He goes to the garage to repair a button on his Bugatti, they ask him for $12,000 and he ends up fixing it for the price of a pack of gum

Luxury sometimes has its limits - and few people know that better than Carl Hartley. The son of a renowned high-end car dealer in the UK, Hartley owns a lavish Bugatti Veyron, one of the world’s most exclusive supercars. But what should’ve been a minor issue with his million-dollar ride quickly turned into a lesson in absurdity.

After four years of owning the Veyron, Hartley encountered what seemed like a trivial problem: the button that adjusts the side mirrors stopped working. As with most owners of ultra-luxury vehicles, he reached out to the nearest official Bugatti dealership, expecting a straightforward fix.

What he got was a jaw-dropping quote: over $12,000 (about €11,000) to replace the motor behind the mirror and nearly the entire mirror assembly, including the housing. Yes, for a button.

Button fix goes from $12,000...to $1.25

Shocked and frustrated, Hartley turned to a different kind of expert - a mechanic specializing in Formula 1 parts. And that’s where things took an almost comic turn. According to Motor 16 magazine, the specialist diagnosed the issue, swapped out a small faulty part, and had everything working in just 25 minutes. The cost? $1.25. The fix used a component identical to one found in the Volkswagen Transporter, the German brand’s iconic cargo van.

From $12,000 to $1.25, with the same result.

As it turns out, Hartley’s case isn’t an isolated incident. The price gap between official luxury car service centers and skilled independent mechanics can be staggering.

Motor 16 also cited the owner of a Bugatti Chiron who said his annual maintenance costs average around $12,000. Bugatti’s official prices back up the claim: a replacement key fob can run nearly $14,000, tail lights approach $54,000. Each individual tire? Around $9,700. Need a new engine? You’re looking at something that could rival a down payment on a house.

Commercial strategy or excessive exclusivity?

All of this has sparked debate about the true cost of luxury. One thing’s for sure: maintaining a hypercar isn’t as glamorous as driving one.

Brands like Bugatti and Lamborghini rely on highly specialized, proprietary technology that independent garages typically can’t access. These systems often require brand-specific tools, software, and parts that aren’t sold outside the manufacturer’s official network.

To maintain warranty coverage, owners are also obligated to use authorized service centers, ensuring that only OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts are used and all repairs are logged in the vehicle’s official service record. In fact, many of these parts are certified solely by the carmaker, making third-party solutions tricky or outright impossible.

The result? Even the smallest repairs can become logistical - and financial - nightmares. When exclusivity meets engineering complexity, the price tag often follows suit.

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