What Cars Hold Up Best Against Depreciation?

Have you ever wondered why it is that a new car loses (depreciates) 30% of it’s resale value the minute that you drive it off of the new car lot? I mean, after all, the car still has that new car smell, right?! 🙂

Well, it all comes down to the idea that some people take better care of their car than others, and new car buyers are simply willing to pay much more for the assurance that the car is in “pristine” shape / has not been mis-represented by the previous owner.

Going along with this idea, it is also well established that some cars (typically ones that are more reliable) hold up their resale value much better than others.

Back in 2012, I sold my 2004 Honda Accord (which my family purchased for around $15k new) for $5k to CarMax. We didn’t think this was too shabby since the car was 8 years old!

For future car purchases, it’s good to know which cars hold up their resale value so you can maximize the amount you receive on the back-end of your car-buying purchase when you decide to sell.

A good resource for this researching is Kelley Blue Book’s Best Resale Value list. These selected vehicles are being recognized for their projected retained value through the initial five-year ownership period.

The 2015 model-year brand and category winners of the annual Best Resale Value Awards are shown below. You can hop on over to KBB.com to view the full list.

For me, an intriguing finding of these results is how well Suburu did, earning the top resale value slot in most of the car categories, along with Lexus. Where I live in Colorado, Suburu is considered the “unofficial state car,” and my wife and I will likely purchase one when we go to purchase our next car. It’s good to know they are not only reliable, but also hold up their resale value after 5 years or so!