CarValue

Car depreciation & the best time to buy

A new car loses about 41.8% of its value in five years — and most of that drop happens in the first two or three. So the cheapest way to own almost any car is to let someone else eat the cliff: buy it a few years old, hold it through the flat years, then sell. Here's the cost, by model.

Estimates as of June 2026.

Honda Civic$894Subaru Crosstrek$1,030Toyota Tacoma$1,037Toyota RAV4$1,121Toyota Camry$1,152Jeep Wrangler$1,164Honda CR-V$1,183Honda Accord$1,234Toyota 4Runner$1,433Toyota Tundra$1,502Nissan Leaf$1,517Ford F-150$1,617Tesla Model 3$2,025Chevrolet Corvette$2,328Audi A6$2,991Porsche 911$3,675Maserati Ghibli$4,323BMW 7 Series$5,054
#ModelType~New price 5‑yr depreciation$/yr if bought new $/yr if bought at 3You save
1 Honda Civic Car $25,000 34% $1,700 $894 47.4%
2 Subaru Crosstrek SUV $27,000 37% $1,998 $1,030 48.4%
3 Toyota Tacoma Truck $32,000 30% $1,920 $1,037 46%
4 Toyota RAV4 SUV $30,000 36% $2,160 $1,121 48.1%
5 Toyota Camry Car $28,000 41% $2,296 $1,152 49.8%
6 Jeep Wrangler SUV $35,000 31% $2,170 $1,164 46.4%
7 Honda CR-V SUV $31,000 37% $2,294 $1,183 48.4%
8 Honda Accord Car $29,000 43% $2,494 $1,234 50.5%
9 Toyota 4Runner SUV $42,000 32% $2,688 $1,433 46.7%
10 Toyota Tundra Truck $42,000 34% $2,856 $1,502 47.4%
11 Nissan Leaf EV $29,000 60% $3,480 $1,517 56.4%
12 Ford F-150 Truck $40,000 40% $3,200 $1,617 49.5%
13 Tesla Model 3 EV $42,000 52% $4,368 $2,025 53.6%
14 Chevrolet Corvette Sports $70,000 31% $4,340 $2,328 46.4%
15 Audi A6 Luxury $60,000 55% $6,600 $2,991 54.7%
16 Porsche 911 Sports $120,000 28% $6,720 $3,675 45.3%
17 Maserati Ghibli Luxury $80,000 64% $10,240 $4,323 57.8%
18 BMW 7 Series Luxury $95,000 62% $11,780 $5,054 57.1%

"$/yr" is the depreciation cost of owning for five years — buying new vs. buying at three years old. Ranked by the cheaper (buy‑at‑three) figure. Older cars cost a bit more to maintain, so the practical sweet spot is roughly 3–5 years old. How we estimate this →