The 25 Cars With the Best Resale Value

Unlike real estate or collectibles, brand new cars generally make pretty poor investments: A factory-direct vehicle begins to depreciate the second it’s driven off the lot. Broadly speaking, the average drop in price after five years is 39 percent.

Still, some models retain more of their original value than others. And while that may not be a primary consideration for car shoppers, it should be: The slower the depreciation, the more you’ll be able to get when it comes time to sell or trade in the vehicle.

Recently, car data hub iSeeCars took a look at the used car market. Examining 1.1 million vehicle sales from 2022 to 2023, it searched for models that had the lowest rates of depreciation over a five-year period, meaning cars that were new in the 2018 model year. Here’s what they found.

Two Porsche models—the 911 and 718 Cayman—top the list. The 911 depreciated just 9.3 percent from its original value, which ranges from $90,000 to $200,000 depending on the trim model.

For more daily driving, three Toyota models—the Tacoma, C-HR, and Corolla—lost between 20 percent and 25 percent of their value.

iSeeCars also made note of cars with the highest depreciation. Generally, it’s luxury vehicles that seem to speed away from their original sticker price. Topping the list was the Maserati Quattroporte, which lost 64.5 percent of its value. The BMW 7 Series ranks a close second, dropping 61.8 percent.

Electric vehicle (EV) models can be a toss-up. Full EVs tend to drop an average of 49.1 percent, while hybrid cars—which use battery power as well as gas—decline just 37.4 percent.

You can look at the full data, including depreciation for trucks and SUVs, at iSeeCars.

[h/t iSeeCars]