Which Volkswagen T-Cross trim holds its value better? All of them!

It’s clear that Volkswagen’s current product range boasts some of the strongest value retention statistics in the local market – even the high-end Touareg premium SUV holds onto its value astonishingly well. Does this strong resistance to depreciation translate to their smaller SUVs as well? We investigated the entry-level T-Cross crossover to find out.

To evaluate the T-Cross’s value retention, we hunted down 2019-vintage examples listed on AutoTrader (the year of this model’s local arrival), and compared their current market values to what they cost when new. We set a mileage cap of 40 000 km on our subject cars, which corresponds with the upper industry average yearly mileage of 20 000 km for a 2-year-old car.

2019 Volkswagen T-Cross 1.0 TSI 85 kW Comfortline DSG

New Price: R 334 600

Current Market Value: R 366 048

Value Retained: 109.4%

The entry-level T-Cross’s value retention warrants a closer look, because very few mass-market cars even approach retaining their new-car value – let alone exceed it. But yes, this is the truth: most examples of the base-trim Volkswagen T-Cross are listed for more than they cost two years ago. 

Even in the event of a trade-in, a current T-Cross 1.0 TSI Comfortline owner would have reason to smile, because they could get back as much as 93% of their car’s original value from a dealership. This makes the T-Cross one of the best-performing mainstream cars out there, and almost turns it into a good investment opportunity.

2019 Volkswagen T-Cross 1.0 TSI 85 kW Highline DSG

New Price: R 365 000

Current Market Value: R 407 943

Value Retained: 111.7%

If you thought the lower-trim T-Cross Comfortline puts up a strong value retention performance, the mid-level Highline variant does even better. This derivative retains no less than 111.7% of its new-car value after two years, proving that the Comfortline’s data is indeed repeatable (and then some). 

It's the same story with trade-in values as well, because a 2019 T-Cross Highline should still retain 95% of its original value when trading it in on something else. This is great news for those who financed their cars with a balloon payment, as it points towards a near-certainty that their cars will still be worth more than the outstanding amount, at the end of their finance agreement.

2019 Volkswagen T-Cross 1.5 TSI 110 kW R-line DSG

Interestingly, there wasn’t a single 2019 T-Cross 1.5TSI listed on site at the time of writing, with the only examples on site being 2020-vintage or newer. However, applying the same criteria to 2020-model 1.5TSI examples shows that these are now also worth more than they were when new. 

In fact, a year-old T-Cross 1.5TSI is currently worth 115.4% of its original value, and a current owner could expect as 98.1% of its value when trading it in. This shows that the entire T-Cross range is almost completely resistant to initial (short-term) depreciation, and any variant should be as good an investment as a new-car buyer could ever expect.

Verdict

The Volkswagen T-Cross bucks the overwhelming trend of new cars losing as much as 20% of their value after the first two years. In fact, if someone bought a new T-Cross back in 2019 and wanted to sell it on right now, they’d most likely get more than they originally paid for it (especially in private sales). 

Even trading it in shouldn’t cause many tears, because the T-Cross would have lost almost none of its value in two years. This picture is likely to change somewhat when these cars’ standard service plan for 3 years or 45 000 km expire, of course, but current owners still have a year or so before that happens...