Currently reading: Car Depreciation: Top 13 brands that hold their value the best

Minis rank tip, while Toyota comes last of top 13 brands in Britain, with its used models losing an average of 74.59% value after 34,700 miles

When buying a new car it's often wise to consider the model's depreciation. The faster the depreciation, the less money you will likely get if you come to sell it in the future.

Figuring out exactly how a model will compare to another can often seem daunting, but helpfully, used car dealership Carspring has done the research for us, compiling a list of the 13 car brands with models that depreciate least in Britain.

They're shown below with the average percentage of money lost from their model's list values after 34,700 miles.

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The chart shows that as of the start of 2017, Minis suffer from depreciation the least out of the UK’s top 13 car brands. Losing an average of 46.88% from their values after 34,700 miles, they beat Audi models, which lost 47.33% after the same mileage, to the top spot.

Volkswagen, Lexus, Ford and Vauxhall achieved the next best results, with between 47.51% and 54.12% lost respectively. The worst performing brand was Toyota, which has an average of 74.59% value lost from its vehicles after the aforementioned mileage.

The research sourced data from hundreds of online used car marketplaces as well as traditional dealers in five of the UK’s biggest cities. It found that cars in the UK ranked second last of the world’s leading economies when it came to depreciation - beating only New Zealand - with an average of 51.9% lost from cars sold here after 34,700 miles.

The study also found that China is the most expensive place to buy a used car, with average prices decreasing by just 29.42% after that mileage. Turkey, Portugal and Finland finished behind it with 29.5% to 34.31% lost from their average used motors respectively.

Carspring co-founder Maximilian Vollenbroich argued that the UK's ranking made it a good location for those looking to grab a bargain used buy.

“At second last overall, the UK currently has a comparatively favourable position in the study," he said. "However, with a hard Brexit on the horizon, the future of the UK automobile market remains unclear.”

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Many experts predict that the price of new cars will increase when Britain leaves the European Union (EU), leading to an increase in used values as fewer people opt for a new car and increase demand in the second-hand market.

Car values: Top 13 car brands that hold their value best

Mini - 46.08%

Audi 47.33%

Volkswagen - 47.51%

Lexus 51.59%

Ford - 53.49%

Vauxhall - 54.12%

Fiat - 54.17%

BMW - 55.82%

Kia - 59.27%

Nissan - 63.23%

Honda - 65.94%

Peugeot - 70.19%

Toyota - 74.59%

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Comments
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john386 6 January 2018

Toyota-Honda

In the Middle East (UAE) Toyota is the most favoured brand (not by me though), so very surprising to see the UK thinks otherwise. Personally not surprised, I would never part with my own money for one after owning (company provided) some. You can sell a Corona after a few years for not much less than you bought it for!

US cars on the other hand are reletively worthless after leaving the showroom. (I had 4) I think all because of parts availability as the agents keep a tight rein, whereas Toyota and other Japanese makes have parts available in every jingly shop there is. (thousands)

Will86 5 January 2018

Flawed

A 2 year old car with 34,700 miles will be worth a lot more than a 6 year old car with the same mileage. This survey doesn't look like its comparing like with like. As others above, having searched for used Toyotas myself, they are always surprisingly expensive. 

Flametrench 10 April 2017

this is odd

No mention of Skoda, Seat or Mercedes here, to name but three. If their absence from this supposed 'top 13 brands' list means they depreciate even more quickly than Toyota's loss of three-quarters of their value over three or three and a bit years, which in itself seems like utter rubbish, it's hard not to be skeptical about this whole thing.