Depreciation Index: Small family hatchbacks

• Small family hatchbacks (1.6 petrols*) show big differences from one brand to another
• Good news as Toyota stays in top 5 best performers
• Peugeot and Vauxhall among the ‘half-price’ bargains for used car buyers
• Honda and Audi top best buys new if planning to trade in at MOT 

Used Car Expert magazine has taken a selection of the best-selling small family hatchbacks and compared the three year old values against their new price.

Many new car buyers will have lost up to 50% of their money in this time and with average mileages for 3 year old petrol cars at under 30,000 in most cases, used car buyers have a great opportunity to buy cars with 50-70,000 reliable miles motoring at half price.

Editor Matt Tumbridge commented, “As ever, this depreciation index shows that car buyers need to look up the average mileage and depreciation for the model of car they want because this has thrown up some surprises. Had we run this for diesel engines, the results would have been different again. We went with petrol this time because we keep hearing of car buyers taking on a 3 year old diesel and being stung for heavy service costs. It’s far better to buy a very cheap petrol and pay slightly more in fuel but avoid heavy depreciation and service costs.”

The results show some overdue good news for Toyota, Tumbridge commented, “As we said at the height of the recall announcements, it was highly unlikely that long-term residuals would suffer. So if anyone did take a chance and buy a Toyota privately because it seemed cheap, they can now breathe a sigh of relief. It’s business as normal for Toyota.”