ADP Survey Ranks America's Cars and Light Trucks for 'Best Value'
26 June 1997
ADP Survey Ranks America's Cars and Light Trucks for 'Best Value'
DETROIT, June 23 -- Imports and domestic vehicles shared top
honors in an ADP Autosource survey ranking America's best-selling cars and
light trucks based on resale value after three years of ownership.
"The Toyota Land Cruiser had the highest retained value of any vehicle,
car or light truck in the study," said Corey Wurzner, ADP Autosource's market
research director. "The Land Cruiser retained 94.6 percent of its original
1994 price of $35,403 with an average 1997 resale value of $33,481."
Chevrolet and GMC Suburban models ranked second and third behind the
Toyota among light trucks and sports utilities. The Chevrolet lost less than
seven percent of its original 1994 value of $25,206, while the value of a 1994
GMC suburban costing $27,059 fell less than nine percent.
"Cars, both foreign and domestic, ranked lower overall than trucks in the
survey," Mr. Wurzner noted. "Trucks, especially sports utility models, have
become more and more popular in recent years. Trucks are perceived to be more
durable and also are less affected by style changes."
The Honda Civic, Dodge Viper and Chevrolet Impala SS achieved the best
resale values among imported and domestic cars in the ADP study. In first-
place, the Honda Civic held 82.3 percent of its original 1994 cost of $12,837.
The 1994-model Civic's average resale price today is $10,477.
Performance niche vehicles also faired well. The more expensive 1994-
model Dodge Viper retained 81.7 percent of its average $56,400 cost, selling
today for about $46,092. With an average 1997 resale price of $18,476, the
Chevrolet Impala SS ranked third, retaining 81.4 percent of its 1994 value.
"Although it wasn't among the first three cars on our list, Saturn took
three top-ten spots -- more than any other make on either car or light-truck
list," Mr. Wurzner said. "Two BMW's, a Subaru and a Mercedes-Benz also made
the top-ten car list. Owner loyalty and high demand were important factors
behind a car's overall ranking in the study."
Following is ADP's top 10 list of cars based on best overall resale value
after three years of ownership:
RANK YR MAKE MODEL PERCENTAGE VALUE
RETAINED
1 1994 HONDA CIVIC 82.33%
2 1994 DODGE VIPER 81.72%
3 1994 CHEVROLET IMPALA 81.39%
4 1994 SUBARU IMPREZA 80.69%
5 1994 BMW 318IC 79.92%
6 1994 SATURN SC2 79.19%
7 1994 SATURN SC1 79.11%
8 1994 MERCEDES BENZ C220 78.76%
9 1994 BMW 325I 78.08%
10 1994 SATURN SW2 77.79%
"Six of the top-ten trucks were sports utilities. In addition to the
Toyota Land Cruiser and GM's Suburban models, the Land Rover Defender, Toyota
4Runner and Jeep Wrangler also made the list," Mr. Wurzner said. "Pickup
trucks with the best retained value included the Chevrolet S10, the GMC C/K
Series, the Nissan King Cab and the Dodge Ram Series.
"Passenger vans failed to make the survey's top-10 list of light trucks.
The Nissan Quest ranked highest at 24, retaining 74 percent of its value after
three years of ownership. The large number of new product entries in this
segment and the introduction of more sport utility vehicles may have affected
resale values for older model vans."
Following is ADP's top 10 list of trucks:
RANK YR MAKE MODEL PERCENTAGE VALUE
RETAINED
1 1994 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 94.57%
2 1994 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN 93.09%
3 1994 GMC SUBURBAN 91.16%
4 1994 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 84.53%
5 1994 TOYOTA 4RUNNER 82.45%
6 1994 CHEVROLET S10 80.35%
7 1994 GMC C/K SERIES 80.28%
8 1994 NISSAN KING CAB 80.15%
9 1994 DODGE RAM SERIES 79.88%
10 1994 JEEP WRANGLER 79.10%
The ADP Autosource study ranked more than 250 imported and domestic 1994-
model car and light-truck models based on their average retained value after
three years of ownership. The survey included nearly 1.2 million 1994-model
vehicles and was drawn from ADP's database of more than 24 million vehicles --
the largest single source of sales and used vehicle information in North
America.
ADP Autosource is a business unit of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. --
one of the largest computing services firms in the United States with annual
revenues of nearly $4 billion. An information source for major insurance
companies through North America, ADP Autosource captures data on more than
half of the used cars and trucks sold in the United States and Canada.
SOURCE ADP Autosource
