Resale value key consideration when buying new car, truck or SUV

resale value

The following post originally appeared on our RoadLoans blog, The Open Road.

Resale value.

It’s not necessarily one of the first things customers consider when thinking about purchasing a new car, truck or SUV. But maybe it should be.

Because if you expect to trade in or sell a vehicle before it gets too old, resale value is an important consideration even as you research vehicles to purchase.

“Black Book highlighted two-year-old vehicles, posting the top retention values,” according to last week’s issue of Auto Remarketing – The News Media of the Pre-owned Industry. On Black Book’s list of 18 models with the highest value retention, Toyota secured the top three spots.

Toyota has a total of five vehicles in the top 18 spots, the most of any manufacturer on the list.

“Only two of the top 18 vehicles are domestic brands and models,” according to Black Book, “with the Ford Explorer fifth on the list … and the Jeep Wrangler two spots later.”

“If you want to keep your overall year-in-year-out transportation costs low, you will find that a vehicle that retains its value well will be your best friend,” says Kelley Blue Book at KBB.com. KBB provides a comprehensive listing of vehicles by category along with their anticipated resale values as a percent of the original purchase price of a vehicle. Edmunds.com also offers a list of vehicles with top resale values.

Here is the list of top two-year-old vehicles ranked by value as a percentage of MSRP, according to Black Book:

Toyota Tacoma Prerunner SR5 double cab (88.4 percent), Toyota 4Runner SR5 (80.9), Toyota FJ Cruiser (77), Land Rover LR4 (76.3), Ford Explorer XLT (75.8), Audi Q7 Premium and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport (both 75.4), Infinity G37 coupe (75.1), Toyota Land Cruiser (74.9), BMW M3 sedan (74.7), Mercedes Benz G550 (74.6), Subaru Forester X (74.4), Honda Ridgeline RTL crew cab (74), Toyota Sequoia SR5 (73.8), Hyundai Santa Fe Limited (73), Subaru Impreza Outback wagon (72.8), Kia Sorrento LX (72.7) and Infinity QX56 (72.6). Most on the list are utility vehicles.

The Toyota Tacoma and FJ Cruiser, Jeep Wrangler, Subaru Outback and Audi Q7 also scored high on KBB’s list, which provides resale value at three (36 months) and five years (60 months).

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