These 3 Car Makes Have the Best Resale Values

If you plan to sell your car a few years after buying it, you might want to stick to one of two brands long known for dependability and durability.

Honda and Toyota each earned five honors in J.D. Power’s 2020 Resale Value Awards. That was tops among any auto brand.

In compiling its rankings, J.D. Power analyzed 270 vehicle models by dipping into a sample of more than 592,000 transactions.

The analysis took used vehicle wholesale prices — or, how much a dealer pays for a used vehicle — and divided those prices by the vehicle’s original purchase price.

All calculations were based on wholesale records from May through September 2020 for 3-year-old vehicles.

In an announcement, Jonathan Banks, vice president and general manager of vehicle valuations at J.D. Power, says:

“Our transaction database shows which models have the lowest depreciation costs, hence providing consumers with a key component in the total cost of ownership of the vehicle they plan to purchase or sell.”

J.D. Power ranked cars for resale value across 25 model types. Brands that earned the most awards — and their models receiving honors — were:

• Honda — Accord, Civic, Fit, HR-V and Odyssey
• Toyota — 4Runner, 86, Prius v, Tacoma and Tundra
• Lexus — GS, LX, NX and RX

The GMC Sierra 3500 had the best resale value of any large heavy-duty pickup, as well as the best resale value of all models included in the study.

The other cars that had the best resale value in their respective model categories are:

• Mercedes-Benz B Class (small premium car category)
• Infiniti Q60 (compact premium car)
• Porsche Cayman (compact premium sporty car)
• Dodge Challenger (midsize sporty car)
• Chevrolet Corvette (midsize premium sporty car)
• Dodge Charger (large car)
• Genesis G90 (large premium car)
• Audi Q3 (small premium SUV)
• Jeep Wrangler (compact SUV)
• Chevrolet Tahoe (large SUV)

Finding the right car for you

Before you shop for a car, you might want to compare the J.D. Power list with a similar set of rankings that iSeeCars issued recently. Get the skinny on that study “These Are the 10 Worst Cars for Depreciation.”

Reading through each list should give you a good start on finding the right vehicle. Such information is vital, as choosing the wrong car can cost you a ton of money. For more, check out “How Buying the Wrong Car Can Cost You an Extra $3,725 a Year.”