Car depreciation
Depreciation is the largest cost of owning most cars. Forecast it, understand it, and choose models that lose less.
Calculators
Guides
Car Depreciation Explained: How the Value Disappears
What car depreciation is, why the first year hurts most, and how to read the depreciation curve so you buy and sell at the right time.
Read guide →Electric Car Depreciation: What EV Owners Should Know
Why electric cars have depreciated faster than petrol, what is changing, and how to protect an EV's value through battery health and smart timing.
Read guide →How to Reduce Car Depreciation and Keep Value
Practical ways to slow how fast your car loses value: choosing wisely, keeping mileage sensible, full history, smart spec and timing your sale right.
Read guide →New Car Depreciation: Why Year One Hurts Most
Why a new car loses so much value the moment you drive it away, which models fall fastest, and how the nearly-new route softens the first-year hit.
Read guide →Which Cars Hold Their Value Best? What to Look For
The traits that make a car hold its value and the types that depreciate slowly, so your next purchase loses less money over the years you own it.
Read guide →The shape of depreciation
Every car follows the same broad pattern: a sharp drop in the first year, then a gentler annual slide. The curve below is plotted from the exact model behind our calculator — a typical mid-size example, shown as a percentage of its price when new.
The car you choose matters more than almost anything else you do: some hold two-thirds of their value after three years, others barely half. Use the depreciation calculator to project any car forward, and read the guides for the slow- and fast-depreciating shortlists.