Here's How Much A 2021 Hyundai Veloster Has Depreciated In 5 Years

The Hyundai Veloster, introduced for the 2012 model year, is a relatively inexpensive and quirky three-door compact car. It blends sporty coupe styling and practical hatchback usability with one door on the driver's side and two doors on the passenger's side. In hopped-up performance versions such as the Veloster N, it can be a special little rocket that's fun to throw around. That model gets a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four making 275 horsepower, helping to push it from naught to 60 mph in as fast as 5.1 seconds. 

The more ordinary versions make do with either a 201 horsepower 1.6-liter turbo-four or a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder with 147 horses. But no matter the variant, all Velosters lose value or depreciate as they get older — like almost every car. And, according to Kelly Blue Book, the 2021 Hyundai Veloster is seeing steep depreciation, having lost about 46% of its value on the used car market after typical ownership over five years. Looking at the base-spec 2.0 Coupe, that's almost $10,000 slashed off its as-new price of $20,905, leaving its retained value at just over $11,000. It's good news for those looking to buy a used car to drive around in — less so if you bought this car new and have already absorbed the steepest part of the depreciation curve.

While the Hyundai Veloster is certainly unique, its three-door layout has meant that it's not for everyone. This limits the car's appeal and may explain why it isn't popular enough to command higher resale values. That, of course, is in addition to the fact that Americans are not very big on small cars in general. Unsurprisingly, other Velosters don't fare any better. The 2022 iteration has suffered a 40% loss in its value in the last three years alone, leaving its current resale value at $18,550. Factor in its original MSRP of $33,595 and that puts the depreciation rate at around 45% after just four years of ownership.

Interestingly, the 2022 Veloster in question is the N version, which is a rather special model thanks to its performance credentials. It was the only version that continued into the new model year after Hyundai decided to drop the regular models in 2021 due to poor sales. Crucially, though, KBB lists a fair purchase price of $20,400 for the average 2022 Veloster, so the seemingly-massive depreciation might not be as bad as it looks. But there won't be much reprieve for owners down the line, as the site expects resale value to follow a falling trend into 2028, reaching as far down as about $14,000 – making for a loss of over 57% of its value after six years.

The Veloster found itself in one of the most competitive classes when it arrived for the 2021 model year. It formidable competition from the Honda Civic and Mazda3, as well as the Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Corolla, and Subaru Impreza. Compared to all these cars, Hyundai's compact model depreciated the most from new in the last five years. But the Veloster isn't entirely alone, as the 2021 Volkswagen Golf similarly lost 45% of its value in five years. The Mazda3 and Corolla fare better than the VW Golf and Veloster on that front, losing just about 40-41% from their values in five years. For the 2021 Mazda3, this means it performed slightly worse than the 2020 model, considering our analysis showed a 39% depreciation for the latter. 

Still, 2021 compacts such as the Honda Civic and Subaru Impreza held up well. Looking at its original starting MSRP of $22,265 and current resale value of $15,250, the Civic's value has dropped by only 32% in five years. Meanwhile, the 2021 Subaru Impreza's starting MSRP of $21,020 has turned into a current value of $14,550, allowing it to see a more modest loss of value at around 31%. But while it has had the sharpest decline, the 2021 Veloster's higher depreciation does put it in an affordable price bracket for used car shoppers. A perfect example of this can be found in one model with nearly 115,000 miles, which is priced at just under $15,000 on Carfax.