Toyota’s Resale Value Still the Best in the Industry
Toyota’s trucks lead the charge, while overall the brand retains the most of its value over a five year period.
There are a lot of advantages to buying a new car. Depreciation is not one of them. Buyers lose a lot of value when they drive off the lot for the first time. The brand that minimizes that loss to the greatest extent is none other than Toyota. The company’s legendary resale value is nothing new, but some of Toyota’s competitors produce cars that hold their value too, so it’s always useful when new data is released.
Automotive search engine iSeeCars.com analyzed the latest deprecation rates for 2019. What they found isn’t surprising at all. Toyota’s trucks hold their value the most over a five year period. Toyota also beat out every other brand when it comes to overall depreciation rates. Based on this data, Toyota is definitely the car company you should patronize if you’re in the market for a brand new car, truck, or SUV.
Toyota’s Pickup Truck Leadership
The pickup truck segment is fiercely competitive and has been for some time. Trucks are capable of performing pretty much any task required of their owners, which explains why they hold their value more than other types of vehicles. “The lower depreciation for pickup trucks is likely because of their durability and their popularity, which keeps their resale values high,” says iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly. The Tacoma earned the number one spot by losing only 32% of its original value over a five year period. The Tundra slotted right beneath its smaller sibling with a 35.9% depreciation rate. The Ford F-150 depreciates the most compared to other pickup trucks. Interestingly enough, it’s not necessarily because the Ford has a bad reputation or anything. There’s just too many of them. ““The Ford F-150 is the best-selling pickup, so it depreciates more than the average truck because there are so many of them in the used car marketplace,” says Ly. Even the highest depreciating truck retains its value at a higher rate than the average vehicle from all other segments.
Staying Competitive in the SUV Segment
Toyota’s SUV’s also depreciate at a slower rate then most of the competition. Although unlike iSeeCar’s truck ranking, the top two spots do not belong to the Japanese automaker. Those are occupied by the two and four door variants of the Jeep Wrangler. The Toyota 4Runner retains the most value over a five year period among its brethren, losing only 36.5% from when it was new, which puts it in the number three spot. Although some may not consider the RAV4 an SUV, it ranked number four on the list with a 44.6% depreciation rate. Coincidentally, the Highlander earned the same exact rate and occupied the number five spot. The Land Cruiser beat out the Subaru Outback for the ninth spot with a 48.6% depreciation rate. No other automaker had as many vehicles on the list as Toyota did. “Toyotas have a strong reputation for reliability and longevity, and their high resale values reflect that,” says Ly. Makes sense to us!
Overall Rankings Still Favorable to Toyota
Toyota also excelled in iSeeCar’s top ten list for all segments. The Tacoma took the number three spot with a 32% depreciation rate while the Tundra and 4Runner came in at 35.9% and 36.5%, respectively. That earned them fourth and fifth place. It’s not hard to understand why. “Toyota and Honda are known for their reliability, and their reputation for dependable pickups helps aid their resale value,” says Ly. According to iSeeCars, pickup trucks and sport cars lose their value at a slower rate than average while luxury sedans and electric vehicles depreciate the highest. Curiously, the Subaru BRZ ranked seventh in the site’s top ten list for lowest depreciating sports cars. The mechanically identical Toyota 86 was nowhere to be found. The 86 existed as a Scion in a previous life though, which may have impacted the data.
Toyota had a great showing in iSeeCar’s latest study. This is perhaps the least surprising news ever, but it’s still interesting to see how the brand stacks up against the competition. And we’re extremely confident that the brand will still have a strong showing in future reports. We’d also hazard a guess that the Supra will make a showing at some point. Head over to iSeeCar’s study if you’re interested in checking out more of the report.
Photos: Toyota