Cars With the Worst Residual Value

Are you planning to sell your car when you’re done with it? If so, want to choose one of the cars with the best residual value.

This term is often tossed around for leased vehicles, but it is also sometimes known as resale value, which we hear more often. Either term tells you how much of the original price of the vehicle is still what you can expect to get out of it. This number helps dealers understand what they might sell the vehicle for and how much to offer in a trade.

Keep These Cars, Don’t Trade Them

Some of the cars you’ll see on this list are excellent cars to drive; they simply don’t hold their value after five years of ownership. If you buy one of them, take care of it and keep it for a long time rather than attempting to trade or sell it before your car loan has been paid off. After that time, you can get some money out of them.

Hyundai Accent

The subcompact Accent isn’t going to cost a lot when you buy it, but it also won’t hold onto most of the value after five years. You’ll be down to only 47.6 percent of the price you paid by this time. While the Accent is one of the cars in the market with the lowest residual value, it’s far from the worst.

Kia Rio

You can have a wonderful time driving the efficient and affordable Kia Rio. This car resembles its midsize sedan sibling, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to hold onto any value for you. Once you’ve driven the Rio for five years, it only has about 47.1 percent of the original value you paid for it.

Honda Accord Hybrid

You’re used to cars from the Honda brand offering you excellent residual value, but that’s not the case with the hybrid version of the Accord. This car might be an efficient, affordable, and impressive sedan, but it will only have 46.1 percent of its original value after five years of driving.

Chevrolet Malibu

If you purchase a new Chevrolet Malibu, you’ll want to hold onto it and keep driving for as long as you can. This car will only be worth 44.5 percent of its original value after five years. The Malibu is an impressive midsize sedan that can be comfortable and affordable to drive but not to sell.

Kia Optima

While no longer built, if you happen to have a Kia Optima, you’ll want to hang onto it and drive it for as long as you can. This is one of the most attractive cars you can find, but the residual value comes in at 43.8percent of the original value. Enjoy the ride and keep your Optima on the road.

Chrysler 300

It’s probably not a surprise that the Chrysler 300 is one of the cars with the worst residual value numbers in the auto industry. This car will only be worth about 43.3 percent of its original value when five years have passed. Don’t sell it; keep on driving, and enjoy the comfort and style of the Chrysler 300.

Mitsubishi Mirage

You might love the adorable look of this small Mitsubishi Mirage, but you might not love the small residual value left in this car when you drive it for five years. This car only retains 43.2 percent of its original value when you let it be the car that you love to drive every day.

Toyota Avalon Hybrid

Here’s a full-size hybrid sedan that brings you the comfort and quality you want during your drive. If you choose the Toyota Avalon Hybrid you’ll have 43.2 percent of the value remaining after five years. This is a Toyota, which you would expect a higher number from, but the comfort and efficiency will keep you happy for many years.

Ford Fusion Hybrid

The hybrid version of the Ford Fusion is a car that can offer you excellent driving distances on a single tank of gas, but it doesn’t have excellent value after five years. Once you reach this mark, the car will only have 42.3 percent of its original value. Just keep on driving and forget about that value thing.

Chevrolet Sonic

Whether you have the sedan or the hatchback, you’re going to have extraordinarily little of the original value when the five-year timeframe has passed. Even though this is one of the cars with the worst residual value doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the 41.8 percent value that’s left in this car.

Nissan Altima

The sportiness of the Nissan Altima makes your drive more fun every day, and that’s a good thing. This car will only have 40.5 percent of its original value when you reach that magical five-year mark. Don’t worry, you can continue to enjoy the drive for many years in this midsize sedan.

Fiat 500L

One of the worst-selling vehicles in the market also has one of the lowest residual value levels to give you truly little to look forward to. Even though five years of driving will bring you down to 40.5 percent of the value left for this car, you can have the versatility you want in the Fiat 500L.

Nissan Leaf

The most popular electric car in the world is one that doesn’t retain much value for you to enjoy during your drive. That’s ok, you didn’t buy the Nissan Leaf for the 37.8 percent value that is maintained after five years on the road. Get in and experience this EV every day.

Kia Cadenza

The Kia Cadenza is no longer produced, but that doesn’t keep you from enjoying the smooth, premium drive offered in this car. You better enjoy the feeling this car offers because, after five years, you’ll only find 36.8 percent of the value left. This is easily one of the cars with the worst residual value in the market.

Ford Fusion Energi

The worst car in the entire auto market for residual value is the Ford Fusion Energi. This car can drive for a few miles on electric power and is a hybrid car that saves a lot of fuel for you. Keep on driving and just ignore the 32.8 percent value that remains after five years of driving.