Which used medium cars are the best value?

If you’re in the market for a used car today, you may have noticed a big change in the availability and prices compared to a few years ago.

When the COVID-19 pandemic took off in 2020, the car market shifted in a big and unexpected way. Both new and used cars grew in demand and prices went up.

While you’d expect new-car price rises as a matter of course, the used values also increased to a degree not seen before.

With the combination of successive interest rate rises and increasing living costs, the used car market has since cooled. Although many second-hand cars today haven’t depreciated to the same degree an equivalent model might’ve before the pandemic, it’s now the best time to buy a used car since prices took off nearly four years ago.

We can show you exactly which models represent the best value today compared to what they were a year ago.

Using carsales’ unique and comprehensive data, we’ve analysed the numbers on the prices of cars sold recently compared to those from a year earlier.

While the figures don’t pinpoint actual sale prices, they give us hard evidence of decreasing used values and, importantly, the models that currently represent the best deal.

With close to 230,000 used cars advertised on carsales.com.au on any day, carsales is Australia’s number-one car website and a heavily searched platform. As a result, we can accurately track and rank models in the order they are most searched for on carsales.

Some of these results are predictable, reflecting the popularity of new car models as they enter the used market, while others don’t follow that formula.

Not every second-hand model in a segment is represented; some vehicles, largely those that were only sold in small volumes when new, don’t allow a sufficient sample size to provide reliable data.

But with those that have been advertised in high volumes, not only can we provide an accurate average percentage of value lost over the past 12 months, but also be specific on year built, make, model and variant.

Remember that the percentage lost is an average and does not represent a loss for a specific vehicle.

Like any used car, condition, kilometres travelled, maintenance history – and even colour, options fitted and location sold – can come into the equation.

So let’s dive into the detail of which cars represent the best-value buying in the medium passenger market today…

Our list of the 50 most-searched-for mid-size passenger cars from January 2023 to 2024 places the 2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus at the top, but despite its popularity, the Tesla EV lost significant value – 22.2 per cent over 12 months.

Even though the Tesla Model 3 was one of the most popular of all models searched for in this category (appearing eight times, as the table below shows), it was also one of the highest-depreciating.

The largest percentage drop in value of all the 50 medium passenger cars, at 26.5 per cent, was the 2022 Tesla Model 3 Long Range, in 18th most-viewed position.

Meanwhile, the Model 3 that lost the least value over the period was the 2020 Model 3 Standard Range Plus, at 16.1 per cent reduction in value and 15th most popular among potential buyers.

Only three of the eight Model 3 EVs listed lost less than 20 per cent in the timeframe, those being entry-level Rear-Wheel Drive or Standard Range Plus models. The Model 3s that lost most value were the Performance and Long Range variants.

No surprise about which medium passenger car lost the least value at exactly zero per cent on average over the year. That was 2019 Toyota Camry Ascent, eighth most-viewed in the class and worth exactly as much on average as it was a year ago.

A firm favourite among ride-share drivers, the Camry was the most-searched-for mid-size passenger car among our top 50, taking up 12 slots.

However, the Camry nameplate didn’t necessarily guarantee a strong resale value over the period, as our results show. Only one other Camry of the 12 listed in the searches lost less than 10 per cent – the 42nd-placed 2021 Camry SX, at 8.7 per cent – while the biggest loss for the brand was with the 2022 Toyota Camry Ascent (in 35th place for searches), which dropped a significant 19.8 per cent in value in the year.

Hot on the heels of the relatively plain Camry was a surprise result – a prestige German model. If you were hanging on until now for a good deal on a 2022 BMW 330i M Sport, the bad news is you’ll have to wait a bit longer.

The sixth most-searched-for model in the segment, the BMW lost a fraction of less than one per cent of its value on average over 2023/24.

There is better buying among the eight BMW 3 Series cars in our top-50 list, with the 2020 M340i xDrive losing most value. It lost 20.5 per cent in a year (and is the seventh most-searched model).

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class also appeared eight times in the top-50 searches, across a variety of models ranging from the C 200 to the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S.

The best C-Class buy this year over last is the 2019 Mercedes-Benz C 200, with a 20.6 per cent easing in value and fourth-most-searched status. If you prefer a just-used and very tasty C 63, there are two appearances of this model (in 16th and 31st most-viewed respectively): the 2019 C 63 AMG S with 13.4 per cent loss, and the 2020 C 63 AMG S with 14.1 per cent.

Skoda appeared twice on the list; the 2019 Skoda Octavia RS 245 is holding up well, with just 6.8 per cent loss in 12 months (in 41st place on most-searched). Meanwhile, the 2019 Skoda Octavia 110TSI, was in 39th place and 12.0 per cent down in terms of delisted price average.