10 Car Brands with Best Resale Value

2020 Honda HR-V Touring ・ Photo by Honda

Are you in the market for some sort of new vehicle, but you aren’t sure what kind will best meet your needs? One strategy is to start by looking at the car brands with the best resale value. That can build your confidence as you check out a variety of different body styles from a variety of different segments in a single dealership visit. What they’ll have in common is roughly the same level of retained value. That’s important if you only own the car for a few years, whether you plan to trade it in soon, need to sell it for another reason, or have it declared a total loss by the insurance company.

Today we’ll steer you toward a few of the brands that are likely to hold their value over time, basing our choices on both general Internet research and a pricing comparison using Autobytel data.

Toyota

The car brands with the best resale value are known for providing key customer benefits like reliability and safety technology. This helps drive up demand in the used-car market, which raises the amount people are willing to pay, which is the foundation for retained value.

Toyota is a great example. The company sells vehicles like the RAV4 crossover, Camry sedan, and Tacoma pickup, all of which are known for delivering — and keeping — high levels of value. One particular benefit is that nearly all Toyota models come standard with advanced driver-assistance systems. Even an inexpensive car like the 2020 Toyota Corolla has a standard Safety Sense 2.0 bundle with adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, a forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, and lane-keeping assistance.

Photo by Toyota

Subaru

Subaru’s incredible popularity has led to a long string of monthly sales records for the company. And since that demand carries over to pre-owned models, Subaru has firmly established itself as one of the car brands with the best resale value. It also helps that the automaker focuses on one of the market’s most popular body styles — SUVs — and supplies standard all-wheel drive on nearly every vehicle in its lineup.

As with Toyota, Subaru further boosts value with its own comprehensive safety package. This Eyesight system is available starting right with the brand’s most affordable SUV, the 2020 Subaru Crosstrek. Meanwhile, both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration are standard. That’s notable because some rivals don’t offer both technologies, or reserve them for upper-trim models.

Photo by Subaru

Chevrolet

Domestic car brands with the best resale value include Chevrolet. Chevy often hits the sweet spot for shoppers by providing advanced connectivity features even in its most mainstream vehicles. For instance, mobile Wi-Fi, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay are available in everything from the Chevrolet Spark city car to the Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.

The brand also has built up a strong reputation for dependability in some of the country’s most prestigious third-party testing programs. And brands can sometimes get an overall increase in resale value from a sort of “halo effect,” too. So we expect that the debut of the all-new mid-engine 2020 Chevrolet Corvette to generate significant buzz for the company’s entire roster — especially since the 2020 Corvette itself is already sold out.

Honda

Honda also follows a proven recipe to stand out among the car brands with the best resale value. This means selling in-demand vehicles with popular technology, impressive fuel-economy ratings, and a good track record for reliability.

The brand checks all those boxes and more with products like the Civic sedan, CR-V SUV, and Ridgeline pickup. In turn, these rides showcase features like the Honda Sensing safety package, both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and peppy yet efficient engine options. Honda’s reputation for dynamic performance makes a difference as well. In fact, the ability to offer two homegrown hot rods — the Civic’s Si and Type R editions — is a significant difference between Honda and Toyota. (Toyota’s recent sporty cars are built in partnerships with other companies.)

Photo by Honda

Hyundai

No, Hyundai’s famous 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty doesn’t transfer when you buy it used; it’s cut in half for the second owner. Yet if you’re shopping for the car brands with the best resale value, that kind of automaker confidence can be a good sign of future reliability.

Hyundai’s value proposition with its new cars is also a bonus. It may seem counterintuitive at first, but because Hyundai’s new vehicles combine a lot of content with a relatively low price, that price doesn’t fall as much when they reach the used-car marketplace. Consider the 2020 Hyundai Tucson. With an MSRP of $24,400, a brand-new Tucson already undercuts rivals such as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. However, the Hyundai’s standard features include Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, a driver-attention monitor, and a forward collision-avoidance system.

Photo by Hyundai

Jeep

Can having one hot vehicle be enough to join our car brands with the best resale value? It can if that vehicle is the 2020 Jeep Wrangler. Jeep’s legendary off-roader is so popular on the secondary market that used examples are nearly as expensive as new ones.

Nor is that demand only from off-road enthusiasts. When the all-new JL Wrangler debuted for 2018, it gained the sort of modern conveniences that also make it a more comfortable daily driver. Highlights include Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and improved fuel economy: With its new EcoDiesel V6 engine, the Wrangler serves up EPA estimates of 22 mpg city/29 mpg highway/25 mpg combined. (A plug-in hybrid Wrangler is expected next year, too.)

Photo by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Lexus

Now we move to the luxury-car brands with the best resale value, beginning with Lexus. This is Toyota’s luxury marque, and you can be sure that the automaker puts as much effort into safety and reliability with Lexus vehicles as it does with its mainstream brand. But with Lexus cars and SUVs, those benefits are blended with a full range of elegant appointments.

You can also look forward to Lexus vehicles retaining more value than ever with the brand’s latest tech upgrade. The lack of Android Auto might have been a deal-breaker in the past for some buyers, lowering demand and values slightly, but it’s launching on the 2020 Lexus RX. Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa were already on board.

Photo by Lexus

Porsche

People used to think of exotic brands as only making vehicles that are fragile and expensive to fix. Porsche, though, at least has the first issue under control. Indeed, the company has become an icon of award-winning dependability in recent years. When you also consider the insatiable demand for older Porsche products, it’s easy to see why this is one of the car brands with the best resale value.

Of course, we can’t predict which of today’s models will become tomorrow’s collectibles. But we can tell you that the new 2020 Porsche 911 Speedster is a good bet. Bringing back a classic name from Porsche’s past, the new Speedster is a limited-edition model celebrating the end of the current 911 generation.

Photo by Porsche

Land Rover

The car brands with the best resale value also include one company that doesn’t sell any cars at all. Land Rover has a laser-like focus on luxury suvs, so it doesn’t have to worry about its retained value being dragged down by the sagging popularity of so many actual cars.

The Land Rover lineup also boasts models with serious off-road capability and much more towing power than typical crossovers. The 2020 Land Rover Range Rover is a case in point. Beyond its high-end luxuries, the Range Rover has standard four-wheel drive and a maximum tow rating of more than 7,700 pounds. For comparison, the 2020 Ford Explorer compares with standard rear-wheel drive and a top trailer rating of 5,600 pounds.

Photo by Jaguar Land Rover

Mercedes-Benz

As you might guess, the competition between the German car brands with the best resale value is extremely fierce. Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are all in the mix, and each company has vehicles with better-than-average depreciation rates.

Our choice is Mercedes-Benz, since it’s the most popular of the three companies in terms of sales, and that’s a sign of higher demand. Leading the way are the brand’s “E” vehicles: the 2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars and 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE SUVs. For each individual model, you can enjoy range-topping elegance and sophistication without paying flagship prices. Oh, these vehicles aren’t cheap, but they’re so loaded with luxury that they’re still a strong value. (BMW also gets dinged for not having Android Auto in 2020.)

Photo by Mercedes-Benz