Car Depreciation Statistics for 2026: What Cars Really Lose Per Year

Depreciation is the biggest cost of owning a car, bigger than fuel, bigger than insurance, and it never sends you a bill. On a typical new vehicle at today's $49,758 average transaction price, the first five years of value loss run about $20,800, which works out to roughly $11 a day, every day, including the days the car never leaves the driveway.

Here are the current numbers, from the largest depreciation datasets published. Bookmark this page: we refresh it as new studies land. Citing a figure somewhere? Link back here so your readers can check the latest.

The numbers at a glance

• Average 5-year depreciation: 41.8 percent (iSeeCars, 2026 study of over 950,000 vehicles)
• Typical first-year loss on a new car: about 20 percent (Kelley Blue Book)
• Trucks, the best segment: 34.2 percent lost over 5 years (iSeeCars)
• Hybrids: 35.4 percent lost over 5 years (iSeeCars)
• Electric vehicles, the worst segment: 57.2 percent lost over 5 years (iSeeCars)
• Worst single model: Nissan LEAF, down 63.1 percent in 5 years (iSeeCars)
• Best value holders: Porsche 718 Cayman and 911, Chevrolet Corvette, Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, Honda Civic (iSeeCars)

The curve: the first year is the cliff

A new car sheds value fastest at the start. The moment it becomes a used car, roughly 10 percent of the price is gone within the first month, and by the first anniversary the typical loss is about 20 percent, per Kelley Blue Book. On the average new car that is nearly $10,000 in year one.

After that the slope flattens. iSeeCars' 2026 analysis of more than 950,000 five-year-old vehicles sold between March 2025 and February 2026 puts the average total loss at 41.8 percent over five years. That is actually better news than it used to be: the 2025 reading was 45.6 percent, and the old rule of thumb said half the car's value evaporates in five years. Tight used-car supply keeps propping up resale values, a hangover from the pandemic production crunch.

The practical read: the buyer who avoids the year-one cliff by buying a lightly used car skips the steepest part of the curve entirely. Our guide to leftover 2025 model deals runs that exact math on brand-new last-year cars, which sit right on the cliff edge.

Depreciation by segment

Trucks and hybrids hold value best, and it is not close. A truck loses about a third of its value in five years while the average EV loses more than half.

The cars that hold value best in 2026

Per iSeeCars, the strongest five-year value holders are the Porsche 718 Cayman and 911, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Toyota Tacoma, the Toyota Tundra, and the Honda Civic. Toyota places 10 of the top 25 models, more than any other brand.

The pattern is boring and reliable: sports cars with cult followings, body-on-frame trucks, and high-reliability commuters. Scarcity, durability, and reputation are the three things the used market pays for.

EVs: the depreciation disaster zone

Electric vehicles are the fastest-depreciating segment at 57.2 percent over five years, and the worst individual models are all electric:

Three forces drive this. New EV price cuts reset the value of every used example overnight. Battery and software tech ages the way phones do, not the way engines do. And years of purchase incentives pushed effective new prices down, dragging used values with them.

There are two sides to that coin. If you bought a $50,380 Model Y Long Range new, a 57.8 percent five-year loss is about $29,100 of your money. If you are shopping used, someone else already paid that bill, which is exactly why we wrote about whether a used EV is the smart buy in 2026.

What depreciation does to your loan

Depreciation is the machine behind the ugliest number in car finance right now: 30.9 percent of trade-ins carried negative equity in early 2026, averaging $7,183 underwater, because cars lose value faster than long loans pay down principal. The full picture of payments, rates, and debt is in our car payment and auto loan statistics roundup.

It is also the entire economics of leasing: a lease is a bet on the residual value the bank sets, which is just depreciation with a contract around it. Strong-residual cars lease cheap, fast-depreciating cars lease terribly, and the Lease vs Buy Verdict does that math for your exact car.

And if you already own the car, depreciation is the number that decides whether to cash out or ride it to 200,000 miles. The Sell or Keep Verdict estimates your car's current value from its age and mileage and tells you which side of the curve you are on.

FAQ

How much does a car depreciate per year? About 20 percent in the first year, then a flattening slope that totals 41.8 percent over five years on average, per the 2026 iSeeCars study. Roughly speaking: the cliff is year one, the grind is years two through five.

Which cars hold their value best in 2026? The Porsche 718 Cayman and 911, Chevrolet Corvette, Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, and Honda Civic lead the iSeeCars 2026 ranking. Toyota holds 10 of the top 25 spots.

Do electric cars depreciate faster than gas cars? Yes, much faster. EVs average 57.2 percent depreciation over five years versus 41.8 percent for all vehicles, and the four worst-depreciating models on the market are all electric, per iSeeCars.

Is depreciation really the biggest cost of owning a car? On a new car, yes. AAA's ownership-cost research consistently ranks depreciation as the single largest expense line, ahead of fuel, insurance, and maintenance. On the average new car it runs about $11 a day over the first five years.

Statistics current as of 2026-07-20. Sources: iSeeCars 2026 depreciation study (950,000+ vehicles, March 2025 to February 2026), Kelley Blue Book depreciation guidance, Kelley Blue Book and Cox Automotive June 2026 average transaction price report, Edmunds Q1 2026 negative equity report, AAA Your Driving Costs.