01The floor that is not there
Ask most owners what happens to a car after ten years and you will hear some version of the same thing: it has taken its hit, it is worth what it is worth, and it will hold there. It is a comforting idea and our data does not support it.
13.7%
Annual loss between years 10 and 15
Median across six models, from observed asking prices
5.5%
Annual loss across the first five years
Same six models — the rate more than doubles with age
43.1%
Of the near-new price left at ten years
Median observed, across the same six models
| Model | Near-new ask | At 10 years | At 15 years | Lost per year, 10→15 | Annual rate, 10→15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perodua Alza | RM60,409 | RM26,405 | RM13,597 | RM2,562 | 12.4% |
| Toyota Vios | RM69,215 | RM33,992 | RM16,999 | RM3,399 | 12.9% |
| Perodua Myvi | RM46,050 | RM22,793 | RM11,177 | RM2,323 | 13.3% |
| Toyota Corolla Altis | RM106,150 | RM39,231 | RM18,462 | RM4,154 | 14.0% |
| Honda City | RM68,765 | RM29,198 | RM13,485 | RM3,143 | 14.3% |
| Proton Saga | RM30,909 | RM12,007 | RM5,211 | RM1,359 | 15.4% |
Read the last two columns together. A fifteen-year-old Perodua Myvi asks about RM11,177 against RM22,793 at ten years old — it has halved again. The Proton Saga loses the smallest amount of money of any car here, RM1,359 a year, and loses the largest share of what it has left, 15.4% a year.
02Why an old car feels cheap to own when it is not
The gap between how depreciation feels and what it costs is at its widest on an old car, and the reason is arithmetic rather than psychology.
A five per cent loss on a RM60,000 car is RM3,000. A fourteen per cent loss on a RM21,000 car is also about RM3,000. The owner of the older car experiences a number that sounds alarming and a bill that is the same, while the owner of the newer car experiences the reverse. Neither is wrong about their own experience; both would be wrong to generalise from it.
What this changes in practice:
- An old car is not a free car to hold. If you keep a ten-year-old Vios for another five years, our observed prices say roughly RM17,000 of value passes through your hands whether or not you notice it.
- The saving from buying old is a one-time transfer, not an ongoing discount. You capture the earlier owner's loss when you buy. After that, the ringgit meter runs at roughly the same rate it did for them.
- Repair decisions on an old car are harder than they look. A RM4,000 repair on a car losing RM2,800 a year in value is a large fraction of a year's depreciation, which is the comparison worth making before authorising the work.
- Running costs matter more, not less, as the car ages. Once depreciation stops being the dominant cost in ringgit, road tax, insurance and servicing move up the table — and the JPJ rate schedule does not care how old the car is.
03Only six cars could answer this question
Measuring what happens at fifteen years old requires a deep supply of fifteen-year-old cars for sale. Very few Malaysian nameplates have one, and the ones that do are not a random sample.
We required at least two model-year cohorts and 150 listings at both ends — around age ten and around age fifteen — before computing anything. Of the thirty models corroborated in our market-wide analysis, six cleared that on both sides: the Perodua Alza and Myvi, the Toyota Vios and Corolla Altis, the Honda City and the Proton Saga.
| Model | Listings aged 9–11 | Listings aged 14–16 |
|---|---|---|
| Perodua Myvi | 1,050 | 764 |
| Toyota Vios | 961 | 637 |
| Honda City | 927 | 216 |
| Perodua Alza | 852 | 400 |
| Proton Saga | 542 | 343 |
| Toyota Corolla Altis | 250 | 203 |
What these numbers are, precisely
Every figure here is a weighted median asking price for a group of cars of a given age in one snapshot — not a record of following individual vehicles as they aged. The ten-year-old Alza in this table is a 2016 car and the near-new one is a 2026 car, and they are different vehicles from different generations. That is the standard caveat across this series and it matters more here than anywhere, because fifteen years is long enough for a nameplate to change substantially. This is editorial analysis of asking-price patterns, not how a Carvaly valuation is calculated. Understanding your Carvaly valuation explains how to read a result.
04What to actually do with this
The practical value of this finding is that it changes which number you should be watching as a car ages.
- If you are buying a ten-year-old car: budget for roughly RM2,500 to RM4,000 a year of continuing depreciation, depending on the model. It is not a fixed asset and pricing it as one will cost you at resale.
- If you are deciding whether to keep or sell an old car: compare the annual depreciation against the annual running cost. On these six models the two are close enough that a single large repair can tip the decision.
- If you are buying cheap to save money: the saving is real but it is captured at purchase. Buying at ten years old transfers the first owner's loss to you; it does not switch the meter off.
- If you want the genuine ringgit floor: the Proton Saga at RM1,359 a year is the lowest here, and it is the lowest because it is the cheapest car in the group, not because it holds value best in percentage terms — it holds worst.
- In every case: these are cohort-level patterns. Condition, service history and mileage matter more on a fifteen-year-old car than on any other, and they are exactly what a segment average cannot see.
Frequently asked questions
Do cars stop depreciating after 10 years in Malaysia?
No. Across the six models we could measure at both ages, cars lose a median 13.7% of their remaining value a year between ten and fifteen years old — a faster percentage rate than the 5.5% a year they lose across their first five. What creates the impression of a floor is that the ringgit amount stays roughly flat, because the percentage is being applied to a much smaller number.
How much is a 10-year-old car worth in Malaysia?
In our 14 August 2026 snapshot the median across six high-volume models was 43.1% of the near-new asking price. A ten-year-old Perodua Myvi asked about RM22,793 against RM46,050 near new, a Toyota Vios RM33,992 against RM69,215, and a Proton Saga RM12,007 against RM30,909. These are asking prices for cars of that age today, not a record of following individual vehicles.
Is it cheaper to own an old car in Malaysia?
Not on depreciation, which is the surprising part. The median annual loss between ten and fifteen years old was RM2,852, against RM2,946 across the first five years — effectively the same money. The saving from buying old is captured once, at purchase, when you take over the earlier owner's loss. After that the ringgit cost per year is similar.
Which car holds its value best after 10 years?
In percentage terms the Perodua Alza was slowest to lose value between ten and fifteen, at 12.4% a year, followed by the Toyota Vios at 12.9%. In ringgit the Proton Saga loses least at RM1,359 a year — but that is because it is the cheapest car in the group, and it loses the largest share of what remains at 15.4% a year.
Why were only six models measured?
Because measuring what happens at fifteen years old requires a deep supply of fifteen-year-old cars listed for sale, and we require at least two model-year cohorts and 150 listings at both ends before computing anything. Only six of our thirty corroborated models cleared that at both ages, and all six are high-volume mainstream nameplates. The finding is solid for those cars and untested for the rest of the market.
Sources and references
- Carvaly: Understanding your Carvaly valuation
- Carvaly Market Intelligence: Malaysia Used-Car Market Report · July 2026
- JPJ Malaysia: Motor Vehicle Licence Rate Calculation Guide
- Paul Tan's Automotive News: Top 20 Cars in 2025 — Bezza Sold Over 100k Units, Saga Fourth With 71k
- data.gov.my: Car Registration Transactions