Buying a shiny new car can give any driver an immediate thrill. But those warm feelings don’t always last.
In fact, some drivers who purchase a new car put it up for sale within the first year of ownership.
Recently, iSeeCars tried to get to the bottom of why some owners sell their cars so soon after buying them — and to identify which vehicles are most likely to be sold within the first 12 months of ownership.
Overall, the average first-year resale rate for new cars is just 3.6%. However, resale rates are much higher for vehicles that are among the 10 most likely to be sold in the first year of ownership. Resale rates for these vehicles range from four to eight times higher than for cars outside the top 10.
In a summary of the findings, iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer says multiple factors can push drivers to sell a new car soon after buying it:
“Owner dissatisfaction is the most obvious cause, but financial hardship and even creative dealer accounting can also drive this number up, with some retailers registering demonstration vehicles as sold to increase sales numbers for their stores and the manufacturer.”
Each car in the top 10 shares this characteristic
In compiling its analysis, iSeeCars looked at more than 18.5 million individual new car sales during both 2023 and 2024 for vehicles with model years between 2022 and 2025.
After recording each car’s vehicle identification number, iSeeCars identified whether the car was re-listed and sold on the used car market between four months and a year of its original sales date.
A few cars were not part of the analysis. They included:
- Used cars with fewer than 4,000 miles
- Models not in production as of the 2024 model year
- Heavy-duty vehicles
- Ultra-premium vehicles
- Low-volume models
When iSeeCars finished its analysis, something interesting immediately popped out in the findings. According to Brauer:
“Every model in the top 10 ranking of new cars most likely to be resold is a luxury vehicle. This suggests luxury buyers are either not doing enough research before buying, are overextending themselves financially, or are just incredibly fickle when it comes to their new car purchases.”
Here are the luxury cars most likely to be resold within a year, along with their early resale rate and the average price for which they sold:
- Land Rover Discovery Sport: 28.3% — $55,188
- Porsche Macan: 22.2% — $77,727
- Mercedes-Benz GLB: 21.2% — $51,015
- Mercedes-Benz CLA: 20.4% — $50,627
- Mercedes-Benz GLA: 16.7% — $48,548
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque: 16.4% — $58,492
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class: 14.0% — $56,370
- Land Rover Discovery: 13.6% — $77,163
- BMW 5 Series: 13.4% — $67,713
- Jaguar F-Pace: 13.3% — $71,210
In its analysis, iSeeCars notes that Porsche is the brand most likely to be resold within a year, with a 16% chance of this happening. Next in line are Jaguar (10.7%), Mercedes-Benz (9.1%), Land Rover (8.9%) and Infiniti (6.5%).
Other models likely to cause buyer’s remorse
As mentioned, all of those cars in the top 10 are luxury vehicles. Here is the list for non-luxury vehicles:
- MINI Clubman: 11.4% — $43,102
- Mitsubishi Mirage G4: 8.6% — $19,619
- Mazda CX-70: 7.2% — $53,851
- MINI Countryman: 6.7% — $42,205
- Hyundai Sonata: 6.4% — $31,127
- Mazda CX-90: 6.4% — $49,602
- Hyundai Santa Cruz: 6.4% — $36,764
- Toyota GR Corolla: 6.3% — $43,058
- Jeep Cherokee: 6.3% — $39,350
- MINI Hardtop 4 Door: 6.3% — $37,070
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