Car Depreciation & Resale Value Calculator
How much will your car be worth in 3, 5 or 7 years, and how much money will you lose to depreciation? See it in plain rupees, per year and per km, adjusted for fuel type, brand resale strength and your mileage. Then check whether buying used skips the worst of the drop. Built for India, 2026. No sign-up.
Why depreciation is the cost nobody counts
Ask most people what a car costs to own and they will talk about the EMI and the fuel. Both matter, but over five years the biggest single cost is usually neither. It is depreciation, the money that quietly disappears between what you paid and what someone will give you when you sell. On a ₹10 lakh car you can easily lose ₹5 to ₹6 lakh to it. This tool puts a real number on that, so you can see it before you buy, not after.
This is a forward estimate, not an insurance grid
Two very different "depreciation calculators" exist online. Insurance ones apply the fixed IRDAI grid to work out your IDV for a claim, which has little to do with real resale. Used-car sites like Orange Book Value, CarWale and Cars24 price one exact car from live listings, which is what you want the day you actually sell. This tool does the third job neither covers well: it looks forward and estimates how much value a car will shed over the years you keep it, as a cost you can plan around. For the market price of one specific used car today, use those valuation sites; for deciding what to buy and how much it will really cost, use this.
What moves the number
The base pattern for India is steep then slow: roughly 15 to 20% gone in year one, then about 10% of the original price each year after that, so a typical car keeps a little over 40% after five years. Three things push it around. Fuel: petrol holds up best, diesel and CNG a bit less, and EVs the most, because buyers worry about battery life and newer models keep arriving. Brand: Maruti Suzuki and Toyota are famous for holding value thanks to demand and cheap servicing, while luxury German cars, many EVs and less common brands fall hardest. Mileage and condition: heavy running, a patchy service book or any accident history all pull the price down further.
The smart-money move: let someone else take the first hit
Because the first year is the steepest drop, a two to three year old car has already done most of its falling. Buy one and you pay far less up front and lose much less to depreciation over the same years. The trade-offs are less warranty left, older technology and an unknown history, so buy one with full service records and a proper inspection. The panel above does this sum for your exact car.
Depreciation is only one part of the true cost of a car. Pair this with the Car Running Cost Calculator for fuel and servicing, the Car Loan EMI Calculator for your monthly payment, and the Road Tax Calculator for on-road price. Still shortlisting? The Find Your Car tool gives three honest picks for your budget.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a car depreciate per year in India?
As a rough guide, a car loses about 15 to 20% of its value in the first year, then roughly 10% of the original price each year after that. So after three years it is worth around 55 to 60% of what you paid, and after five years a little over 40%. Strong brands hold more, EVs and luxury cars less. The calculator above adjusts these for your car's fuel, brand and mileage.
Which cars hold their value best in India?
Maruti Suzuki and Toyota lead on resale, helped by huge demand, easy servicing and a reputation for reliability. Popular Hyundai, Honda, Tata, Kia and Mahindra models sit in the middle. The weakest resale is usually luxury German brands, less common badges and, for now, most electric cars. A model that is in demand second-hand always beats the brand average.
Do electric cars depreciate faster in India?
So far, yes, and this tool reflects that. Used buyers worry about battery health and replacement cost, and rapid new launches make older EVs look dated quickly, so early electric cars have lost value faster than petrol ones. This is improving as batteries prove durable and demand grows, so treat the EV figure as the most uncertain one here. A road-tax waiver in many states does soften the overall cost of owning an EV.
Is it cheaper to buy a new or a used car?
On depreciation alone, used almost always wins. A car that is two to three years old has already taken the steepest fall, so you pay less to buy it and lose less while you own it. New buys you the latest car, full warranty and a clean history, which can be worth the premium. The new-versus-used panel above shows the exact rupee gap for your car so you can decide.
Is this the same as the IDV or insurance depreciation?
No. Insurance uses a fixed IRDAI depreciation grid to set your Insured Declared Value for claims, which does not match what a car actually fetches in the resale market. This calculator estimates real-world resale value instead, so the two numbers will differ. Use the insurance figure for your policy, and this one for planning what a car will really cost you to own.
These figures are estimates built from typical Indian resale patterns and change over time. Real resale depends on the exact model, variant demand, condition, service history and your city. Confirm the live value of a specific car on a used-car valuation site before you buy or sell.