Trade guide Glass’s reveal 2010 residual value top 10

Trade price guide Glass’s has produced its annual list of 2010’s top 10 three-year old cars with the highest residual values. The key fact to emerge is that seven of the top 10 places were occupied by 4x4s or SUVs.

Glass’s has excluded exotic cars and small volume manufacturers from the list, which expresses the residual values as a percentage of original list price for vehicles on a ’57’ plate with average mileage of 37,000 miles. The list shows the best performing derivative for each model, with average annual depreciation based against the new list price.

1. Volkswagen Tiguan (168bhp) SE 4Motion 5d – 68.0% – £2,394 average annual depreciation

2. MINI 1.6 Cooper 3d – 65.9% – £1,462 average annual depreciation

3. Honda CR-V 2.2 CTDi (138bhp) SE 5d – 64.3% – £2,356 average annual depreciation

4. Land Rover Freelander 2 GS Td4 Auto – 63.8% – £2,965 average annual depreciation

5. Audi Q7 3.0TDI (237bhp) Quattro S Line Tip – 63.8% – £4,962 average annual depreciation

6. Land Rover Discovery 3 2.7TD (190bhp) – 63.7% – £3,720 average annual depreciation

7. Audi TT Coupe 2.0T FSI (197bhp) – 63.6% – £3,123 average annual depreciation

8. Nissan Qashqai 1.6 (113bhp) 2WD Visia – 63.3% – £1,628 average annual depreciation

9. Land Rover Range Rover 2.7TD Sport (187bhp) S Auto – 62.5% – £4,425 average annual depreciation

10. Audi A5 2.7TDI (187bhp) Sport Coupe Multitronic – 62.2% – £4,123 average annual depreciation

In recent years, 4x4s/SUVs have been perceived as polluting, uneconomical and not entirely practical – with some backlash against ‘school-run SUVs’, for example. In addition, the hike in Vehicle Excise Duty, the ‘showroom tax’ for new vehicles, as well as rising fuel prices all seem to have conspired against 4x4s and SUVs. However, prospective buyers who may have postponed purchases during the recession are now buying and the British love affair with the 4×4 has resumed. Furthermore, at the start of 2010, the country faced extreme winter weather conditions, which have been repeated in the past week throughout much of the UK.

Adrian Rushmore, Glass’s Managing Editor, commented: “The VW Tiguan is blessed with all the right ingredients to give it great residual values. Apart from having the cachet of the VW badge, it has never been marketed hard as a new car and there have been prolonged periods of very limited availability.”

“The MINI still does incredibly well. Having topped the table in 2008 and then slipped to 5th place last year, the first of the new generation models are now three years old, boosting its ranking.”

“It’s also worth noting that seven of the top 10 places are occupied by 4x4s or SUVs. Despite external factors such as fuel price rises that may have worked against these vehicles, they have performed remarkably in the used market. Superminis are notably absent from the top 10 list this year due to the Scrappage Scheme coming to an end. As demand for these exceeded supply, many buyers simply opted for a used model instead, which temporarily inflated residual values.”

“The average trade value for a car in our top 10 is £16,500. This would put the retail selling price close to £18,500. Clearly, these customers have a healthy amount of disposable income at a time of relative economic uncertainty and when purse strings are being drawn more tightly. So whilst the nation is in the grip of austerity measures and cost-cutting, it seems that used car buyers are opting to pay the highest prices – relative to original list price – for cars that reflect their chosen lifestyle and image, rather than those that that reflect a desire for lower running costs or outright practicality.”

In previous years, Glass’s has revealed that the best performing models in terms of residual values tend to be near the beginning of their product life cycle. Whilst that is certainly still the case overall, the latest information seems to suggest that 4x4s are currently not as susceptible to the life cycle ageing process, as their prices are holding up, despite the fact that that three-year old examples from the same generation have been available for a number of years.