Prices can be deceiving: Five vehicles that offer the most value over time

Buying a new vehicle is just the start of being able to afford it. On top of the manufacturer’s list price, there are the extra fees and taxes and the price of financing, and then there’s the cost of maintenance, repairs, fuel and insurance. After all those, there’s the depreciation: a vehicle that holds its value better will cost less in its lifetime.

Each month, the research firm Vincentric tallies all those costs over an anticipated five years of ownership, and applies them to almost every vehicle sold in Canada, as part of a database it supplies to automotive clients. Every year, it uses this data to name the country’s best automotive values.

“We’re catering to a very analytical group,” says Vincentric president David Wurster. “Some people think they got a good deal because the price was low, but we have many instances of vehicles that are priced low, but have a higher cost of ownership than vehicles that are priced higher. They’re looking at the wrong metric, from our perspective.”

Vincentric also considers “opportunity costs,” which are the interest earnings that could have been generated if that vehicle’s out-of-pocket expenses had been invested in a savings account.

The firm separates its rankings into five vehicle categories, and there are some standout vehicles among the winners in those categories. For 2021, the big winner is Toyota/Lexus, with top-placed vehicles in 12 of the 33 possible model categories. It’s also electric vehicles in general, with three of the five best-in-category winners being EVs.

These are the most highly scored models in each vehicle category:

Passenger car

Mazda MX-5 (Sports car)

2020 Mazda MX-5brendan mcaleer/The Globe and Mail

The little MX-5, still called the Miata in the United States, has won the Vincentric title six times. Its cost of ownership over the next five years is projected to be 9 per cent better than expected, thanks partly to having the lowest insurance cost, the lowest maintenance cost and the lowest operating costs in its class.

Base price: $33,200
Engine: 2.0-litre inline-four, 181 hp, 151 lb-ft
Transmission/Drive: 6-speed manual or automatic / RWD
Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 9.0 City, 6.6 Hwy. (automatic)

Other category winners by class:

Kia Rio (Subcompact): The least expensive vehicle on the list, the five-door Kia Rio starts at $17,295.
Honda Civic (Compact): The Civic has been Canada’s best-selling passenger car for more than two decades and is built in Alliston, Ont. The 11th-generation of the model will be introduced this summer.
Volkswagen Golf (Compact Hatchback): Volkswagen started making the Golf in 1974, and it’s now in its eighth generation.
Honda Accord (Mid-size): Now in its 10th generation, the Accord is one of the best-selling passenger cars in the United States.
Toyota Avalon (Large sedan): This is the eighth Vincentric win for the Avalon, which was redesigned for its fifth generation in 2018.
Toyota Corolla Hybrid (Hybrid): The already reliable and fuel-efficient Corolla is made even more frugal with its hybrid engine, a $1,400 option to the regular mid-grade model.
Kia Soul EV (Electric / PHEV): Already in its second generation, the fully-electric Kia Soul starts at $42,995 in Canada before rebates.

Luxury car

Audi e-tron (Luxury electric / PHEV)

The fully-electric e-tron has been sold in Canada for the past two years, with a base price of $85,600. Its total cost of ownership was a huge 21 per cent better than expected, with the lowest maintenance costs, and the lowest depreciation rate and highest resale value in its class.

Base price: $85,600
Motor: Two asynchronous electric motors, 402 hp, 490 lb-ft.
Drive: AWD
Electric range: 357 km