Which medium SUV holds its value best?

The medium SUV market segment is the largest-selling sector of the Australian automotive industry, and there's a reason for that.

Mid-size SUVs deliver everything that the modern Aussie family wants from a relatively compact wagon: they fit in tight spots and are relatively economical to run, yet they're also roomy inside and they offer enough performance for open-road touring and even towing, in the right specification.

But as popular as they may be -- with sales over 30,000 already for just the first two months of 2020 – what are these mid-size SUVs like for depreciation?

According to market research firm RedBook, medium SUVs actually hold their value pretty well. In an evaluation of 12 distinct models sold new in 2017, each and every variant retained at least 60 per cent of its new-car value.

That's a reflection of their popularity in the used-car market. If you can't afford a medium SUV new, perhaps your budget will stretch to a three-year-old example.

The RedBook data is based on three different variants for each model line from 2017, and the cut-off is $60,000 – meaning no prestige SUVs are included.

Some of the models (the Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Forester being two cases in point) have been replaced by new models since 2017, and the Ford Escape will shortly be superseded by a new model due in Australia around the third quarter this year.

Resale value checklist:

It will come as no surprise that certain brands depreciate at a slower rate than others. Mostly, these brands are Asian, and Honda heads the pack.

In one case, the Renault Koleos, the vehicle is based on a Japanese platform from the Nissan X-TRAIL and features powertrains lifted from the donor vehicle. The Renault is also built in South Korea and has been generally well received in the local market. Yet the Koleos is one vehicle that can't match most of its rivals for car depreciation.

Average depreciation for the Koleos, Ford Escape and Jeep Cherokee is below 70 per cent after three years, and those are the only models to depreciate that quickly, in relative terms.

With the exception of the Volkswagen Tiguan, every other model line is Japanese or Korean and all of them hold at least 70 per cent of their price from new after three years.

The Honda CR-V is the champion in this dataset, but the Subaru Forester comes in a close second. Hyundai is the first Korean brand in the list, the company's Tucson model in the mid-range Elite trim level narrowly gazumping the full range of the Mazda CX-5.

The Tucson also bookends two of the Toyota (RAV4) variants in the list, both all-wheel drives. An automatic entry-level variant, the RAV4 2.0-litre GX with front-wheel drive, can't match its two all-paw siblings for resale value.

Similarly, all-wheel drive versions of the X-TRAIL depreciate at a slower pace than the more affordable front-wheel drive X-TRAIL in the list. The two upmarket X-TRAIL variants are split by the Tiguan.

A recurring theme in the dataset is the way depreciation hits lower-priced vehicles harder than the those with diesel power, all-wheel drive models and more equipment. That's true of the Mitsubishi Outlander and the Kia Sportage.

In the table, the data is presented in descending order of depreciation, with each vehicle listed as one of three variants in the model range: an entry-level vehicle, a mid-spec variant or the flagship model.

The data includes the new price in 2017, the current used price for that 2017 model and the resale value, as a percentage of the vehicle's new price.

Honda CR-V VTi-LX – $44,290 (new) $36,700 (resale): 82.9%
Subaru Forester 2.0D-S – $42,740 (new) $35,400 (resale): 82.8%
Honda CR-V VTi-L – $38,990 (new) $32,100 (resale): 82.3%
Subaru Forester XT Premium – $48,240 (new) $39,700 (resale): 82.3%
Honda CR-V VTi – $30,690 (new) $25,200 (resale): 82.1%
Subaru Forester 2.5i-L – $33,240 (new) $27,100 (resale): 81.5%
Hyundai Tucson Elite 1.6T auto AWD – $39,250 (new) $31,200 (resale): 79.5%
Mazda CX-5 Akera 2.2DT AWD – $49,990 (new) $39,700 (resale): 79.4%
Mazda CX-5 Touring 2.5i AWD – $38,990 (new) $30,900 (resale): 79.3%
Mazda CX-5 Maxx 2.0i FWD – $30,690 (new) $24,300 (resale): 79.2%
Hyundai Tucson Highlander 2.0DT AWD – $47,450 (new) $37,000 (resale): 78.0%
Toyota RAV4 GXL 2.2DT AWD – $45,125 (new) $34,500 (resale): 76.5%
Toyota RAV4 GXL 2.5i AWD – $38,490 (new) $29,300 (resale): 76.1%
Hyundai Tucson Active auto FWD – $31,090 (new) $23,400 (resale): 75.3%
Nissan X-TRAIL TL 2.0DT AWD – $47,790 (new) $35,700 (resale): 74.7%
Volkswagen Tiguan 140 TDI Highline 2.0DT AWD – $49,990 (new) $37,000 (resale): 74.0%
Volkswagen Tiguan 162 TSI Sportline 2.0T AWD – $45,990 (new) $34,000 (resale): 73.9%
Nissan X-TRAIL ST-L 2.5i AWD – $39,090 (new) $28,700 (resale): 73.4%
Volkswagen Tiguan 110 TSI Trendline 1.4T FWD – $34,490 (new) $25,300 (resale): 73.4%
Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed 2.2DT AWD – $44,500 (new) $32,600 (resale): 73.3%
Toyota RAV4 GX 2.0i FWD – $31,490 (new) $23,000 (resale): 73.0%
Kia Sportage GT-Line 2.0DT AWD – $45,990 (new) $33,400 (resale): 72.6%
Kia Sportage SLi 2.0DT AWD – $39,690 (new) $28,800 (resale): 72.6%
Kia Sportage Si 2.0i FWD – $28,990 (new) $20,800 (resale): 71.7%
Nissan X-TRAIL ST 2.5i FWD – $30,990 (new) $22,200 (resale): 71.6%
Mitsubishi Outlander LS 2.4i AWD – $35,000 (new) $25,000 (resale): 71.4%
Mitsubishi Outlander ES 2.4i FWD – $30,500 (new) $21,600 (resale): 70.8%
Renault Koleos Intens 2.0DT AWD – $47,490 (new) $31,700 (resale): 66.8%
Renault Koleos Zen 2.5i AWD – $37,990 (new) $25,000 (resale): 65.8%
Renault Koleos Life 2.5i FWD – $30,990 (new) $20,200 (resale): 65.2%
Jeep Cherokee Limited AWD – $45,950 (new) $29,400 (resale): 64.0%
Ford Escape Titanium 2.0DT auto 4WD – $47,490 (new) $29,600 (resale): 62.3%
Jeep Cherokee Longitude AWD – $41,450 (new) $25,600 (resale): 61.8%
Ford Escape Trend 2.0T auto AWD – $35,990 (new) $22,200 (resale): 61.7%
Ford Escape Ambiente 1.5T auto FWD – $29,990 (new) $18,400 (resale): 61.4%
Jeep Cherokee Sport FWD – $35,950 (new) $22,000 (resale): 61.2%