Used Car Depreciation by Model Year: 2026 Market Data
Real median asking prices by model year across the used-car market. See the depreciation curve from 2024 ($25,500) down to 2010 ($4,500) — and why the 2015–2017 model years are a common flip target.
Updated · 3 min read
The short answer
On the active used-car market, median asking price falls from about $25,500 for a 2024 down to $4,500 for a 2010 — the steepest drops hit in the first 5 years. Listing volume peaks at model years 2015–2017 (~20,000 listings each), which sit right in the $7,200–$9,600 range. High supply at a lower price makes those model years a common place to look for flip candidates.
Median asking price falls from about $25,500 for a 2024 model year to $4,500 for a 2010, with the steepest drops in the first 5 years. Listing volume peaks at model years 2015 to 2017 (about 20,000 listings each, $7,200 to $9,600 median). We measured it against real market data, the median asking price for every model year on the active used-car market.
LocalIQ™ market snapshot
What top flip candidates are asking right now
Model
Listings
Median asking price
GMC Sierra 1500
636
$29,918
Honda Civic
5,496
$15,000
Honda Accord
4,265
$15,999
Ford F-150
3,156
$24,000
Toyota Corolla
3,111
$14,500
Nissan Sentra
3,087
$9,800
Toyota Camry
2,558
$17,000
Hyundai Elantra
2,419
$9,500
LocalIQ™ asking-price median · 24,728 listings · updated every 6 hours. National, last 8 model years; asking price is your resale ceiling.
The depreciation curve (median asking price by model year)
Model year
Active listings
Median price
2024
7,454
$25,466
2023
8,812
$24,500
2022
8,032
$21,950
2021
9,582
$18,900
2020
11,670
$15,495
2019
15,572
$13,950
2018
17,300
$11,995
2017
19,856
$9,600
2016
19,575
$8,000
2015
19,782
$7,200
2014
17,532
$6,400
2013
16,335
$5,500
2012
13,633
$5,000
2011
10,579
$4,900
2010
8,745
$4,500
What the curve shows
The first five years are brutal. A 2024 lists at ~$25,500; by 2020 (four years older) it's ~$15,500 — a ~40% drop in four years. That's the classic "new-car cliff."
Then it flattens. From 2017 ($9,600) to 2010 ($4,500), the car loses value far more slowly per year. The steep part of the curve is behind it.
Supply peaks in the middle. Listing volume tops out at model years 2015–2017 (~20,000 listings each) — these are the cars flooding the market as their original owners trade up. More supply = more chances to find an underpriced one.
The flipper's sweet spot: 2015–2017
Put the price curve and the supply curve together and one band lights up:
Price: $7,200–$9,600 median — a lower-capital range per unit.
Supply: the three highest-volume model years on the market — you can actually find inventory, and find it underpriced.
Age: recent enough to be reliable and financeable, old enough that the steep depreciation already happened (so you're not the one eating it).
Newer cars (2021+) tie up far more capital per unit. Much older cars (pre-2012) get cheap but inventory thins and repair risk climbs. The middle is a reasonable place to start testing velocity and margin against your own market. See Best Cars to Flip Under $10,000 for specific models in this band.
The catch (same as always)
A depreciation curve is a national average. The dollar you actually make depends on the local price for a specific year/make/model — which varies by thousands across states. Pair this with Cheapest States to Flip Cars and run the real numbers with the Max Bid Calculator before you buy.
Methodology
Median asking prices from CarFlipIQ's listings dataset — active used-car listings priced $1,000–$100,000 across all 50 US states (snapshot of June 2026: 463,000+ active vehicles). "Median price" is the 50th-percentile asking price per model year. Figures reflect asking prices, a proxy for market value, not final sale prices.
See the real local price for any year and model.
CarFlipIQ tracks prices and days-on-market across all 50 states, so you buy against the local number, not a national average. Check any car.
The steepest depreciation is in the first 5 years. On the active market, median asking price runs about $25,500 (2024), $18,900 (2021), $15,500 (2020), then flattens: $9,600 (2017), $7,200 (2015), and $4,500 (2010). After that the curve flattens out and older cars lose value more slowly per year.
What is the best model year to buy a used car?
For value, the 2015–2017 model years are the sweet spot: prices have already absorbed the steep early depreciation ($7,200–$9,600 median) but the cars are recent enough to be reliable — and they're the most abundant on the market (~20,000 listings each), so you have selection and leverage.
Which model years are best for flipping cars?
The 2015–2017 years combine the two things a flipper wants: high supply (easy to source an underpriced one) and a lower price that keeps capital per unit modest. Newer years tie up more capital; much older years get thin on inventory.
How we get these numbers
Market figures come from LocalIQ™, CarFlipIQ's index of asking prices on local used-car listings. We report medians rather than averages, so a few outlier listings can't drag the number, and a model only appears once it has at least 10 listings behind it. Treat the median asking price as your resale ceiling. How we get our numbers →
Check the resale before you bid
Look up any year, make and model against LocalIQ™ asking prices in your market.
Our Q3 2026 study of 255,458 used-car listings. Matched on model, year and mileage, the same car is listed 13% under the national price in Florida and 12% over it in Idaho. Also: which high-volume models sold fastest, with the sample size behind every number.
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We analyzed 1.4 million used-car listings across 48 states. The median car costs 2.8x more in the priciest state than the cheapest — here's where to buy, where to sell, and the cross-state arbitrage flippers can actually use.
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