Toyota vehicles take top marks in ‘Best Retained Value’ awards

Watch the video above: Toyota vehicles take top marks in ‘best retained value’ awards. Sean O’Shea reports. 

TORONTO –Toyota leads the pack among its peers in a Canadian ranking of vehicles that have retained the best value over the past four years.

Six of Toyota’s models earned top honours overall while Chrysler, Honda and Subaru also racked up repeat first place finishes in different categories, all for at least three years running, according to results released Wednesday by CanadianBlackBook.com.

“If we include Lexus they (Toyota) have seven,” said Josh Bailey, VP, Research & Editorial for Canadian Black Book.

“So it’s a pretty consistent story for Toyota, particularly their trucks, the Tacoma, their small pick-up and their full size truck the Tundra have won five years in a row.”

This year’s awards measured how well 2010 model year vehicles have held their value through December 2013.

“In the end, it is consumer perceptions and how much they’re prepared to pay for cars and trucks that ultimately determines how much a vehicle is worth,” Bailey said.

The awards are handed out each year after analysts scour hundreds of thousands of sales transactions and other data points from live auctions, online auctions, dealerships and other proprietary sources.

“Well these Canadian Black Book Retain Value Awards are important because they cover depreciation and a lot of people don’t pay enough attention to how their cars depreciating so these awards highlight vehicles that depreciate the least,” said Bailey.

One surprise winner this year is the Hummer H2 in the “Full-size Luxury SUV” category, which delivered the highest retained value percentage of all vehicles for 2014 at 71 per cent of its original Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) after four years of ownership.

“General Motors stopped producing them back in 2010. These awards are based on the 2010 models, so this is the last year that Hummer can appear on the list, and it was a surprise to us as well,” Bailey said.

The first, second and third place award winners are listed in 19 car and truck categories and can be found below:

Sub-compact Car

1. Honda Fit

2. Kia Soul

3. Volkswagen Beetle

Compact Car

1. Toyota Prius

2. Volkswagen Golf

3. Subaru Impreza

Mid-size Car

1. Subaru Outback

2. Volkswagen Passat CC

3. Volkswagen Passat

Full-size Car

1. Toyota Avalon

2. Nissan Maxima

3. Buick LaCrosse

Entry Luxury Car

1. BMW 1 Series

2. Audi A4

3. Lexus IS Series

Luxury Car

1. Lexus GS Series

2. BMW 5 Series

3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Premium Luxury Car

1. Porsche Panamera

2. BMW 6 Series

3. Lexus LS Series

Premium Sports Car

1. Porsche Boxster

2. Nissan GT-R

3. Audi R8

Sports Car

1. Dodge Challenger

2. Volkswagen GTI

3. BMW Z4

Small Pickup

1. Toyota Tacoma

2. Ford Explorer Sport Trac

3. Honda Ridgeline

Full-size Pickup

1. Toyota Tundra

2. Chevrolet Avalanche

3. Ram Heavy Duty

Minivan

1. Honda Odyssey

2. Toyota Sienna

3. Ford Flex

Full-size Van

1. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

2. GMC Savana

3. Chevrolet Express

Compact SUV

1. Jeep Wrangler

2. Honda CR-V

3. Subaru Forester

Mid-size SUV

1. Toyota FJ Cruiser

2. Hummer H3

3. Toyota 4Runner

Full-size SUV

1. Toyota  Sequoia

2. Nissan Armada

3. Kia Borrego

Compact Luxury SUV

1. Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class

2. Acura RDX

3. Infiniti EX Series

Mid-size Luxury SUV

1. Land Rover LR4

2. Infiniti FX Series

3. Porsche Cayenne

Full-size Luxury SUV

1. Hummer H2

2. Mercedes-Benz G-Glass

3. Lexus LX570