- Percentage of owners that kept their vehicle 15+ years: 7.60%
- Compared to average: 1.2x
If you buy a 2021 model:
- 2021 starting MSRP: $26,830
- True cost to own after 5 years: $46,318
- 15-year depreciation: $23,555
- Value of car in 2036: $3,275
More From GOBankingRates
John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.
Methodology: GoBankingRates, in order to find 15 cars that are great long-term investments, referenced iSeeCars’ report on cars people keep the longest, which analyzed more than 66,000 cars from the 1981-2005 model years that were resold for the first time in 2020. Vehicle types included SUVs, pickup trucks, luxury vehicles and sports cars. From this report, GOBankingRates looked at the 15 cars that were most likely to be kept for 15 years or longer in recent years. Then, GOBankingRates identified each car’s 2021 model and MSRP from its manufacturer’s site. GOBankingRates used Edmunds Inc.’s True Cost to Own calculator to find the true 5-year cost to own each 2021 model in its most basic style. GOBankingRates kept the location for the calculations constant, using the ZIP code 90245 (El Segundo, California). The Edmunds Inc. True Cost to Own calculations use the following assumptions:
-You will drive 15,000 miles per year
-You are financing the vehicle using traditional financing, not lease financing
-You have an above-average credit rating for the purpose of determining your finance rate
-You are making a 10% down payment on the vehicle at purchase
-Your loan term is five years, or 60 months
Finally, GOBankingRates used Navy Federal Credit Union’s car depreciation calculator to find how much of each car’s MSRP will be lost to depreciation in 15 years and used this to project the value of each car in 2036.
