Which Cars Hold 75% of Their Value After 5 Years in the UAE?

Dubai: Most car buyers don’t necessarily think about resale value when they buy a car. What matters more is the price tag, the colour, the tech, and whether the car serves its purpose. But what is equally vital to know is that a car’s resale value is not just about selling it later; it also affects your actual ownership cost over five years.

In the UAE, this gap is real. A new car that depreciates slowly means you lose AED 50,000 over five years. A similar car that depreciates faster could push that figure to AED 150,000. That’s real money, and it is worth keeping in mind when making your decision.

This is why the idea of retaining 75 percent of a car’s value after five years matters, because it is considered a very strong benchmark. Holding on to three-quarters of its value is a huge accomplishment, but almost no cars get there. Most UAE buyers see their vehicles drop to 50 percent, sometimes lower.

But some cars don’t. A small club of models, mostly Japanese and some luxury brands, actually comes close to that 75 percent mark. Knowing which ones is valuable.

The Starting Point

Most of the available resale data for the UAE market tracks value retention after three years, not five, and for good reason. Depreciation does not slow down evenly. It is steepest in year one, considerable in years two and three, and by year five, even the strongest performers have usually dipped below the three-year figure everyone likes to quote. 

Model	Retained After 3 Years	Realistic Trajectory by Year 5
Toyota Land Cruiser	85 to 90 percent	Above 70 percent
Nissan Patrol	70 to 81 percent	Likely in the 60s
Toyota Prado	80 to 85 percent	In the high 60s to low 70s
Lexus LX	80 to 85 percent	Similar to the Prado
Toyota Camry	70 to 75 percent	Likely in the 40s to 50s
Average UAE car	50 to 60 percent	Often below 45 percent

So the true answer to the headline question is that almost nothing lands exactly at 75 percent after five years. The Land Cruiser is the closest thing to a real exception, and even that comes with conditions around the variant, mileage, and condition. 

Five Years Is Different

A car crossing the five-year mark in the UAE usually means the manufacturing warranty has expired, the first major service intervals have arrived, and a new generation of the same model may already be on sale. All three of those things push used buyers to negotiate harder, which is part of why the drop from year three to year five is rarely gentle. 

• The full-size SUVs with real off-road pedigree and fleet demand, the Land Cruiser and Patrol chief among them, hold up best because scarcity and trust outweigh normal wear concerns.
• Mostly sedans fare worse than SUVs at this stage, since the UAE’s buyer market has moved heavily toward SUVs for both status and practicality.
• Also, luxury European SUVs, the Mercedes G-Class aside, tend to see the highest drop, often landing well below 50 percent as maintenance costs on an ageing example start to worry used buyers.
• Colour and specification still matter at this stage too. A neutral white or silver example with a mid-range variant tends to sell faster and closer to guide price than an unusually specced or brightly coloured car, even within the same model.

The G-Class Exception

Now here’s the exception. The Mercedes-Benz G-Class deserves a specific mention because it breaks the usual pattern for European luxury. Where a GLE or an X5 loses value quickly, the G-Class holds around 79 percent after three years and remains one of the very few non-Japanese models that actually competes with the Land Cruiser on long-term resale. 

The reason is not hard to understand: scarcity plays a large role since Mercedes deliberately limits supply, and that scarcity does not disappear as the car ages the way it does with mainstream luxury SUVs. 

What To Expect

If you are in the market, these are the realities worth keeping in mind: it is best to aim for a reasonable resale target rather than chase a specific percentage that only a handful of vehicles ever reach. 

• If you are planning to sell or trade in around the five-year mark, you should look specifically at the Land Cruiser, Patrol, Prado, Lexus LX, or G-Class if resale value matters more than anything else in the decision.
• For everything outside that short list, a more realistic target is 40 to 55 percent retention after five years, and buyers should budget accordingly rather than assume their car will be the exception.
• The car’s condition, documented service history, and low mileage still move the needle by five to ten percent either way, regardless of which model is involved.

In Summary

So basically, the 75 percent figure looks appealing, but it describes a ceiling almost no car actually reaches after five years in the UAE, not a realistic average. The Land Cruiser gets closest, with the Patrol, Prado, Lexus LX, and G-Class trailing not far behind. Everything else, including plenty of solidly built and popular cars, settles well below that mark by year five, and buyers who understand that going in are far less likely to feel disappointed when it comes time to sell.

Also Read: Chinese Car Resale Values in the UAE Are Falling Fast: Should You Still Buy One?