Study reveals 11 new cars owners resell most often in the first year

Consumers are three to five times more likely to sell newly purchased Mercedes-Benz and BMWs

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Mar 23, 2017, 10:08 ET

BOSTON, March 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study by automotive research firm iSeeCars.com found that popular luxury models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz have a much higher resell rate than the average 1.5 percent of new cars that are sold within the first year of ownership.

iSeeCars.com analyzed more than 24 million individual new car sales and determined how many of those were resold as used within the first 365 days. Key findings include the following:

Eleven cars have two to five times the average resale rate (1.5 percent).
Six of the 11 cars with the highest resell percentages are BMWs or Mercedes.
The other five models were all ranked average (3 stars) or worse in the J.D. Power 2016 Initial Quality Study.

"While it might be surprising to see luxury brands topping the list, these auto manufacturers offer their dealers incentives to buy new cars to use as loaner vehicles," said Phong Ly, iSeeCars.com CEO. "The loaners are then sold as used when they're still under a year old."

New Cars Resold As Used Within the First Year of Ownership

Rank	Car	% Resold As Used Within the First Year
1	BMW 3 Series	8.0%
2	BMW 5 Series	7.1%
3	Mercedes C-Class	6.1%
4	Nissan Versa Note	4.0%
5	Dodge Dart	3.9%
6	BMW X3	3.9%
7	BMW 4 Series	3.9%
8	Mercedes E-Class	3.9%
9	Chrysler 200	3.8%
10	Subaru WRX	3.3%
11	Nissan Versa	3.2%
Average For All Cars		1.5%

Two additional factors for luxury brands' high rates may include first-time owners' disappointment with entry-level trims, and quality or perceived quality issues resulting in early trade-ins.

All five non-luxury cars on the list were ranked average (3 stars) or worse in the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Initial Quality Study, which surveys consumers after 90 days of ownership. Quality issues were also notably the case for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class, while quality ratings for the BMWs on the list were mixed, depending on the model and model year.

It's important to note that a car's average or low quality ranking doesn't necessarily mean it's a lemon. It can simply be that the car isn't meeting consumers' expectations.

More info can be found in the full study on iSeeCars.com.

SOURCE iSeeCars.com