It may surprise you how much value certain types of vehicles keep.

How much will your car be worth five years from now? That needs to be part of any car-buying trip, because the value of your car will dictate how much you get for it as a trade-in, how much you’ll need to pay for insurance, and a host of other factors. Here’s how depreciation works, along with a brief look at some vehicles that keep their value well.

How Depreciation Works

Depreciation really boils down to a set of basic economic factors. The first is supply and demand; the more supply there is of a car (that is, the more of them on the road there are), the more the demand for them will be met. This means certain models, like sedans, have a harder time keeping value.

Another fact is age and use. The fewer miles on a car, as a rule, the better; the older a car is, the more likely it is to have mechanical problems, thus driving down the overall value. If you’re going to put some real wear and tear on your car, you need to consider that.

Finally, there are intangible factors that you simply can’t anticipate. For example, when the price of gas was pushing $4 a gallon, dealerships couldn’t keep fuel-efficient used cars on the lot. Now that gas prices have eased, cars that chug more gas are selling, although fuel efficiency is still a key selling point.

Reputation plays into this as well. Cars with a reputation for breaking down more or otherwise costing more to own will lose their value more quickly. So with that in mind, which cars have been keeping their value?

Chevy Silverado

Pickups and sports cars are in constant demand, and the Silverado, which gets high marks for reliability and quality, is a common sight on used car lots. Depending on how much you use it and what shape it’s in, you can generally expect a Silverado to hold at least half its value.

Subaru WRX

Sports cars tend to be in constant demand because everybody, especially younger drivers and older drivers looking for a second car, want something sporty, but they don’t necessarily want to pay the price tag for speed. The WRX in particular holds value because it’s popular as a rally car and on the track.

The CR-V is an SUV that keeps its value.

Toyota Avalon

Sedans have two factors that generally affect their depreciation: There’s a lot of them on the market at any given time, and their appeal lies mostly in their reliability and fuel mileage, not their hauling power or sportiness. That said, the Avalon is easily the full-size sedan that retains the most value over time, in part because of its high reliability.

Honda CR-V

The five-seat SUV is the minivan of the twenty-first century, and newer ones keep their value largely because really old SUVs have problems current models don’t. As a result, Honda’s five seater is enormously popular on the used market, driving up the price and making it a good investment.

Toyota Tacoma

Finally, there’s Toyota’s pickup, which is so popular and so reliable that many people choose them as their second car, or for light work around a small farm or on a side job.

A little bit of research will help you choose a car or truck that holds its value well over time. Ready to find the car that keeps its value and fits your needs? Subscribe to get alerts on vehicles in your area.