The Cars That Best Retain Their Value

Toyota earned the most honors in Edmunds.com’s 2015 Best Retained Value Awards.

The awards recognize models and brands with the highest projected value after five years — which Edmunds describes as “a critical piece of information” for prospective car buyers and people who lease cars:

Smart car shoppers will choose vehicles with high retained value so they can maximize their worth at trade-in or sale. And for consumers who lease, selecting cars with strong resale value is just as important: Resale value is a key factor in determining the monthly lease payment.

This year’s awards, the fifth annual, are based on models released during the last two months of 2014 and those released in 2015.

What Edmunds characterizes as the “top prizes” went to Toyota and Acura, which were named the best non-luxury and luxury brands, respectively. Their projected values after five years are 52.4 percent and 46.9 percent.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Acura has been named the top luxury brand.

Specific Toyota models were named winners in the greatest number of model-level categories this year:

• Midsize truck category: Toyota Tacoma (projected value of 64.5 percent after five years)
• Large car: Toyota Avalon (44.8 percent)
• Large truck: Toyota Tundra (57.2 percent)
• Midsize crossover SUV: Toyota Highlander (54.4 percent)

Acura models were named winners in two categories:

• Entry luxury car: Acura ILX (48.20 percent)
• Entry luxury SUV: Acura RDX (47.8 percent)

Click here to view the winners in all 24 model-level categories.

If you’re looking to purchase or lease a vehicle, visit our Solutions Center for help finding the best rate on car loans.

Also check out our “Cars” page so you don’t miss stories like “How to Increase Your Gas Mileage by 70 Percent.”

What’s your experience with Toyotas and Acuras? Let us know what you think in a comment below or on Facebook.