Is Your Car on the A-list?

Kelly Blue Book recently announced the 2009 brands and vehicles who out-perform others in terms of resale value. These award-winning vehicles are expected to retain their value (the greatest proportion of the original retail price) five years from now, the average time period for ownership of a new car.

Did you know that after five years, the average vehicle only retains 35 percent of its original value? This means that a car costing $50,000 today will be worth around $17,000 and change in 2013.

Ouch!

Kelley Blue Book's Best Resale Value Awards are not designed to make us kick ourselves for the car we should have bought, but to give us the information we need to make better car-buying decisions in the future.

See if your car is among the winners (mine is - yay!), and if it's not, you can cry on my virtual shoulder. Just promise me that next time, you'll shop smarter.

2009 Best Resale Value: Brand

Honda

2009 Best Resale Value: By Vehicle Category

Compact Pickup: Toyota Tacoma

Full-size Pickup: Toyota Tundra

Crossover: Honda CR-V

Luxury Crossover: BMW X5

Hybrid Crossover: Toyota Highlander Hybrid

SUV: Jeep Wrangler

Luxury SUV: Audi Q7 Quattro

Hybrid SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe

High Performance Car: Nissan GT-R

Hybrid Car: Honda Civic Hybrid

Compact Car: MINI Cooper

Mid-Size Car: Lexus IS

Full-Size Car: Cadillac CTS

Luxury Car: Audi A5

Van: Honda Odyssey

2009 Best Resale Value: Top 10 Models

Honda Civic/Civic Hybrid

Honda Fit

MINI Cooper

Scion xB

Scion xD

Scion tC

Toyota Corolla

Toyota Prius

Toyota Yaris

Volkswagen Rabbit

(Note: All values are based on the November/December 2008 Kelley Blue Book Residual Value Guide. Top 10 models appear in alphabetical order).

Source: http://www.kbb.com/brva09