Car Depreciation Calculator by Year, Mileage and Vehicle Type
Estimate today’s car value or future resale value from vehicle age, type and mileage, or calculate the depreciation rate from values you already know. See a value range, total loss, retained percentage and a year-by-year curve you can compare with another scenario.
Planning estimates, not vehicle appraisals; published benchmarks and adjustable assumptions are identified below.
Your vehicle & plans
Estimated resale value
Blue: current scenario B. Dashed purple: saved scenario A. Shading marks B’s ownership window. The annual table provides every value.
Worked example: a $35,000 car held for five years
Assume 20% depreciation in the first year, then 15% of the remaining value each year, no floor and 12,000 miles driven annually. These are illustrative custom rates, not the benchmark preset.
Five-year value rounds to $14,616.18. Total loss is $20,383.83 (58.2%), with 41.8% retained. Average depreciation is $4,076.77/year, $339.73/month, or $0.34/mile over 60,000 miles.
With a ±15% endpoint stress range, resale spans $12,423.75–$16,808.60. Save this example as A and enter a used-car purchase as B to compare depreciation budgets; add repairs, fuel and financing separately before deciding.
Current depreciation benchmarks
Data checked September 23, 2026; next scheduled review March 23, 2027. US five-year anchors: average 58.2% retained, SUV 55.1%, truck 65.8%, hybrid 64.6%, EV 42.8%. Source: iSeeCars, March 24, 2026, covering over 950,000 five-year-old vehicles sold March 2025–February 2026. Its methodology models asking prices against inflation-adjusted MSRP; these are not guaranteed transaction values.
There is no single current study behind all four ages. The annual shape uses Kelley Blue Book’s example retention sequence of 84%, 72%, 61%, 52%, 45% for years 1–5 (sample period unspecified; checked September 23, 2026). We rescale its cumulative losses to the selected five-year anchor, then assume 10% annual loss after age five. The one-, three- and ten-year figures above are model outputs, not observed market averages. Every annual retention value is editable.
Why studies disagree
An asking price is not necessarily the negotiated sale price. Trade-in offers, private sales and dealer retail prices cover different costs and transaction contexts; see KBB’s value definitions. Mileage, vehicle mix, inflation treatment, incentives and the period studied also differ. A forecast for new cars today can differ from an analysis of cars already five years old. We apply historical retention ratios as nominal planning scenarios without forecasting inflation.
How the calculations work
Choose today’s value for an original-price estimate, future value for a car you already own or may buy used, and known values for measured purchase-to-current loss. Complete annual periods are used; model-year age can differ from time since registration.
Preset retention at age y ≤ 5 = 1 − (1 − five-year retention) × (KBB cumulative loss at y ÷ 0.55) Today’s estimate = original price × retention(age) × mileage factor × condition factor Future estimate at t = current value × retention(age + t) ÷ retention(age) × mileage factor(age + t) ÷ mileage factor(age) × condition-change factor(t)
The mileage factor is 1 − (actual miles − age × benchmark annual miles) ÷ 1,000 × sensitivity ÷ 100, limited to 0.70–1.15. Default annual mileage of 12,000, sensitivity of 0.2%, condition adjustments and the ±15% range are editable illustrative assumptions, not research coefficients. Future condition change phases in evenly over the ownership period; it is relative to the condition already priced into today’s value. These adjustments may shift values outside the underlying benchmark.
Constant rate: Vₜ = P × (1 − r)ᵗ Two rates (t ≥ 1): Vₜ = P × (1 − r₁) × (1 − r₂)ᵗ⁻¹ Straight line: Vₜ = P − annual amount × t Implied annual rate: r = 1 − (current value ÷ purchase price)^(1 ÷ years)
All forecast values are bounded by zero, the entered floor and the starting value. Custom rates ignore vehicle, powertrain, mileage and condition adjustments; mileage still supplies the cost-per-mile denominator. A known-value gain returns a negative depreciation rate. The curve between known endpoints is an illustration, not recorded history; a zero endpoint uses linear interpolation because a constant compounded 100% rate reaches zero in year one.
Scenario bounds equal typical value × (1 ± spread × elapsed years ÷ total years), subject to the same floor and ceiling. These are stress cases, not confidence intervals. Monthly and annual costs are total loss divided by elapsed months or years. Per-mile cost uses entered miles, or annual miles × future years; it is an average allocation of loss, not the marginal cost of another mile.
Use the estimate for an ownership decision
New versus used: compare the next ownership period from each car’s actual purchase price. A used car starts at its current age on the preset curve; it does not repeat a new car’s early decline. Add maintenance, warranty and running costs separately.
Holding period: save one duration as A, then change the years for B. Compare monthly depreciation as well as total loss; a longer period can lower the average while increasing repair exposure.
Resale before the loan ends: compare the conservative value at your planned sale date with the lender’s payoff quote for that date. Loan principal and resale value follow different schedules.
Negative equity: if loan payoff exceeds net sale proceeds, the difference is a shortfall. For example, a $20,000 payoff and $17,000 net sale leave $3,000 to cover. This calculator does not calculate loan balances.
High versus low mileage: save the base mileage, then change annual use. The mileage sensitivity is a stress assumption; compare local vehicles with similar odometers to calibrate it.
Four different meanings of depreciation
Market depreciation is a change in resale value. A lease residual is a contractual end-of-term value used by the lessor; your lease terms determine any purchase option. Accident diminished value concerns the loss attributable to damage history, which this curve cannot assess. Tax or book depreciation allocates a cost under applicable rules and is not a resale forecast. For US tax context, see IRS Publication 946.
Car depreciation FAQs
How much does a car depreciate in the first year, after three years or after five years?
The default average-vehicle model loses 12.2%, 29.6% and 41.8% respectively. Only the five-year figure is the iSeeCars 2026 study anchor; years one and three are modeled. These are starting scenarios, not universal rates.
Divide total value lost during your ownership period by the number of months. In the worked example, $20,383.83 over 60 months is about $339.73 per month. This is an average, not a prediction of identical monthly price changes.
How much does a car depreciate per mile?
Divide ownership-period depreciation by miles driven during that same period. The example loses about $0.34 per mile over 60,000 miles. This includes age-related loss and is not a market price for adding one extra mile.
Does mileage or age matter more?
Both matter, and their relative effect varies with the vehicle and market. The preset uses age for the base curve and an editable mileage adjustment. It cannot establish a universal age-versus-mileage tradeoff.
How do accidents and condition affect resale value?
Condition, service history and prior damage can change what a buyer will pay. The condition adjustment here is only a scenario input; it does not inspect damage or calculate accident diminished value. Use an inspection and comparable local vehicles for that assessment.
Do EVs depreciate differently?
The iSeeCars 2026 study reports five-year loss of 57.2% for EVs versus 41.8% overall. That historical cohort is not a forecast for every EV. Battery health, model changes, incentives and new-car pricing can make individual results differ.
Why are trade-in and private-party values different?
A dealer offer allows for reconditioning, resale costs, risk and margin; a private sale has a different transaction context. This tool does not select either price basis. Use comparable values from the same transaction type.
Can a car appreciate?
Yes, scarcity, collector demand or temporary market conditions can produce a gain. Known-values mode shows a negative depreciation rate when current value exceeds purchase price. Forecast modes are bounded at the starting value and do not model appreciation.
How do I estimate depreciation on a used car?
Select future value, enter its current market value or purchase price and model year, then choose how long you plan to keep it. The benchmark uses the retention ratio between its starting and ending ages. Custom rates instead apply from the start of your ownership period.
Are the percentage rates applied to the original price each year?
Custom percentage rates apply to the previous year’s remaining value. Straight-line mode subtracts a fixed amount. Benchmark curve inputs are different: each is the percentage of original value retained at that vehicle age.
What does the minimum value floor do?
It prevents a forecast from falling below your chosen percentage of the starting value. It is an assumption, not a guaranteed salvage or resale price. Known-values mode uses the values entered and ignores the floor.
Can I use this for tax or book depreciation?
No. Tax and accounting schedules follow their own basis, methods, eligibility and jurisdiction-specific rules. The calculator estimates market-value scenarios and does not determine deductions or accounting entries.
Are my inputs saved or shared?
Calculations run in your browser and input values are not uploaded or included in analytics events. Saving comparison A keeps a snapshot only in page memory; reset or reload clears it.
Editorial method, review status & limitations
Publisher: Starlight Tools. Source check and calculation update: September 23, 2026. Independent automotive/financial review: pending. No specialist credentials or professional approval are claimed.
We select primary valuation-provider research with a stated market and methodology, cite the five-year anchors beside the presets, and disclose missing sample dates. Rolling category rankings are labeled separately. Annual interpolation, extrapolation, range width, condition and mileage sensitivity are our modeling assumptions. Review is scheduled every six months and when a cited study is replaced; this page does not fetch live data.
Calculation verification covers published five-year anchors, the worked example, age-adjusted used-car projections, mileage normalization, zero rates and values, floors, appreciation, invalid inputs and scenario comparison. Preset curve inputs are rounded to four decimal places; subsequent arithmetic uses unrounded JavaScript numbers; money is displayed to two decimals (JPY and the headline range to whole units), percentages to one decimal and CSV money to two decimals. Display rounding uses half-up magnitude with a floating-point tolerance; calculations retain full precision. Independently rounded values may differ by a cent when added.
Inputs are held only in this page’s memory. Results exclude finance costs, taxes, fees, repairs, insurance, energy, selling costs and inflation. No VIN, trim, accident history, battery inspection or live listing feed is used. Obtain local vehicle-specific valuations before relying on a resale estimate.