Free calculator

Car depreciation calculator

Depreciation is the quiet cost of owning a car, usually the biggest one. Put in what a car's worth now, how old it is and how long you'll keep it, and see what it's likely to be worth down the line, year by year. Free, no sign-up.

How fast does this car lose value?

Holds value well Average Drops fast

Average suits most mainstream cars. Pick Holds value well for sought-after models, or Drops fast for big executives and thirsty engines. You can fine-tune the exact rates below.

What's the car worth today? Its price now: brand-new list price if you're buying new, or today's value if you already own it.

How old is it now? (years) Use 0 for a new car. A used car skips the big first-year drop.

Project forward (years) How long you plan to keep it.

Fine-tune the depreciation rates

First-year rate (new cars, %)

Each year after (%)

Leave these blank to use the profile above. Override them if you know a particular model holds up better or worse than the average.

The same new car, three ways it could fall

A £30,000 car bought new, kept for 3 years. Watch how much the depreciation profile changes what's left at the end.

Worked example: £30,000 new car after 3 years
Profile	Value after 3 yrs	Total lost
Holds value well	£20,655	−£9,345
Average	£16,256.25	−£13,743.75
Drops fast	£12,480	−£17,520

Same car, same three years, and thousands of pounds between the best and worst case, purely down to how well the model holds its value. It's the strongest argument for thinking about resale before you buy, not when you come to sell. A car that costs a little more but holds its value can be cheaper to own than a bargain that dumps its worth.

Depreciation: the cost nobody quotes you

When people work out what a car costs to run, they add up fuel, insurance, tax and servicing, and quietly leave out the one that dwarfs all of them. Depreciation is the difference between what you paid for a car and what you get back when you sell it, and on a newer car it's usually the single biggest line in the whole ownership bill. It doesn't arrive as a monthly payment, so it's easy to pretend it isn't happening. Then you go to sell and the number does the talking.

The reason it hurts most at the start is simple. A car is only "new" until it's registered to you; after that it's a used car competing with every other one on the market. The buyer behind you can get the same thing, nearly new, with the warranty intact, for less than the showroom price, so yours has to be cheaper to shift. That first-year gap is why a car can lose a quarter or more of its value before it's had its first service, and it's why buying a car a year or two old is one of the oldest tricks for letting someone else take the hit.

After that first drop, depreciation settles into a steadier rhythm (a slice of the remaining value each year rather than a cliff), and it slows down as the car ages, until an old car is worth roughly what it's worth to the next person who just needs wheels. What decides whether a car sits on the gentle end of that curve or the steep one is demand: how sought-after the model is, how many are floating around used, its reputation for reliability, and above all its mileage and condition. Put your own figures into the calculator above and pick the profile that fits, and it'll sketch the curve for your car specifically.

Here's the catch, though: the biggest single lever on a used car's value (its mileage and service record) is exactly the thing you can't see from the advert. Two cars the same age and price can be worth wildly different money depending on what they've actually done, and a flattering reading is precisely what makes a car look like a better buy than it is. Before you trust any price, it's worth pulling the mileage record and MOT history: run the free MOT check to sanity-test the advert, then get the full report on the one you're serious about. And once you know what a car will really cost to own, our free finance calculator, car tax calculator and fuel cost calculator fill in the rest of the monthly picture.

Car depreciation calculator: common questions

How much does a new car depreciate?

As a rule of thumb a new car loses somewhere between 15% and 35% of its value in the first year, and a big chunk of that goes the moment it's registered and driven off the forecourt. After that it typically sheds 10% to 20% of its remaining value each year. A common shorthand is that an average car is worth roughly half of what you paid after three years, but it varies a lot by make, mileage and how desirable the model is, which is what the profiles here let you account for.

Why do cars lose value so fast in the first year?

A new car stops being new the second it's registered to you. From then on it's a used car, and the buyer behind you can get one just like it with a full warranty for close to what you paid, so yours has to be cheaper to sell. That gap (brand-new price versus nearly-new price) is the first-year drop, and it's why buying a car a year or two old is one of the easiest ways to dodge the worst of depreciation.

Which cars hold their value best?

Cars that are in demand and short on supply hold up best: sought-after models, strong badges, sensible mileage, popular colours and specs, and anything with a reputation for reliability. Cars that drop fastest tend to be the opposite: big thirsty executive saloons, models the market is flooded with, and anything with a costly-to-fix reputation. Electric cars are a moving target: some hold on well, others have fallen hard as newer, longer-range models arrive.

Does mileage affect depreciation?

A lot. Two identical cars of the same age can be worth very different money if one has done 20,000 miles and the other 80,000. High mileage pulls the value down; genuine low mileage with the paperwork to prove it holds it up. It's also why a suspiciously low reading on an older car is worth checking: a wound-back odometer inflates the apparent value. This calculator works on value and age; the mileage record itself is in the full report.

How do I know what a used car is really worth before I buy?

Age and price only tell you so much; the mileage record, MOT history and spec decide the rest. Our £5.00 report pulls the full MOT and mileage trail from the official record so you can see whether a car has been looked after or flattered, before its price tag convinces you either way. Knowing that is the difference between paying for a car that'll hold its value and one that won't.