Best used cars for the money in 2024

Lately, used cars haven’t been the good values they once were. New vehicle shortages and high demand have caused significant volatility in the used market, making it even more important to find the best used vehicles available for the money. iSeeCars has some ideas, as it recently released its list of the 5- and 10-year-old best used cars for the money in 2024, ranking them by their cost per remaining 10,000 miles of expected lifespan.

The list of the 20 best 5-year-old used cars has plenty of familiar names from brands that are most associated with reliability, such as the Honda Fit, Toyota Avalon, and Honda Accord. Even so, the top vehicle worth its salt is a Chevy.

Best 5-year-old used cars (2024):

Chevrolet Trax: $1,442 per 10,000 miles remaining
Honda Fit: $1,473
Honda Insight: $1,485
Buick Encore: $1,492
Mitsubishi Outlander Sport: $1,498
Honda Accord: $1,542
Honda CR-V: $1,588
Honda Ridgeline: $1,647
Toyota Avalon: $1,694
Jeep Renegade: $1,716

Mitsubishi landed the Outlander in 11th place, and the Hyundai Tucson placed 17, showing the value of their long, 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranties. All of the top 20 list beat the overall average of $2,249 per 10,000 miles. However, stretching that timeframe to 10 years narrows the playing field to mostly the brands you probably expected:

Best 10-year-old used cars (2024):

Toyota Avalon: $1,369
Honda CR-V: $1,417
Honda Accord: $1,427
Mazda CX-9: $1,453
Lincoln MKX: $1,481
Lexus GS 350: $1,513
Toyota Prius C: $1,539
Buick Encore: $1,550
Honda Ridgeline: $1,595
Lexus CT 200h: $1,623

iSeeCars’ executive analyst Karl Brauer points to the value each vehicle provides, saying, “Used car buyers on a tight budget can still find plenty of life left in these 10-year-old cars. For less than $13,000, a vehicle like the Buick Encore or Mazda CX-9 still has more than 40 percent of its lifespan remaining, which equates to more than 80,000 miles of use.

For the full lists and more details, check out the complete iSeeCars study.