What Cars Depreciate the Most?
Top Categories of High Depreciation Cars
Luxury Sedans
- Examples:
- BMW 7 Series
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class
- Audi A8
Why: High MSRP, expensive maintenance, and fast-moving tech make used models less desirable. Expensive maintenance vehicles, particularly German made vehicles lose value among the fastest of all vehicles due to the costs of maintenance and parts.
Electric Vehicles and Hybrids (non-Tesla)
- Examples:
- Nissan Leaf
- Chevrolet Bolt EV
- BMW i3
Why: Tech evolves fast and many vehicles that were at the top innovation are now a few years behind, range anxiety, and shorter battery warranties reduce used appeal. Hybrid vehicles tend to get cheaper as the age due to the justified concern over hybrid batteries getting older and replacement costs. Depending on the model, however, replacement/remain batteries can be had for not as expensive as one might expect and a lot of battery replacements can be easily done with hand tools.
High-End Sports Cars
- Examples:
- Maserati Ghibli
- Jaguar F-Type
- Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Why: Limited demand and a smaller pool of potential buyers for sports cars due to the lack of everyday utility for most people with families, high maintenance costs for these vehicles that typically requires specialized mechanics and locations, as well as what can be reliability concerns.
Large Luxury SUVs
- Examples:
- Infiniti QX80
- Lincoln Navigator
- Cadillac Escalade (older models)
Why: High running costs for large, expensive SUVs and redesign cycles every 4 years tend to hit resale value hard. The alternative of luxury SUVs are pickup trucks and they tend to hold their value really well, as do less luxury large SUVs like Tahoes and Expeditions. Smaller SUVs like Honda CRVs are vehicles that hold their value well but Honda Pilots, Odysseys and similar seem to depreciate faster.
Cars With Notoriously High Depreciation (5-Year Averages)
| Make/Model | 5-Year Depreciation |
|---|---|
| BMW 7 Series | ~70% |
| Maserati Ghibli | ~69% |
| Jaguar XF | ~68% |
| Audi A8 | ~66% |
| Nissan Leaf | ~65% |
(Source: iSeeCars, Edmunds, and Kelley Blue Book data up to 2024)
Why These Cars Depreciate Faster
- High initial prices (luxury tax, options)
- High maintenance and insurance costs
- Frequent updates or redesigns
- Limited buyer pool in used market
- Technological obsolescence (especially in EVs)
If you’re car shopping and want to avoid steep depreciation, consider reliable brands with good resale value like Toyota, Honda, Subaru, or certain Teslas, as well as large SUVs and pickup trucks that are not luxurious. There are also mileage concerns that you can learn more about at what mileage cars depreciate the most.
