Edmunds.com has a measure of depreciation in their True Cost to Own data. I figured their depreciation values must be based on some real data and should be pretty good figures. So why not use their numbers to take a look at typical car depreciation?
I looked up the TCO information for several representative midsize sedans from nine different car brands to find the depreciation rates. For the record I looked at a Toyota Camry, Buick Regal, Chevy Impala, Dodge Charger, Ford Fusion, Mazda Mazda6, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Altima. Here is what I found :
Retained value over 5 year periods:
| year 1 | year 2 | year 3 | year 4 | year 5 | |
| Toyota | 82% | 71% | 62% | 55% | 47% |
| Buick | 79% | 69% | 59% | 51% | 44% |
| Chevy | 80% | 70% | 60% | 52% | 44% |
| Dodge | 75% | 67% | 60% | 54% | 48% |
| Ford | 89% | 77% | 67% | 58% | 50% |
| Mazda | 68% | 59% | 52% | 45% | 40% |
| Honda | 82% | 71% | 62% | 54% | 47% |
| Hyundai | 77% | 67% | 58% | 51% | 44% |
| Nissan | 84% | 74% | 65% | 57% | 50% |
| average | 79% | 69% | 61% | 53% | 46% |
| median | 80% | 70% | 60% | 54% | 47% |
The depreciation in the first year in these new models is lower than what people seem to perceive. The commonly held belief is that a new car "loses half its value' when you drive it off the lot. But the reality seems to be closer to losing 20% in that first year. And it takes about 5 years for new cars to lose half their value.
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