Man investigates $40K fake Maybach from China that looks so legit he doesn’t know what is real and what isn’t anymore
- This Mercedes has been kitted to look like a Maybach
- The kit apparently costs around $40,000
- It looks reasonably close to the real thing
Published on Dec 18, 2024 at 5:37 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Dec 20, 2024 at 3:51 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This guy found a $40,000 fake Maybach S-Class from China and he couldn’t believe how legit it looked.
From afar, it looks like the real thing, and then up close…it still kind of looks like the real thing.
It wouldn’t fool the CEO of Mercedes-Benz, but it’s close enough.
Especially when we remember it saved its owner almost $100,000.
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This fake kit from China makes the car look (almost) as good as the real thing
YouTuber effspot, real name Gordon Cheng, found this fake Maybach in the car park of his hotel.
Prices for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class start at just over $60,000 in the US, whereas the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class starts at $180,000+.
The difference is even more remarkable in China, where the E-Class starts at roughly the same price as in the US, but the Maybach S-Class is a lot more expensive, with a starting price well above $200,000.
This guy apparently bought an E-Class for around $60,000-$70,000 and then spent $40,000 for the Maybach lookalike kit, and essentially got a similar visual result for half the price.
Not a bad deal.
The evolution of Maybach
Even though Maybach started out as an independent brand, its history has always been tied to that of Daimler, ie Mercedes.
It was founded by Wilhelm Maybach in 1909, who’d just resigned from his position as technical director of Daimler DMG, which is more or less the great-grandfather of Mercedes-Benz as we know it today.
In 1960, Maybach became part of Mercedes, then it became a standalone brand in 2002, and then it became a sub-brand of Mercedes – again – in 2015.
These days, Maybach is used by Mercedes to market ultra-high end vehicles, such as the GLS 600 or the seven-figure Mercedes-Maybach Pullman.
It is also occasionally used for one-off creations such as the wild concept created by the late Virgil Abloh.
Maybach models always cost more than $100,000, and often more $200,000.
Or you can do what this guy did and buy a $40,000 kit.
