Today’s new cars are tomorrow’s used cars.
How much of the initial value a car buyer will get when selling or trading his used car in three, four, five or more years down the road can be an important factor in deciding what to buy now.
That’s a fact recognized in Kelley Blue Book’s annual Best Resale Value Awards, which identifies the two best 2014 brands, top 10 vehicles, and top three vehicles in each vehicle segment. Of these vehicles KBB says in an introduction to its awards announcements, “we have the most profound belief that each of them will stand the test of time, providing good value year after year after year.”
“The awards recognize automakers’ outstanding achievements in producing vehicles that best retain their value over the first five years (60 months) of new-vehicle ownership,” according to KBB.
Automotive industry consulting firm, ALG, also announced its 2014 Residual Value Awards winners. ALG’s awards honor its two best brands and vehicles in 24 segments that are forecast to retain the highest percentage of their Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) after a three-year period.
Kelley Blue Book’s top winners are Toyota (Best Brand) and its premium brand, Lexus (Best Luxury Brand), and ALG selected Honda (Best Mainstream Brand) and Mercedes-Benz (Best Premium Brand). Toyota also came away with the most ALG segment Residual Value Awards – eight – and finished second to Honda for Best Mainstream Brand.
Toyota also dominated KBB’s top 10 list, taking four of the top 6 positions, with the FJ Cruiser (1), a repeat winner, Tacoma (2), 4Runner (4) and Tundra (6). Other KBB top 10 vehicles, which includes three “muscle” cars, were the Jeep Wrangler (3), Chevrolet Corvette (5) and Camaro (7), Honda CR-V (8), Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (9) and Dodge Challenger (10). Vehicles making the KBB top 10 are projected to retain at least half of their original value after five years of typical ownership.
Six of the KBB top 10 selections – FJ Cruiser, Tacoma, Tundra, Corvette, Camaro and CR-V – also won their categories in the Residual Value Awards, according to ALG.com.
KBB described the FJ Cruiser as “an off-road master and a resale value rarity, claiming the top spot on the list — by a wide margin.” KBB expects the vehicle’s resale value to be 81 percent of its new-vehicle price after 36 months and 70 percent of the new-vehicle price after 60 months.
KBB celebrated its winners, saying in a press release that they are “built on a solid bedrock of achievement, fame that will stand the most rigorous and unforgiving test of all, the test of time.”
See complete results of the KBB Best Resale Value Awards and ALG Residual Value Awards.
If you need fast-and-easy vehicle financing for a used or new car, crossover, pickup or SUV, RoadLoans empowers you to shop with confidence.
Written by:
James Mayfield is the Director of Content at Santander Consumer USA and has been creating content on financial topics for more than 10 years. In addition to writing for the Santander, RoadLoans and Chrysler Capital blog sites, his work has…
More articles by James Mayfield
