It’s still creepy when it happens. When I talk about something only to be later served content or ads referencing it on my socials. Nothing lights up the part of my brain most prone to conspiracies faster even though I should know better. It’s the end of 2024, and I’m in Miami, FL for the holidays. The content in question examines the Maserati MC20, specifically its depreciation curve.
On Instagram, videos call its loss of value “insane.” Others claim it’s “probably the worst depreciating car on the market.” I turn to YouTube and find that the topic is popular there, too, with creators citing “$99,000 discounts” or adorning their thumbnails with “50 percent off stickers.“
Content that covers financial losses sets off alarm bells for me. Given its ability to draw in large audiences, it’s highly lucrative and often sensationalized. Still, I know why I’m getting it. As I scroll on my phone late at night, there’s a Maserati MC20 Coupe stashed in the garage directly below my room. I’m revisiting it for the first time since 2022 after driving the convertible Cielo in 2023 and ahead of my time with the GT2 Stradale later this year.
Now, as I’ve still got over a week with this mid-engined two-door whose as-tested price comes in at $304,200, I’m left wondering: Is there some truth to these videos? And if so, why?
I picked up the Grigio Incognito two-door from a parking garage a few blocks away from Miami International. It is stunning. Its shape isn’t cluttered with excessive aero components, ducts, or slats. There’s thoughtful restraint from a design perspective and a deliberate focus on creating an enduring and elegant silhouette. Its design approach is reminiscent of Pininfarina-era Ferraris like the F430 and the 599 GTB, gorgeous and perfectly proportioned machines that didn’t need to rely on gimmicks to stand out.
Although Miami isn’t known for its excellent driving roads, it’s an ideal place to rely on a supercar for daily transport. Sloped driveways make front lift use a rarity. The asphalt quality is excellent, making even the firmest suspension feel tame, and there’s ample secure parking as long as you’re willing to pay for it. A full tank of gas always feels like it’s half off, and even the Florida Highway Patrol seems sympathetic to cars with engines in the middle.
The Maserati MC20 settles nicely in this environment as a pseudo grand tourer. It achieves this despite sporting genuine supercar credentials like a carbon-fiber monocoque co-developed with the racing legends at Dallara. Active DampTronic X shocks by Bilstein only add to the breadth of its versatility, delivering a ride that’s settled but never excessively firm. At the same time, visibility remains decent for a car of this shape, although a digital rearview mirror improves this significantly. Only its tiny storage space presents a usability challenge.
Alongside its good looks and compliant ride, the Maserati MC20 is rapid. The Trident quotes a 3,306-pound curb weight, which, paired with a 621-horsepower engine and a dual-clutch automatic, allows for a 2.9-second sprint to 60 mph. A figure made more impressive when you learn that all that power goes exclusively to its rear wheels. Its top speed is 202 mph. However, these aren’t the figures that matter most.
Scan past them, and you’ll land on this car’s 538 pound-feet of torque output, which kicks in at 3,000 rpm following some initial lag. It arrives in a sudden burst, which, should you have traction control dialed back, instantly lights up the rears through first, second, and third. You quickly sense that the MC20 will stab you in the back if given the chance, and in a world of overly-dialed supercars, these hints of lunacy are more than welcome. It requires you to be intentional, grounding you in the driving experience.
Some refinements would push the Maserati MC20 even further. Its brakes, although carbon ceramics with six-piston calipers up front as standard, require considerable pedal travel before you’re rewarded with the stopping force you’re after. Its steering, while light, lacks feedback, and some of the cabin buttons and knobs you most often interact with lack the quality you’d expect from a car with an as-tested price of $304,200.
It’s been nearly three years since I last drove a Maserati MC20 Coupe, and just as I remember, it is a versatile, fast, and stunning machine. It nails the supercar basics while offering a compelling counterargument to the segment’s usual suspects. What about those earlier questions, though?
Answering the first is easy. There is some truth to the videos that appeared on my feed. According to iSeeCars, a vehicle listing aggregator and data analytics firm, it estimates that an MC20 will lose 45.5 percent of its value over the first five years. That’s 13 percent above the luxury sports car average of 32.5 but not far off the 43.7 figure that factors in the entire auto industry.
It’s a similar story if we shrink the timeline to three years. This car’s value is expected to drop by 29.6 percent, while the segment it competes in is predicted to fare better at 16.9. However, this anticipated depreciation curve still aligns with the broader industry average of 30.5 percent over the same period.
Percentage-wise, the Maserati MC20’s depreciation is higher than average but not so extreme that it’s entirely deserving of the negative superlatives often thrown its way. The difference is, of course, that a nearly 30 percent loss over three years starting from $300,000 hurts much more than it does from, say, $150,000. From here, we can begin to answer the second half of the question, the all-important why.
First, we need to flashback to September 2020, as the Maserati MC20 drives onto a stage, its debut broadcasted virtually due to social distancing requirements. The Trident marketed its debut as a major turning point for the brand. It not only returned to the supercar space, it announced its re-entry into motorsport. Soon after, the carmaker acknowledged its previous quality and reliability shortcomings and revamped its entire lineup, discontinuing the old one and introducing a strong product line.
As good as the latest cars are, be it the GranTurismo, the Grecale, or the GranCabrio, which recently ranked among duPont REGISTRY’s top cars of 2024, shifting public perception takes time. It’s far easier to damage a brand’s reputation than rebuild it, and public perception directly affects second-hand values. Although the Maserati MC20 debuted nearly five years ago, US deliveries only started in 2022, and sales volumes have been relatively low. Still, there’s already been positive movement, with the MC20’s depreciation rate, on average, being much lower than that of the cars that preceded it.
Some undoubtedly won’t try it because of the stigma of a twin-turbocharged V6 engine. In terms of public perception, it doesn’t matter that at 3.0 liters of displacement, it generates 621 hp, making it one of the most power-dense engines currently in production. That’s 207 hp per liter. Its engine note isn’t as enticing as that of the discontinued Ferrari-V8-powered Trofeo models. However, it’s still exciting, thanks to loads of turbo noise.
The perception of this engine and V6s overall will likely shift in the coming years as environmental regulations make this configuration more prevalent across high-end brands. At its 2015 debut, the second-generation Ford GT caught plenty of heat for utilizing an EcoBoost V6. Since then, however, the Ferrari 296 GTB, the McLaren Artura, and the Maserati MC20 have proven that this configuration can deliver tremendous performance while cutting back on weight and emissions.
As I drive back to Miami International, now in early 2025, I’m glad to see that what impressed me about the Maserati MC20 back in 2022 remains, even as new rivals like the McLaren Artura and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 offer fierce competition, while others like the Lamborghini Huracan and Audi R8 go out of production entirely.
It isn’t the first time that it’s taken a car a while to find its tribe. Recall McLaren’s road car rebirth in 2011. From the 12C through the 650S and onto the 720S, buyer confidence took the best part of a decade to grow, eventually stabilizing the second-hand market as quality and reliability improved. With this MC20’s $304,200 as-tested cost, up from a $230,000 base figure, a massive potential loss at this price point is enough to make anyone reconsider a purchase.
However, if there’s anything that both the data and the content creators agree on, it’s that prices are coming down. While this hurts new car buyers in the short term, it simultaneously makes the MC20 a more exciting proposition as a used car. Once it reaches a price point where its value stabilizes, more people will be compelled to try it and experience what Maserati’s new era offers.
After all, the Maserati MC20 is still a carbon-tubbed mid-engined supercar that delivers staggering performance, a compliant ride that urges you to drive it often, and one of the best exterior designs of any car on sale. It’s only a matter of time before more people experience it and its cult following emerges.
