Best Resale Value Compact Cars for 2026
The best resale value compact cars are determined based on analyzing over 3 million vehicles to calculate how much each compact car model depreciates after 5 years.
The Honda Civic has the best resale value among compact cars. The Civic retains 77.3 percent of its value after 5 years, with an average price of $19,863 for 5-year-old models. The Civic's resale value puts it 10.3 percent above the resale value average for compact cars, which is 66.9 percent.
The Honda Civic (hatchback) ranks #2 for best resale value for compact cars. The Civic retains 76.8 percent of its value after 5 years, with an average price of $24,497 for 5-year-old models. The Civic's resale value is 9.9 percent higher than the resale value average for compact cars.
The Toyota Corolla Hatchback is the #3 ranked compact car with the best resale value. The Corolla Hatchback's resale value is 74.3 percent after 5 years with the average price for a 5-year old Corolla Hatchback being $19,955. Its resale value is 7.4 percent more than the average resale value for a compact car.
The Honda Civic has the best resale value among compact cars. The Civic retains 77.3 percent of its value after 5 years, with an average price of $19,863 for 5-year-old models. The Civic's resale value puts it 10.3 percent above the resale value average for compact cars, which is 66.9 percent.
The Honda Civic (hatchback) ranks #2 for best resale value for compact cars. The Civic retains 76.8 percent of its value after 5 years, with an average price of $24,497 for 5-year-old models. The Civic's resale value is 9.9 percent higher than the resale value average for compact cars.
The Toyota Corolla Hatchback is the #3 ranked compact car with the best resale value. The Corolla Hatchback's resale value is 74.3 percent after 5 years with the average price for a 5-year old Corolla Hatchback being $19,955. Its resale value is 7.4 percent more than the average resale value for a compact car.
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5-yr resale value
0.772785
- Avg 5-yr old price: 19862.791812865496
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.7
/ 10
-
Value Retention
9.1
/ 10
-
Safety
9.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.767868
- Avg 5-yr old price: 24496.819383259914
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.9
/ 10
-
Value Retention
9.1
/ 10
-
Safety
10
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.74297
- Avg 5-yr old price: 19954.77968337731
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.9
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.725668
- Avg 5-yr old price: 17628.62492341625
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.4
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.8
/ 10
-
Safety
9.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.719638
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
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Value Retention
8.8
/ 10
-
Safety
Not Available
6. Hyundai VELOSTER
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5-yr resale value
0.709261
- Avg 5-yr old price: 17323.84
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
6.9
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.7
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
7. Subaru Impreza
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5-yr resale value
0.705042
- Avg 5-yr old price: 18513.645833333332
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.3
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.7
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.702293
- Avg 5-yr old price: 27647.687408491947
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.2
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.7
/ 10
-
Safety
9.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.667154
- Avg 5-yr old price: 16182.902705814622
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
6.8
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.5
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.660035
- Avg 5-yr old price: 18578.604571428572
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.7
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.4
/ 10
-
Safety
10
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.652491
- Avg 5-yr old price: 15136.241281604185
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.2
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.4
/ 10
-
Safety
7.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.64671
- Avg 5-yr old price: 20972.10533707865
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.9
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.3
/ 10
-
Safety
10
/ 10
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.3
/ 10
-
Safety
10
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.641301
- Avg 5-yr old price: 16613.057025834907
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.6
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.3
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.629818
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.2
/ 10
-
Safety
Not Available
-
5-yr resale value
0.628506
- Avg 5-yr old price: 16435.801739130435
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.0
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.2
/ 10
-
Safety
10
/ 10
17. Volkswagen Golf
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5-yr resale value
0.616654
- Avg 5-yr old price: 17760.306306306305
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
9.0
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.1
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.612759
- Avg 5-yr old price: 20770.86551724138
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.1
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.611596
- Avg 5-yr old price: 23464.722222222223
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.5
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.1
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
5-yr resale value
0.609207
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.1
/ 10
-
Safety
Not Available
21. Mitsubishi Mirage G4
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5-yr resale value
0.589543
- Avg 5-yr old price: 11275.912037037036
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.0
/ 10
-
Safety
Not Available
Related Rankings
How We Rank These Cars
iSeeCars analyzed over 3 million vehicles to calculate the resale value for each model after 5 years. The resale value for a given model is based on the difference between the new car MSRP and the equivalent 5 year-old used car price for the model.
Vehicles within a given category are sorted to show the models with the best resale values first. If two cars have the same resale values, then we break the tie by seeing which vehicle has the higher overall iSeeCars Score. Along with resale value, we show comprehensive iSeeCars ratings for each model, because we believe multiple factors should be taken into account when buyers are seeking the best overall vehicle. Two of these additional factors are reliability and safety, both of which are included in our ratings system.
The overall iSeeCars Score is an analysis of these three key factors: reliability, resale value and safety. It is calculated based on the latest research and analysis by our data science team. The data analysis comes from over 12 million new and used vehicles in our Longest-Lasting Cars and 5-Year Depreciation Studies, combined with NHTSA and IIHS Safety Ratings.
Vehicles are scored in three categories:
Reliability
The reliability score represents an analysis of iSeeCars' proprietary research on the longest-lasting vehicles.
Value Retention
The value retention score is based on our data science team's statistical analysis and prediction of 5-year depreciation from MSRP to determine which cars hold their value best, using US Bureau of Labor Statistics data to adjust for inflation.
Safety
The safety score is calculated based on the last five years of crash test ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and incorporates the latest Top Safety Pick information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).