It’s common knowledge that most vehicles, with a few notable exceptions, are subject to rather heavy depreciation, especially in the first few years of ownership. According to the industry, four-wheelers will depreciate 15% percent in the first year of ownership  — that’s why people say “a car loses value when it drives off the lot” — and approximately 10% for every year thereafter. This depreciation often tends to stabilize around year five, which is why the five-year mark is kind of the sweet spot for used car purchases. 

It’s not at all uncommon to see vehicles holding half – or sometimes even more – of their original sticker price five years down the line, but some hold value better than others. Now, naturally, when buying a car, you’d obviously want one that gets you the most money back when you sell it down the line. 

We’ve collated data from various reputable sources, and done our own calculations to find out which of America’s best-selling vehicles hold value the best after a five-year period. From purely a numbers point of view, a limited-run car like the Lexus LFA or Porsche 911 will hold value the best since there’s a fixed supply. However, that wouldn’t be useful for the everyday consumer, so, in our research we’ve only looked at mass-market models from the likes of Toyota, Honda, and Ford. Unsurprisingly, four of the five vehicles on our list are from Toyota.

First up, we have the Toyota Tundra, which is the large pickup made by the Japanese company, sitting above the Toyota Tacoma and Hilux light pickup trucks. For 2021 (five years ago), the Tundra came in with a base MSRP of $33,675, along with a destination charge of $1,595; these figures were for the base SR trim, but prices could climb quite a bit higher depending on trims and options. The base engine for the 2021 Tundra was a 5.7-liter unit that spread its displacement across eight cylinders and was paired to a six-speed automatic gearbox. This base powerplant ended up making 381 horsepower, along with 401 lb-ft of torque. 

The towing capacity on the 2021 Tundra was rated at 8,800 pounds on the base trims, along with a total gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 7,200 pounds,  which, to be fair, was a lot of truck per dollar. For reference, a new Ford F-150 would run buyers about $30,985 as MSRP in 2021, which included a destination freight charge of $1,695. Today, a 2021 Ford F-150 can be had for between $15,000 and $18,000, which is a resale value of about 52%; Toyota Tundras from the same year sell for around $25,000, marking a resale value of about 70%. That means, on average, a Toyota Tundra has only lost 6% of its value for each year of purchase, which is stellar in an industry where 10% is the norm.

Next up, we have the Toyota RAV4, which is the best-selling car in the world. For those who don’t know, “RAV4” is actually an acronym for “Recreational Active Vehicle with four-wheel drive,” and the nameplate has been around for three decades now, having initially launched in 1993. The 2021 Toyota RAV4 shipped with a 2.5-liter inline-four engine, capable of producing 203 horsepower alongside 184 lb-ft of torque, sending power to the wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission unit. There was also a hybrid model available, which added two electric motors and bumped the power output to 219 horsepower. 

The non-hybrid was quite a practical car, with seating for five across two rows, and 37.6 cubic feet of cargo space with the second row of seats up. Standard issue features on the 2021 RAV4 included cruise control, lane departure warnings, climate control, and a 7-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. In 2021, a new Toyota RAV4 base model would have come with an MSRP of $27,225, which included the freight fee of $1,175. Today, 2021 RAV4s under 150,000 miles can be had for about $19,000, marking a resale value of approximately 70%, which is pretty impressive for a mass-market crossover in America. If shopping around for one of these, try to get the XLE trim or higher, as that came with niceties like dual-zone climate control, blind-spot monitoring, four more USB charging ports and larger alloy wheels, among other things.

The only non-Toyota model on our list of cars with good resale value is this one – the 2021 Honda Civic, which, in that year, was available in two main body styles. These were the four-door sedan and the four-door hatchback version; gone was the legendary two-door coupe Civic, which was discontinued at the end of 2020 in most markets. The 2021 model year Civic came with many creature comforts as standard, including adaptive cruise control, automatic headlights, and lane-keep assist. There was also a five-inch infotainment display on the base LX trim; the Sport trim and higher got a seven-inch touchscreen that had both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, both wireless. 

In 2021, a new Honda Civic sedan would have run you $21,050 as base MSRP ($995 destination), while the hatchback version clocked $22,200 as base MSRP, with a $1,015 destination fee. Today, the Civic sedan can be had for between $14,500 and $16,000, marking a resale value of 70+ percent, while the 2021 hatchback versions sell in the range of $16,000 to $17,000, matching that percentage almost perfectly. 

For comparison, the MSRP for a new 2026 Honda Civic sedan has increased slightly, with the base LX 2.0 trim coming in with a sticker price of $24,595 before options and a $1,150 destination fee. Readers are requested to note that the sporty, performance-oriented Honda Civic Type R is not included in this section, as it is significantly more expensive than the sedan or hatchback (so depreciates more), and that’s both when new, or on the used market.

In 2021, the Corolla could be had in either a sedan or hatchback configuration, with a couple of special editions thrown in here and there; there’s not much to be said of this reliable, get-it-done car. The ’23 GR Corolla, for its part, was almost an entirely new car, with a completely different engine, body style, interior, and transmission, among other things. Where the regular 2021 Corolla was front-wheel drive and shipped with a CVT – or continuously variable transmission, the GR Corolla came with a six-speed manual and was a four-wheel drive rally-inspired monster. 

The engine in the standard Corolla was a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder unit that made 139 horsepower. At the same time, the GR Corolla got a specially tuned 1.6-liter inline-three unit that made 300 horsepower, the GR version was clearly a car that was intended for the track. When new, a 2021 Corolla sedan could be had for around $19,825 ($995 destination), while the hatchback came with a base MSRP of $21,740, and a freight charge of $995. Today, the sub-100,000 mile 2021 sedans sell for around $15,000, while the hatchback is in similar territory, selling between $15,000 and $16,500 – marking a resale value of about 75 percent. The GR Corolla also does well, selling for around $28,000; when new in 2023, it came with a base MSRP of $36,995 and a freight fee of $1,095, so it, too, holds its value well.

In 2021, there were actually two generations of Land Cruiser available to buy – the LC200, which had run from 2008 until 2021, and the LC300, which was unveiled in early August that year. Sadly, Toyota opted not to sell the new LC300 in the U.S. at all, only starting sales of the LC250 in 2024 – known elsewhere in the world as the Toyota Prado, which is usually seen as the smaller, less capable sibling to the full-fat Land Cruiser. Anyway, in 2021, a new LC200 would have set you back the cool sum of $87,030 as base MSRP, along with a rather hefty destination fee to the tune of $1,325, and that was before any option boxes were ticked. 

At the time of writing this article in early 2026, the cheapest non-accident 2021 Land Cruiser we could find was $71,500, while average prices tended to be around the $85,000 price point. That points to a resale value rate of over 80 percent, but it’s easy to see why. Furthermore, this LC200 generation was the last full-size Land Cruiser available stateside. With the introduction of the 2021 LC300 series, the 2021 LC200 would have been a swan song to the Land Cruiser in America. Also, while every other car on this list can be bought new in 2026, the Land Cruiser is now strictly a secondary-market-only find. All of that, combined with the legendary reliability, is probably what’s keeping the prices so high.

First, we shortlisted several car models based on data from reputable sources, such as iSeeCars, J.D. Power, and Consumer Reports, typically opting for resale values of 65 percent or higher. Manufacturer specifications were sourced directly from the company; where this was not possible, reliable secondary sources such as Car and Driver and MotorTrend were used in their place.

Once our models were selected, we trawled online marketplace listings across the country on aggregator platforms like Cars.com, AutoTrader, and Edmunds to see what prices these 2021 models were currently selling for. We set the filters to only include cars with under 150,000 miles for SUVs and Trucks, and 120,000 miles for sedans; we also excluded cars that had been in major accidents. Finally, we included only cars that went on sale in 2021, except for the GR Corolla, which would only be available here in the U.S. from 2023 onwards. Instead of looking at a per-year depreciation rate, which can vary widely depending on several factors, we only considered total depreciation over the past five years.