Consumers tend to focus on things like performance, fuel economy, and sticker price when looking for a new vehicle. But cost of ownership is another important—and often ignored—consideration for buying a car. With this in mind, we teamed up with IntelliChoice to bring you a list of the vehicles and brands with the best values based on cost of ownership data.
How does IntelliChoice determine its Best Overall Values? Here’s a quick rundown: It looks at a particular vehicle’s actual five-year ownership cost and compares that to the expected ownership cost based on its invoice price in its particular category (premium or non-premium). Accordingly, vehicles perform better when they have a lower actual cost of ownership compared to expected cost of ownership. Ownership costs take into account depreciation, maintenance, repairs, fees, financing, fuel, and insurance.
Read on to learn which vehicles and brands have the best values as defined by IntelliChoice.
Jeep Wrangler—Best Overall Value Popular Vehicle
The iconic Jeep Wrangler has the best overall value of any non-premium vehicle. Its total cost of ownership is quite low at $29,768, according to data from IntelliChoice. That’s particularly low when compared to its expected total cost of ownership (calculated by averages for the segment in which it participates) of $44,833. The Toyota Tacoma Double Cab took second place, and the Honda Fit nabbed third.
Not only does the Wrangler boast strong ownership costs, it’s also a great all-around vehicle. The previous JK Wrangler, and the even-more-capable JL Wrangler that won our 2019 SUV of the Year award, have powerful engines, exceptional off-road skills, and attainable starting prices.
Lexus NX 300h—Best Overall Value Premium Vehicle
Lexus’ compact hybrid crossover wins out over the more popular RX when it to comes to overall value. The NX 300h has a total ownership cost of $42,325, much lower than its expected cost of $48,627. The Porsche 718 Boxster with the 2.5-liter engine came in second place, and the Porsche 718 Cayman with the same engine took third. But Lexus’ RX 350 wasn’t far behind in fifth. The non-hybrid version of the NX was down in 17th place, however.
The NX 300h stands out from the crowd with its refined ride and strong fuel economy. Unfortunately, it’s quite a bit slower than the non-hybrid NX thanks to the additional weight of its hybrid powertrain.
Subaru—Best Overall Value Popular Brand
While not winning any particular vehicle category, Subaru is a strong value across the board. The Subaru Crosstrek performed sixth place in the Best Overall Value for mainstream vehicles, with the Outback, Impreza wagon, and Impreza sedan also near the top of the list. And overall, Subaru offers the best value among mainstream brands. Toyota ranked second among brands, with the Tacoma Double Cab, Yaris sedan, 4Runner, and C-HR performing the best among its vehicle lineup. Honda came in third.
Lexus—Best Overall Value Premium Brand
Lexus boasts the best value among premium brands, followed by Volvo in second place and Cadillac in third. Along with the NX 300h, the RX 350, UX 250h, UX 200, and ES 300h were the highest-performing Lexus vehicles when it comes to overall value.
Jeep—Highest Retained Value Popular Brand
This category works differently than overall values. Here, IntelliChoice looks at the dollar amount the vehicle will be worth after the five-year ownership period when sold in a private-party transaction. In this category, Jeep wins out among mainstream vehicles with an average retained value of 57.68 percent. That’s just slightly ahead of Subaru (57.53 percent). Toyota snagged third place with a retained value of 55.42 percent.
Lexus—Highest Retained Value Premium Brand
No surprise here: Lexus takes the cake once again. It boasts an average retained value of 50.53 percent, putting it ahead of second-place-finisher Volvo (46.15 percent) and BMW (45.27 percent).
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