they won't resolve quickly.

[00:16:02]>> [music] >> First, EV technology is advancing so fast that a 2022 cutting-edge platform feels a generation behind by 2025.

[00:16:12]Buyers on the secondary market know this and price their risk accordingly.

[00:16:17]Second, GM has been aggressively discounting new Lyriqs to move inventory.

[00:16:24]Every time a new Lyriq gets discounted at the dealership, the used value of every existing Lyriq drops with it.

[00:16:32]Third, battery uncertainty creates a fear premium in the used EV market that doesn't exist for gasoline vehicles.

[00:16:38][music] Buyers want a significant discount to absorb the risk of an aging battery pack they can't easily evaluate.

[00:16:46]The cruel irony is that the Lyriq is probably a very good vehicle to own. The problem isn't the car. The problem [music] is the timing.

[00:16:55]You are being asked to pay full price to be [music] the test case while the technology stabilizes, the brand proves its reliability, and GM figures out its pricing strategy.

[00:17:06]That's a $30,000 experiment. Let someone else run it.

[00:17:10]Number one, Cadillac Escalade ESV.

[00:17:15]Here we are, the undisputed champion of beautiful financial disasters.

[00:17:20]The Escalade ESV stickers between $105,000 and $130,000.

[00:17:27]It is enormous, imposing, and unmistakable.

[00:17:30]The interior is exceptional.

[00:17:33]Super Cruise is genuinely one of the best hands-free driving systems in the industry. Every surface, every technology, every detail makes a case for itself in the showroom. And then you drive off the lot and the depreciation begins.

[00:17:48]Escalade ESVs are losing 60% to 65% of their value over 5 years.

[00:17:55]Run those numbers on a $120,000 purchase. You are losing $72,000 to $78,000.

[00:18:03]That is $14,000 to $15,600 per year. Every year before a single tank of premium gasoline, before one insurance payment, before one tire rotation on wheels this size. Now add the ESV specific problem. This vehicle is 227 inches long. It does not fit in standard garages. [music] It struggles in urban parking structures.

[00:18:30]It intimidates drivers who didn't fully appreciate what 227 inches meant when they were standing next to it on a dealer lot.

[00:18:38]A meaningful percentage of ESV buyers discover within the first few months that this vehicle doesn't actually fit their life >> [music] >> and they need out. When they try to get out, they find a resale market that already knew this. Dealers who take these in trade know they'll [music] sit for 90 days. They know they'll need to discount aggressively to find the narrow pool of buyers who genuinely want and can accommodate a vehicle this size.

[00:19:05]They communicate all of that with their trade-in offer.

[00:19:08]>> [music] >> The number feels like an insult. It isn't. It's just the market being honest in a way the showroom never was.

[00:19:15]The Escalade ESV is the car you buy when looking wealthy matters more to you than being wealthy.

[00:19:22]It is a $120,000 status signal attached to $15,000 in annual depreciation, extraordinary fuel costs, [music] and a resale market that will humble you completely when the time comes to move on.

[00:19:36]The bank loves this vehicle. Your financial future does not.

[00:19:41]And the dealer who sold it to you will sleep just fine. 10 vehicles, 10 different versions of the same trap.

[00:19:47]Beautiful interiors, impressive specs, proud American names, and underneath all of it, the same math working against the buyer every single month of ownership.

[00:19:58]Here's what I want you to take away from this.

[00:20:02]None of these vehicles are bad because they're poorly engineered. Some of them are genuinely impressive machines.

[00:20:09]They're on this list because the relationship between what you pay and what you get in terms of retained value, ownership costs, and the secondary market reality is broken.

[00:20:20]Badly broken.

[00:20:21]And the people selling them have every financial incentive to make sure you don't know that before you sign. You now know.

[00:20:28]The smart buyer in 2026 is patient. The smart buyer checks day's supply, looks at wholesale auction results, and understands that a vehicle that sits on a lot for 100 days is sitting there for a reason. Drop a comment right now.

[00:20:43][music] Tell me which of these you've owned, which you're considering, or which surprised you most.

[00:20:49]>> [music] >> I read every single one, and if you want me to look at a specific vehicle you're eyeing, one that might or might not be on my radar, put it down there.

[00:20:57]>> [music] >> That's how the next video gets made.

[00:21:00]Subscribe if you aren't already. Hit the notification bell so this actually reaches you when it drops.

[00:21:06]I'm in the data every week so you don't have to be. Protect your money. Don't let the leather fool you. I'll see you in the next one.