Which Used Cars Hold Their Value Best?
Toyota FJ Cruiser
No other vehicle comes close to the ridiculous resale value of Toyota's odd-looking, amphibious landing vehicle of a midsize SUV. Its available four-wheel-drive system, hefty 260-horsepower 4.0-liter V6 engine and 5,000 pounds of towing capacity are beastly, while its interior is made for messy adventures.
Rubber floors and water-resistant seat fabric are made to withstand mud, ash and anything else you track in. Meanwhile, its has enough gauges to make sure you never get too lost on your backwoods outings. It's an outdoor workhorse without equal, which is why buyers will still pay dearly for it after a half- decade of rugged outings.
Toyota Tacoma
The Tacoma has taken this award 10 times for one big reason: You can pound on it all you want and it just keeps coming back for more. Durability is a big deal in the Tacoma's world, where carbuyers who don't feel they need all the size and strength of a Ford F-Series or Chevy Silverado are drawn to its off-road agility, flexible cargo options and easy handling.
At a combined 23 miles per gallon, the base model Tacoma gets the mileage of a small SUV without sacrificing any of its midsized truck power. When you're content with fetching big items from the hardware store or taking a yardfull of leaf litter to the dump without flashing chrome or flexing muscle, this is the understated truck to buy, even if it's secondhand.
Jeep Wrangler
It's loud, it's not terribly reliable, it sucks up gas at a combined 19 miles per gallon and it doesn't store a whole lot unless you get the stretched out Unlimited version.
That said, nothing looks quite like it and nothing's an acceptable off-road substitute at this price. The ground clearance and four-wheel drive come in awfully handy in miserable winter weather, while that removable hardtop makes it a sweet open-air ride in the summer.
Carbuyers don't pick up a used version of the Wrangler because they want to truck the kids around or make grocery runs. They buy it because they want a Jeep, and all the frivolities that go along with it.
Toyota 4Runner
The cars with the highest resale value are almost exclusively SUVs. The 4Runner are great examples of why. It's a mix of the big school and soccer shuttle families want and the bike and kayak hauler weekend warriors crave.
Sure, it only gets a combined 20 miles per gallon, but it's a tailgater's dream with a power outlet in the cargo space for hooking up a television or other electronic devices, nearly 90 square feet of cargo room and an optional sliding cargo deck.
That last feature basically takes out the need for a folding table by providing counter space strong enough to hold 400 pounds of food and beverages.
Chevy Corvette
Chevrolet hadn't produced a Stingray version of this vehicle since 1986, but bringing back that iconic design for 2014 just boosted this car's resale value right through its retractable roof.
The pace car of last year's Indianapolis 500, the Corvette delivers on its looks with a 6.2-liter smallblock V8 engine that cranks out 455 horsepower
Toyota Tundra
Even with only 6% of the U.S. truck market compared with nearly 30% for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, Toyota accelerates past the Detroit Three's pickups when it comes to resale value.
Toyota's created a niche market for pickups such as the Tundra and the Tacoma and has seen its U.S. truck sales grow almost 10% year-to-date. The Tundra, much like the Silverado, hadn't had an update since 2007. It got a makeover for 2014 that mostly involves giving it a bigger grille and sprucing up the interior with more comfortable seats and touchscreen-driven tech toys. A backup camera now comes standard, as does the Entune audio and information system with touchscreen and Bluetooth connectivity.
The 4.0L V6, 4.6L V8, and a 5.7L V8 engines remain, as does the pokey combined 18 miles per gallon, but the payload, towing capacity and - - above all -- reliability are what give the Tundra such a huge following a half-decade after its release.
Honda CR-V
For all of you just catching up, the five-passenger SUV is this generation's station wagon/minivan/super-sized SUV that it's going to drive to college with, throw kegs in back of and basically sully all fairly G-rated memories of its childhood with. That's cool, it rarely looked up from the screen of its iDistraction long enough to get too attached to it anyway.
To today's parents, however, it's almost as big a step toward parenthood as actually having a child. It represents the end of freewheeling youth and light packing and ushers in an era of school, soccer practice, summer vacation and snow days. After the popular crossover's 2012 overhaul, it's only made that transition easier by adding a leather interior, heated seats and rearview windows and navigation system with controls mounted on the steering wheel.
It's also trimmed fuel efficiency to a combined 27 miles per gallon while leaving all 70 cubic feet of cargo space untouched.