Buyer’s Remorse: These 10 Luxury Cars Are Most Likely To Be Returned Within A Year

Buying a new car is a big decision, but it may not be one that is always thought through properly, as many buyers are moving on from their decision surprisingly quickly. A new study from iSeeCars examined the market to determine which cars are most likely to be resold after a single year with their owners, and luxury vehicles lead the top 10. This could be down to a high rate of depreciation or the realization that these pricey cars are not actually within the buyers’ budgets, be that on the monthly payments or in terms of maintenance. Another potential reason could be that luxury buyers simply move on quicker to avoid selling their cars with high mileage or to take advantage of the features that a newer, facelifted model provides. Whatever the reason, the following vehicles are resold sooner than others.

Porsche, Land Rover, And Mercedes Top The Charts

The automotive analytics firm used data from more than 18.5 million individual new car sales from the 2022-2025 model years in 2023 and 2024 and determined that Porsche, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW were at the top of the list of cars whose owners appear to be suffering buyer’s remorse, returning their vehicles within the first year of ownership.

1. Land Rover Discovery Sport (early resale rate: 28.3%)
2. Porsche Macan (early resale rate: 22.2%)
3. Mercedes-Benz GLB Class (early resale rate: 21.2%)
4. Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class (early resale rate: 20.4%)
5. Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class (early resale rate: 16.7%)
6. Land Rover Range Rover Evoque (early resale rate: 16.4%)
7. Mercedes-Benz C-Class (early resale rate: 14%)
8. Land Rover Discovery (early resale rate: 13.6%)
9. BMW 5 Series (early resale rate: 13.4%)
10. Jaguar F-Pace (early resale rate: 13.3%)

Mercedes-Benz dominates the list in terms of having the most models in the top 10 with four, while Land Rover comes second with three (though if we lump all JLR products together, the group ties with Mercedes). BMW and Porsche only have one entry each, though the latter has a high rate of resale. By brand, Land Rover dealers have an 8.9% chance of seeing their vehicles returned in the first year, a figure almost doubled by Porsche at 16%. Jaguar comes in at 10.7%, while Mercedes has a 9.1% chance of being returned in the first year, and BMW as a whole only has a 6.2% chance. The top 10 brands likely to be returned in the first year are as follows:

1. Porsche (chance of being returned: 16%)
2. Jaguar (chance of being returned: 10.7%)
3. Mercedes-Benz (chance of being returned: 9.1%)
4. Land Rover (chance of being returned: 8.9%)
5. Infiniti (chance of being returned: 6.5%)
6. BMW (chance of being returned: 6.2%)
7. Genesis (chance of being returned: 6.1%)
8. Audi (chance of being returned: 6%)
9. Mini (chance of being returned: 6%)
10. Maserati (chance of being returned: 5.7%)

Unclear Why New Luxury Cars Are Sold So Quickly

“Multiple factors can contribute to why a new car is resold so quickly,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “Owner dissatisfaction is the most obvious case, but financial hardship and even creative dealer accounting can also drive this number up, with some retailers registering demonstration vehicles as sold to increase sales numbers for their stores and the manufacturer.” The analyst went on to say that luxury buyers may not be doing enough research before buying, and given that many of the vehicles on the list are entry-level offerings from their respective manufacturers, this theory makes sense. However, he also suggested that these buyers may just be “incredibly fickle” when it comes to new car purchases. Whatever the reason, these stats are good news for those wanting to get a low-mileage luxury car at a good deal.