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Luxury brands top list of cars resold within first year

Luxury brands top list of cars resold within first year

The Nissan Versa is the only non-luxury model in the top 10.

German and British luxury vehicles are apparently the most likely to be sold or traded in within the first year of ownership, according to a list compiled by iSeeCars.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series and Land Rover Discovery Sport fill the top three spots, followed by the Range Rover Evoque, MINI Clubman and BMW X1.

Interestingly, the Nissan Versa and Versa Note are the only non-luxury models in the top 10, most of which have a first-year resale rate of more than 10 percent. Among the entire population of vehicles, an average of only 3.4 percent are orphaned in the first year.

"Despite the popularity of these vehicles, they generally have below-average reliability ratings from Consumer Reports, which could contribute to why owners get rid of them so quickly," says iSeeCars chief Phong Ly. "Another possible explanation is that BMW and Mercedes offer incentives to their dealers to buy new cars to use as loaner vehicles."

The analysis tends to focus on reliability but seems to ignore the possibility that luxury buyers might be more likely to upgrade their vehicle every year, perhaps less concerned with initial depreciation than the average buyer.