Top 10 Cars With the Highest 5-Year Depreciation

Sam McEachern
by Sam McEachern

Car sales website iSeeCars.com recently analyzed more than 4.3 million new and used car and attempted to identify the vehicle models with the highest amount of depreciation five years after being sold.

According to iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly, the average new vehicle loses 50.2 percent of its value after five years. Some vehicles manage to hold their value extremely well on the used market, like Jeep for example, while other vehicle types seem to tank without fail – such as luxury cars, hybrids and EVs.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Fastest Selling Used Vehicles

In this post, we’re going to count down the 10 vehicles that iSeeCars has identified as having the worst resale value after a five year period. The results are hardly surprising, although we do find it interesting that EVs and plug-ins still lose a ton of value on the used market – even if it’s a solid offering like the Chevrolet Volt.


10. Chevrolet Impala

2010 Chevrolet Impala LTZ. X10CH_IM001 (United States)

The Chevrolet Impala lost 66.2% of its value over a five-year period, 16% above average.

9. Jaguar XJL

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The hulking and luxurious Jaguar XJL lost 66.4% of its value over a five-year period, 16.2% above the industry average.


8. Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse, E 200 Natural Gas Drive Mercedes-Benz E-Class, E 200 Natural Gas Drive

The Mercedes-Ben E-Class, despite being one of the more popular luxury sedans on sale today, lost 67.2% of its value over a five-year period, 17% above the industry average.


7. BMW 5 Series

Another popular luxury sedan, the BMW 5 Series, also fares poorly on the used market, losing 67.3% of its value over five years. That’s 17.2% above the industry average.


6. BMW 6 Series

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The BMW 6 Series, essentially a coupe 5 Series, loses 68.3% of its value over five years, 18.1% above the industry average.


5. Ford Fusion Energi

The first hybrid on this list is the Ford Fusion Energi, which loses 69.4% of its value over five years – 19.2% above average.


4. Mercedes-Benz S-Class

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The Mercedes-Benz S-Class loses 69.9% of its value over a five-year period, 19.7% above the industry average. Nice.


3. BMW 7 Series

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The BMW 7 Series loses 71.1% of its value over five years, 20.9% above average.


2. Chevrolet Volt

It seems the only vehicle type that tanks in value quicker than a luxury car is a plug-in. The Chevrolet Volt loses 71.2%of its value over five years, 21% above average.


1. Nissan Leaf

Topping the list is the Nissan Leaf, which loses 71.7% of its value after five years, 21.5% above average.

For further reading on the topic of plug-ins and EVs on the used market, we point you in the direction of a great article from our sister site, The Truth About Cars. It explains how plug-ins and EVs can be ranked the fastest-selling used vehicles from iSeeCars, while also having some of the worst resale values.

Sam McEachern
Sam McEachern

Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.

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  • Kaffekup Kaffekup on Oct 13, 2018

    I wonder if some of this, particularly the luxury models, is driven by the people who can afford them wanting the newest and best. Could two year leases contribute to this, when they seem to be so cheap off-lease? And maybe they're just making too many cars to keep the value up.

  • NormT NormT on Oct 16, 2018

    The Impala is 30% off MSRP so would that make the depreciation 36% for 5-years? If so most car companies would happy with that in 3--years, let alone 5-years.

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