Top 10 new cars for resale value according to RedBook

Some RedBook research and careful purchasing can ensure your next new set of wheels won’t be a money pit. It could even turn out to be a tidy investment – and will almost certainly treat you gently when it comes to trade-in time in a few years, at least if you listen to the experts.

We’ve turned to carsales’ data and valuations arm RedBook.com.au to crunch the numbers on the cars predicted to best hold their value.

RedBook general manager Ross Booth has scoured the thousands of new models covered across the pricing, specs and valuations website to land on the best of the best. He’s plucked out the top 10 new cars forecast to retain most of their value after three years and 45,000km of ownership.

Booth admits that changing that timeframe could change the vehicles in the list; models with a shorter warranty or poor reputation for reliability may lose some of that used-car desirability after six or seven years, for example.

But determining the value of a used car comes down to simple economics.

Booth explains that how much a car is worth years from now comes down to supply and demand. In short, if there are more people wanting to buy a model than sell it, then it’s likely to command a higher price.

The challenge is establishing what that resale value is likely to be, which is where the expertise of RedBook comes in.

Typically, the used vehicle desirability that creates the demand side of that equation comes down to the substance of the car. It either needs to be terrific value, loaded with technology, perform a particular task very well, have a reputation for reliability, or just look really cool.

Often it’s a combination of more than one of those factors.

The RedBook top 10 list of resale kings is quite different to the overall best-sellers on the new-car market.

“They’re either 4x4s, EVs, sports cars or affordable luxury cars,” says Booth of the resale leaders.

1. Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series

We’ve covered the new Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series in detail and it’s clear there’s plenty of love for the car. The LandCruiser performs family duties brilliantly but is in its comfort zone when cruising country roads or outback red dirt.

RedBook thinks that love will continue for years to come, helped by a revival of the desire to explore the country. Of course, one thing helping the latest LandCruiser’s predicted healthy resale is the big waiting list for a model that only went on sale late in 2021.

As Booth points out, buying near the beginning of a model’s life cycle can help with resale. He adds that “the perception of Toyota reliability is one of the key driving factors that keeps residual values strong”.

2. RAM 1500

Utes are big business in Australia, but the RAM 1500 is not a mere ute: it’s a truck. Yep, big American pick-up trucks are increasingly being snapped up by eager Aussies who want a bigger boat or caravan.

That’s because the RAM can tow 4500kg – a full tonne more than the regular utes we’ve come to love in big numbers. Throw in a burly V8 engine and some bold styling and it’s a combination more are learning to love.

And while it’s not cheap to get into a RAM, RedBook forecasts you’ll get a good chunk of it back after a few years. Booth puts it down to the early arrival of the brand in Australia and the capability of the vehicle: “It’s a purposeful vehicle … it’s a very, very good tow vehicle.”

3. Tesla Model 3

It’s been a goliath for the growth of EVs over the past couple of years and is one of the country’s top-selling sedans, even outselling the Toyota Camry at times. RedBook’s Booth says its tech focus has created huge desirability, something that flows through to the used-car market.

Pioneering over-the-air software updates promise to improve the Model 3 over time, something that adds to its popularity. “It’s actually not a vehicle, it’s a statement in technology… in the used market it’s the number one EV,” says Booth.

Of course, that could change with the arrival of its SUV sibling, the Model Y. But for now, the Model 3 is an EV powerhouse on the used-car market.

4. Jeep Grand Cherokee

It’s gone upmarket and up in price, but that won’t deter people from gravitating towards the all-new version of the Grand Cherokee once it hits the used-car market in future, according to RedBook.

With a keener emphasis on luxury and a fresh injection of technology, the latest Grand Cherokee builds on the brand’s reputation for adventure at a time when people are looking to explore the country.

“It’s that COVID factor of ‘I want to go away, I want a fair dinkum four-wheel drive’,” says Booth of the latest Grand Cherokee, which has evolved the bold Jeep look. It doesn’t hurt that the Grand Cherokee now has seven seats, too, widening its appeal for families.

5. Land Rover Defender

There was controversy when the new Land Rover Defender hit Aussie roads in 2020. After all, it wasn’t merely a redo of the much-loved original (which evolved over decades) but a complete redesign that turned its attention more to tech and comfort.

That hasn’t stopped the Defender love affair, to the point where sizeable queues have formed to buy new ones. And there’s clearly enough of the original Defender DNA to keep buyers excited enough to want to pay good money for them in future, according to RedBook.

“It’s a purposeful vehicle that does what people want it to,” says Booth.

6. Kia Stinger

There’s something about big performance being sent to the rear wheels that Australians gravitate to. We did so for decades with Fords and Holdens, many of them powered by a V8. And while the Kia Stinger does without that classic engine configuration, its twin-turbo V6 clearly has the muscle buyers desire.

It helps that the Stinger is one-of-a-kind. There’s nothing else of its size, performance and rear-drive stature this side of six figures. And that all bodes well for future values, according to RedBook’s Booth.

“The demand from the Australian public around rear-wheel drive performance sedans is very strong,” he says.

7. Isuzu MU-X

There’s nothing like the heritage of other 4WDs in this list, but the Isuzu MU-X fights back in one key way: value.

“It’s providing value at a good price compared with others in the market,” says RedBook’s Booth, who adds that it doesn’t hurt that the MU-X ushered in a new generation in 2020.

The MU-X is also playing into the growing market of people who want to use an SUV off-road; it’s a proper four-wheel drive based on a ladder frame and designed to get down and dirty, and it has a solid reputation for reliability. It does all that at a price that makes it tempting.

8. Subaru WRX

If you wanted a fast car in the late ’90s and 2000s the Subaru WRX was a default choice. Turbocharged grunt was teamed with all-wheel drive traction to reset the performance car benchmark.

The competition has since ramped up offering buyers plenty of pocket rocket choices, but RedBook says the reputation and substance of the new WRX will be plenty to maintain the interest of buyers in years to come.

And what it lacks in aggression (something aftermarket modifiers will no doubt fix) it makes up in newness, according to Booth. “If you do want a … sedan sports car, the WRX is it.”

9. Jaguar E-PACE

Think luxury SUVs and it’s a trio of German brands that typically gravitates to the top of the consideration list for many. But there’s a British stalwart in Jaguar that is providing a point of difference for those looking for elegance and British luxury.

And the Jaguar E-PACE is the most affordable of those SUVs, relatively speaking. Jaguar hasn’t long been building SUVs, but Booth says they’re the ones proving more popular on the used-car market compared with the sedans that long defined the brand.

It also helps that supply is tight, ensuring there will be plenty more E-PACE buyers than vehicles for some time to come. “It is a luxury car from a mega luxury brand,” says Booth.

10. Jeep Wrangler

Tradition reigns supreme for the Jeep Wrangler. Not only does the brand’s most iconic off-roader have a clear styling lineage back to that 1941 original Willys 4WD, but it also maintains what many consider essential off-road hardware.

That includes live axles front and rear, available triple locking differentials and the sort of ground clearance and wheel articulation that make it a weapon in the rough stuff.

It’s that authenticity and ability that adds to the Jeep’s appeal on the used-car market, according to RedBook’s Booth, who adds it’s a car “people aspire to”. And, no, it doesn’t matter that most owners will never get close to experiencing what a Wrangler is really capable of off-road…

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au