Cars with the worst resale value after 5 years

While the old saying that cars lose a massive chunk of their value as soon as they’re driven off the dealer’s lot might not be entirely true these days, most new vehicles steadily lose value as they age and are used. iSeeCars recently released its latest study on depreciation, finding the models that lose value the fastest, and the list is packed with high-end nameplates.

The vehicles that lost value the fastest over five years include:

Maserati Quattroporte: 64.5% depreciation
BMW 7 Series: 61.8%
Maserati Ghibli: 61.3%
BMW 5 Series Hybrid: 58.8%
Cadillac Escalade ESV: 58.5%
BMW X5: 58.2%
Infiniti QX80: 58.1%
Maserati Levante: 57.8%
Jaguar XF: 57.6%
Audi A7: 57.2%

While sports cars, hybrids, and trucks dominated the list of slowest-depreciating vehicles, luxury brands accounted for all of the top ten fastest-depreciating models.

iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer also pointed out EVs’ lack of representation on the slow-depreciating vehicles list, saying that there’s a disconnect between what automakers are building and what people actually want.

The average five-year depreciation for all vehicles in the iSeeCars study was 38.8 percent. That’s an almost 11% improvement over 2019’s figures, but some vehicle types perform worse than others. EVs depreciated 49.1 percent over five years, while SUVs dropped 41.2%. Trucks only fell 34.8% and hybrids 37.4%.

Brauer noted that all vehicles depreciate slower than they did five years ago. Even so, EVs are not the best choice if you’re looking for a vehicle that won’t feel like a ripoff when it’s time to trade in. On the flip side, used EVs can present a stellar value, saving thousands over their new counterparts. Charging times and availability remain concerns for buyers in large parts of the country, but a heavily depreciated EV could be the used car value you’ve been looking for.

The same wisdom applies to used luxury vehicles, as the list above indicates. While new-car buyers shopping for luxury cars are set to see big depreciation during their ownership, that means the used car market is flooded with inexpensive used luxury cars. High repair costs and costly maintenance schedules are real issues that used luxury models face, however.