WASHINGTON — The new vehicle you buy is worth less than you paid for it as soon as you drive it off the lot, but some makes and models hold up better than others.
And the one that has retained value the best lately isn’t even in production anymore.
The National Automobile Dealers Association, based in Tysons Corner, Virginia, crunched today’s resale values for 2013 model year vehicles to determine depreciation rates for three-year-old cars, trucks and SUVs. Coming out on top is the 2013 Toyota FJ Cruiser, worth, on average, 92.5 percent of its brand new sticker price.
“It is really quite extraordinary in terms of retained value for a three-year-old vehicle,” NADA’s Larry Dixon tells WTOP.
“It’s because it is a fairly low volume vehicle, it is one of the last remaining body-on-frame utility trucks out there, so it really has legitimate off-road chops, and it just has a look that consumers tend to gravitate toward.”
The fact that it is no longer in production also helps prop up the FJ Cruiser’s resale value. Toyota discontinued the U.S. version of the FJ after the 2014 model year.
The 2013 Jeep Wrangler ranks second-best for resale value. A 2013 Wrangler sells for an average of 75.8 percent of its original price.
NADA says mid-sized and large pickups and mid-sized sport utilities have done especially well when it comes to resale value.
Resale values for compact cars have not done well, largely because of the ongoing consumer shift from cars to SUVs, and that has been to the detriment of most car segments, although there are cars that hold their value fairly well.
A 2013 Ford Mustang is worth about 61 percent of its original sticker. A 2013 Volvo XC70 is worth about 56 percent of its original price.
As for big losers, from a sheer dollar amount loss, the luxury large car segment takes a huge depreciation hit.
A 2013 BMW 7 Series has lost an average of 63.3 percent of its value in the last three years, according to NADA. With a base price of about $82,000, that is a $52,000 loss.
But from a percentage loss, the biggest three-year dog is the Daimler’s Smart FORTWO, the car that makes up car-sharing service Car2Go’s fleet.
A 2013 Smart FORTWO is currently worth 24.8 percent of its original price.
“Very, very small, subcompact micro-cars like that simply do not do well,” Dixon said.
A 2013 Fiat 500 sells for about 31 percent of its original price. A 2013 Ford Fiesta is worth 33.8 percent of its original price.
How is what you’re driving holding up?
Read the NADA’s entire depreciation report, by vehicle segment based on 2013 models.
