Best used luxury cars to buy in 2024

Sales figures show us each month what the most popular used cars are for Australian buyers, but popular doesn't also mean best.

When it comes to that ultimate status symbol – the luxury car – you should make sure the three models below are high on your list of cars to consider.

JUMP AHEAD

• Near new: Genesis GV80
• Mid range: Infiniti Q50 S
• Budget: Lexus LS

Near new: Genesis GV80

Baby-Bentley looks, Korean value for money

Most modern luxury cars from prestige brands you wouldn’t want without a warranty, which is why we recommend a vehicle big on value, big on luxury, and one safe for those who want to own it for the long-term: the Genesis GV80.

While it can’t compete with the Germans for ultimate brand prestige, nor is its interior quite as fine, it’s still a very pleasing place to be – an SUV that tries hard to make you feel spoiled.

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Used examples can be had with a bit of new-car warranty remaining for around $90,000 – which might seem a lot, but by luxury car standards, it’s a bargain.

With tonnes of space, we especially like the twin-turbo V6 and recommend one with the optional Luxury Package – granting equipment such as Nappa leather trim, soft-close doors, suede headlining and a driver’s massage seat.

Described as a Korean rip-off Bentley Bentayga, there are certainly worse cars you could imitate.

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Mid range: Infiniti Q50 S

Flawed but fantastically affordable

We could have included any number of Audis, BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes and Jaguar-Land Rovers in our second-hand luxury-car picks, but the idea of owning most of them without a warranty makes our heart rate increase slightly, and our eyes a bit glassy. We like you too much, dear reader, to inflict such financial harm upon you.

While the Infiniti Q50 with its wacky steer-by-wire system hardly garnered the love of road-testers when it was new, in 2024 you stand to benefit from one of its most impressive features: depreciation. Nobody’s heard of an Infiniti, let alone a Q50, so they’re cheap as chips.

Our pick would be the S, which comes with a 268kW/546Nm hybrid rear-drive V6, and with a circa-2014 build, can be had for as little as $25,000. It’s quiet, comfortable, there’s leather, a sunroof, heated seats and electric everything – and unlike most of the aforementioned Euros, it will go for miles without too much hassle.

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Budget: Lexus LS

Corolla reliability meets limousine luxury

If you’re shopping for a luxury car on a budget, resist the temptation to buy that suspiciously cheap V12 Rolls-Royce and get a vehicle that is much more likely to provide years of trouble-free, cosseting motoring: a Lexus.

As the S-Class or 7 Series of the Lexus range, it’s hard to go past a range-topping LS. Produced between 2006 and 2017, you can get yourself an XF40 fourth-generation LS for between $20,000 and $60,000, depending on age and mileage, and that rewards you with tonnes of space, deep-pile carpets, quietude, all manner of mod-cons that you don’t have to worry too much about breaking, and a 4.6-litre naturally aspirated V8 paired to a buttery-smooth eight-speed torque converter auto. Plenty of safety features, too.

Best of all, you can sleep at night long after the warranty has expired, as 300,000km of effortless motoring is possible so long as you look after it and service it.

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