Best cars for residual values

The Fiat 500 is the safest new petrol car to invest your money in, according to Glass’s Guide. The valuation specialist has released a list of the petrol and diesel models that hold on to their price best – and as you can see from our table, versions of the stylish city car took first and fourth place in the petrol line-up.

A 69bhp 1.2-litre model in Sport trim is worth £6,275 after three years – that’s a fantastic 66.7 per cent of its £9,410 list price. And a 500C convertible in Pop trim, with the same engine, is worth £6,075 after the same period – 63.8 per cent of its £9,641 original list price.

The Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 was the top-performing diesel, with versions taking first and fifth place. The 4.5 D-4D clings to a mighty 79.5 per cent of its £54,510 list price after three years, so a 2009 car will still currently be worth £43,325.

Audi and Skoda both had separate models on the lists: the Audi Q7 was the third best petrol model and the Q5 third best diesel, while the Skoda Yeti and Octavia were the second and fourth best diesels respectively.

So which models suffered the steepest depreciation? Glass’s Guide was unable to tell us, but valuation firm CAP said the worst petrol model is currently the Proton Gen-2. The 1.6 auto four-door (from 2008 on) retains only 25.1 per cent of its value after three years. And the Vauxhall Zafira 1.7 CDTI 110 ecoFLEX Design (2009 on) holds on to a mere 30 per cent of its new price to take the diesel wooden spoon.