Is the initial price and the maintenance, the total cost of a vehicle? Good question! There are other costs like resale value. This one is a huge factor. When you attempt, to trade in your vehicle in four or five years, what is it going to be worth? What percentage of the original price can you expect to realize?

There are books and websites that will predict resale percentage based on customer’s past experiences, industry data and market statistics. It is not easy to figure out resale value but it should be a factor in making a buying decision.
An example could be, company A’s vehicle costs $21000 and the four year return, in good condition, is estimated at $6300 (30%). The four year cost was the maintenance and $14700. Company B’s vehicle cost $26000 and the estimated resale value is $11700 (45%). Total cost of B is $14300 plus maintenance. A’s original cost was $5000 less than B’s original cost but the total cost of ownership was $400 more for A. We do not look at this enough when buying. The tendency is to look only at the selling price. This is one of the reasons why shoppers can often, lease a higher priced vehicle, for the same payment, as a lower priced vehicle. Resale value, called residual value by leasing companies, is one of the biggest factors in calculating a lease payment. It is no secret that I love Honda cars.

They have great resale value, low maintenance costs, great repair records and they are very safe. Sure, they cost a little more but when you figure in maintenance and resale value, they often cost less, sometimes a lot less. Where do you find resale value statistics? I have included a few links. Be careful about what website to use for resale but I like these.
http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/best-retained-value-cars.html

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/top-cars-in-class-high-resale-value-1.aspx

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2013/11/top-10-best-car-resale-values-for-2014.html

If you like CNN, here is what they say

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2013/11/top-10-best-car-resale-values-for-2014.html
It is not an exact science so the top 10 can very but they are all good.  Most websites and news sites will generally agree on which brands are best.