Among five-year-old compact SUVs, the Ford Escape stood alone on affordability and the number of original owners still owning the vehicle. The same is true for the 2022 Jeep Wagoneer in the full-size category.
Driving the news: New research from CARFAX looked at the affordable options among 5-year-old SUVs, looking for those under its affordable ceiling, and matched those with the vehicles that had the highest percentage of original owners.
SUVs have the largest share of the used market, making up collectively between the different segments, around 50%, during the third quarter, according to Catalyst IQ data.
CARFAX, in the study, featured subcompact, compact, midsize, full-size, luxury subcompact, luxury compact, luxury midsize, and luxury full-size SUVs.
Standing by themselves: With the affordability ceiling set at $20,000, the Ford Escape was the only model to fit the criteria in the compact category, with an average price of $19,700 and 62% of original owners still owning the vehicle.
The Jeep Wagoneer also stood out in the full-size category, with its average price of $36,100, almost $4,000 below the ceiling of $40,000 and $10,000 under the average price for full-size SUVs.
56% of the Jeep Wagoneers were with the original owner.
Other standouts: The Chevrolet Trax, at an average price of $16,700 and an original-owner percentage of 59%, led subcompact SUVs, just ahead of the Buick Encore at $18,900 with 62% being retained by original owners.
The Hyundai Santa Fe topped the deep midsize category with the average listing at $25,100 and 56% staying with original owners.
The midsize category had eight options under the affordability ceiling of $30,000.
Among the luxury models, the BMW X1 led subcompacts ($23,400; 47% original owners), Infiniti QX50 led compacts ($25,700, 62%), Volvo XC90 midsize ($31,900, 64%), and Infiniti QX80 full-size ($40,600, 47%).
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What they’re saying: “CARFAX data shows us these models have retained more of their original owners than other models. So there’s some level of loyalty being displayed here,” CARFAX Editor-in-Chief Patrick Olsen told CDG News.
Bottom line: In looking at inventory, dealers should consider loyalty ranks to match affordable options with what consumers are searching for.
“I think shoppers and dealers both can embrace models that show they’re less than the average for a segment, and for which owners have shown loyalty,” Olsen said. “So these models are a good choice for both shoppers and dealers.”
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