As most of you who are regular car buyers might know by now, vehicle trade-ins often cause more than a few headaches, hernias and high blood-pressure episodes.
That shiny new pride and joy that you swept off a gleaming showroom floor a few years ago might be worth a lot in your mind, but winning the salesman over to that way of thinking is another story altogether.
That's why resale values should be such an important consideration when buying new, but coming across that information is not always easy. Market forces can be unpredictable and, of course, the mileage and condition of the vehicle makes a difference too.
Nevertheless, the closest we can come to assessing resale and trade-in value is through the TransUnion Auto Dealers' Guide, which is what the salesmen tend to flip through before telling you how much your car's worth to them.
100 CARS SURVEYED
To get a clearer picture of how different cars fare, we put together a sample of 100 vehicles from the 2012 edition of that guide, with a specific focus on their trade-in values after two years of ownership. That time period, we figured, would give us the best indication of their depreciation while still allowing us to feature cars that are for sale today in the same form. Hence cars such as the BMW 3 Series and Toyota Hilux were excluded because they were replaced recently.
As with the survey we did a year ago, Porsche was the clear winner. While most cars in the sample retained about 70 percent of their value after two years, all three Porsche models in the sample were worth more than 80 percent, with the soon-to-be-replaced 911 4S having a trade-in value of 84.19 percent of original purchase price.
SOME SURPRISES
As expected, most of the German cars performed well, most above the 75 percent mark, but there were some surprises around this level, with the Renault Sandero achieving 74.14 percent, the Hyundai i30 2.0 GLS 77.39 percent and the Dodge Journey 2.7 SXT AT 75.54 percent.
Of course, there was no shortage of mediocre performers, the worst of the worst being the Chevrolet Optra 1.6 (60.94percent), Chery J5 2.0 TX and Chana Star 1-litre (61.80 percent) and Nissan Tiida 1.6 Visia+ 5dr (61.70 percent). As expected, we also found a great deal of variation between the different models of the same brand.
The full list below shows the original purchase price in 2010 followed by the current trade-in price and then the percentage of value that's been retained. For actual retail values, you'll need to add at least ten percent (give or take a few percentage points) to the trade-in values.
TRADE-IN VALUES AFTER TWO YEARS:
(Original price) Current trade-in - % of original value
Alfa Romeo
Mito 1.4 Distinctive: (R248 022) R185 300 - 74.71%
Audi
A3 1.4 TFSI Attraction: (R259 755) R191 300 - 73.60%
Q5 2.0 TDI quattro: (R424 085) R320 500 - 75.57%
Q7 3.0 TDI V6 quattro: (R665 625) R490 300 - 73.66%
BMW
X1 sDrive 20d: (R376 000) R285 700 - 75.98%
M3 Coupe: (R841 963) R644 100 - 76.49%
535i AT: (R652 412) R504 000 - 77.25%
X5 xDrive35i AT: (R667 418) R513 200 - 76.89
Chana
Benni 1.3 Exclusive (R93 900) R63 500 - 67.62%
Star 1000 P/U D/S (R69 900) R43 200 - 61.80%
Chevrolet
Spark Lite L 5dr: (R82 300) R61 500 - 74.72%
Aveo 1.6 LS 5dr: (R149 800) R107 600 - 71.83%
Optra 1.6 base: (R166 870) R101 700 - 60.94%
Cruze 1.8 LS: (R214 600) R156 800 - 73.07%
Lumina 6.0 SS: (R444 390) R280 600 - 63.14%
Chery
QQ3 1.1 TXE: (R69 900) R45 400 - 64.94%
J5 2.0 TX 4dr: (R164 900) R101 900 - 61.80%
Tiggo 2.0 TXE: (R194 900) R119 900 - 61.52%
Citroen
C1 1.0i Seduction 5-door: (R116 500) R82 400 - 70.73%
C3 1.4 VTi Attraction +: (R176 097) R120 000 - 68.14%
C3 Picasso 1.6 Seduction: (R203 235) R140 500 - 69.13%
Daihatsu
Sirion 1.3i 5dr: (R139 995) R91 700 - 65.50%
Terios 1.5 4x2: (R204 995) R136 700 - 66.68%
Dodge
Caliber 2.0 SXT: (R231 602) R172 000 - 74.27%
Journey 2.7 SXT AT: (R305 673) R230 900 - 75.54%
Fiat
Panda 1.2 Dynamic: (R127 012) R92 400 - 72.75%
500 1.4 Cabriolet: (R200 080) R143 900 - 71.92%
Linea 1.4 Emotion: (R183 914) R134 800 - 73.30%
Bravo 1.4 T-Jet Sport: (R252 100) R174 900 - 69.38%
Ford
Fiesta 1.4i Trend: (R177 880) R129 300 - 72.69%
Ikon 1.6 Ambiente: (R153 010) R109 400 - 71.50%
Everest 3.0 XLT 4x4: (R386 200) R284 300 - 73.61%
GWM
Steed 2.8 TCi DC Lux: (R196 900) R137 300 - 69.73%
Honda
Jazz 1.4i LX: (R174 439) R132 200 - 75.79%
Accord 2.4 Exec: (R346 766) R235 900 - 68.03%
CR-V DTEC Exec: (R445 983) R332 100 - 74.46%
Hyundai
Atos 1.1 GLS: (R94 900) R62 900 - 66.28%
Getz 1.4 GL: (R131 400) R90 100 - 68.57%
i20 1.4 GL: (R154 900) R116 800 - 75.40%
i30 2.0 GLS: (R234 900) R181 100 - 77.39%
iX35 2.0 GLS: (R274 900) R206 800 - 75.23%
Isuzu
KB 300 D-Teq LX DC AT: (R348 500) R232 000 - 66.57%
Jaguar
XF 3.0D Luxury: (R597 000) R451 700 - 75.66%
Jeep
Wrangler 2.8 CRD Sahara (R380 844) R289 900 - 76.12%
Patriot 2.4L Limited (R296 398) R193 200 - 65.18%
Kia
Cerato 2.0 SX: (R205 995) R151 400 - 73.50%
Soul 1.6 High: (R189 995) R140 700 - 74.05%
Sorento 2.2D AT: (R355 995) R259 900 - 73.00%
Land Rover
Freelander 3.2 i6 HSE AT: (R489 995) R316 700 - 64.63%
Discovery 3.0 TDV6 SE: (R671 995) R501 600 - 74.64%
Range Rover Sport V8 SC: (R961 000) R733 800 - 76.36%
Lexus
IS250 AT: (R416 500) R280 700 - 67.39%
GS300 SE AT: (R637 000) R445 100 - 69.87%
Mahindra
Bolero NEF F/C D/S 9: (R117 500) R73 000 - 62.13%
Xylo 2.5 CRDE E2 8-seat: (R180 200) R123 800 - 68.70%
Mazda
2 1.3 Dynamic: (R182 700) R124 100 - 67.93%
3 1.6 Original: (R203 730) R147 300 - 72.30%
6 2.0 Active: (R285 190) R211 800 - 74.26%
Mercedes-Benz
A180 CDI Classic: (R274 523) R200 100 - 72.89%
C180 CGI Classic: (R347 390) R260 700 - 75.05%
E350 CDI AT: (R632 000) R479 000 - 75.79%
ML 500 AT: (R843 532) R635 100 - 75.29%
Mitsubishi
Lancer 2.0 GLS: (R241 413) R150 700 - 62.42%
Outlander 2.4 GLS AT: (R404 418) R266 200 - 65.82%
Trition 3.2 DI-D 4x4 DC: (R373 300) R243 700 - 65.28%
Mini
Cooper S: (R290 723) R193 800 - 66.66%
Cooper Clubman (R243 039) R151 700 - 62.42%
Nissan
NP200 1.6 16-valve SE: (R155 700) R116 700 - 74.95%
Livina 1.6 Acenta+ X-Gear: (R182 300) R131 100 - 71.91%
Tiida 1.6 Visia+ 5-door: (R186 700) R115 200 - 61.70%
Qashqai 2.0 Acenta: (R289 300) R210 700 - 72.83%
Navara 2.5 dCi SE 4x4 DC: (R378 900) R268 200 - 70.78%
Opel
Corsa 1.6 Turbo OPC: (R259 790) R174 900 - 67.32%
Peugeot
207 1.4 70kW Active: (R174 683) R119 700 - 68.52%
3008 1.6 THP Premium: (R286 119) R198 900 - 69.52%
Porsche
Cayman S PDK: (R745 000) R612 800 - 82.25%
911 Carrera 4S PDK: (R1 180 000) R993 400 - 84.19%
Panamera S PDK: (R1 045 000) R841 000 - 80.48%
Renault
Logan 1.6 Expression: (R124 900) R88 100 - 70.54%
Sandero 1.6 United: (R124 900) R92 600 - 74.14%
Clio 1.6 Dyanmique: (R199 900) R137 800 - 68.93%
Megane 1.9 dCi 5dr: (R269 900) R193 100 - 71.55%
Ssangyong
Actyon A200 Xdi 4x2: (R249 995) R165 200 - 66.08%
Kyron X270 Xdi AT: (R369 995: R241 000 - 65.14%
Subaru
Legacy 2.0i Premium: (R299 000) R219 900 - 73.55%
Forester 2.5 XS: (R338 000) R250 300 - 74.05%
Suzuki
Alto 1.0 GL: (R104 900) R77 300 - 73.69%
SX4 2.0 CVT: (R232 500) R171 200 - 73.63%
Grand Vitara 2.4: (R324 900) R232 800 - 71.65%
Tata
Indica 1.4 LSi: (R101 995) R64 400 - 63.14%
Xenon 3.0 DICOR DC (R192 495) R122 800 - 63.79%
Toyota
Auris 1.6 XS: (R218 500) R159 000 - 72.77%
RAV4 2.0 VX: (R357 300) R260 400 - 72.87%
Prado 3.0 TDI TX AT: (R557 500) R428 300 - 76.83%
Volkswagen
Polo Vivo 1.4 Trendline (R127 465) R98 700 - 77.43%
Polo 1.6 Comfortline 5dr: (R187 035) R143 400 - 76.67%
Golf VI 1.4 TSI Comfortline: (R240 680) R183 400 - 76.20%
Golf VI GTI 2.0 TSI DSG: (R336 835) R250 700 - 74.43%
Volvo
S40 2.0i (R271 800) R172 600 - 63.50%
C30 T5 (R308 000) R198 300 - 64.38%