Used-car buyers looking for newish models have good prospects ahead. Prices are expected to drop starting this summer as a glut of vehicles leased in 2012 come off lease this year.

We picked a dozen vehicles, most of them three or four years old, that scored well for performance, value and safety in Kiplinger's rankings when they were new--and have proven reliable since then.

Chances are good you'll find a match for your preferences and pocketbook among our choices.

2013 Toyota Camry

Price when new: $23,490 (LE)

Certified used price: $16,858

Dealer used price: $15,658

Private-party price: $13,760

MPG (city/hwy): 25/35

Toyota has sold a zillion Camrys, with good reason: They are competent, dead-reliable appliances at a minimum, and if you opt for the SE sport option you can even dial in a hair of excitement. For the broadest audience, we'll go with the 4-cylinder with an automatic in the modest LE trim.

Though we've called out the Camry Hybrid as both a Best in Class and Best New Car in years past, it's harder to recommend it now that gas prices have fallen. The hybrid is still fine, but it will take you about two additional years to recover the extra you'll pay for it with what you'll save at the gas pump.

2013 Chevrolet Tahoe

Price when new: $41,400 (LS)

Certified used price: $31,025

Dealer used price: $29,675

Private-party price: $27,232

MPG (city/hwy): 15/21

With the optional front-row bench, the Tahoe can transport an entire baseball team, plus carry the bats, balls and other equipment in the 16.9 cubic feet behind the third row (60 cubic feet when you remove the third row). If hauling a trailer or boat is your thing, it can tow up to 8,500 pounds. All models come with Bluetooth. Look for passenger-friendly perks such as the power fold-and-tumble second row, and such driver-friendly features as rear park assist, a rearview camera and a blind-spot monitoring system. A hybrid is available, with 25% better gas mileage, but it'll cost you at least $10,000 more. You'll need to drive a long, long way to recover that price premium.

Also consider the GMC Yukon, which is mechanically identical but has slight design variations.

2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan

Price when new: $50,275 (E350)

Certified used price: $26,960

Dealer used price: $24,360

Private-party price: $22,155

MPG (city/hwy): 17/25

German luxury cars set the standard for safety, and Mercedes-Benz is the most safety-conscious of the Deutsche crop.

The 2010 E-Class redesign brought to the lineup standard Attention Assist, which monitors the driver via steering inputs for signs of drowsiness and alerts you if you need a break. Other features in the 2011 models include lane-departure warning, blind-spot assist and a collision-warning system that will brake automatically if the warnings are not heeded. Nine airbags come standard, and some models have rear-seat side airbags, bringing the total to 11.

If the 268 horses of the V6 E350 aren't enough, check out the E550 (382 hp), the E63 AMG (518) or the fuel-efficient E350 BlueTec diesel, one of our favorite cars for long road trips.

2013 Kia Soul

Price when new: $18,495 (Plus)

Certified used price: $15,174

Dealer used price: $14,278

Private-party price: $12,648

MPG (city/hwy): 23/28

You know, the hamster car? You don't have to appreciate the enduring ad campaign to recognize the value inherent in taking a small-car platform and raising the roof so that passengers can ride in comfort, with plenty of room for luggage. Plus, it earns a Top Safety Pick designation from the IIHS.

This Kiplinger favorite is a good car for both young drivers (it included Bluetooth and USB integration back when those were uncommon on a cheap car) and older drivers (upright seating position, decent visibility). Highway mileage is ho-hum for its class, partly as a consequence of having to push that brick-like shape through the air.

2011 Lexus RX 350

Price when new: $39,950 (without packages)

Certified used price: $27,076

Dealer used price: $24,576

Private-party price: $22,235

MPG (city/hwy): 18/25

In the RX you get a sleek package with a silky smooth ride. Plus, it's a technological tour de force.

Taken together, these features made it one of our Greatest Cars of the 21st Century. Ten airbags, Bluetooth and a nine-speaker sound system are standard. Out in the marketplace you'll find models with options such as smart headlights (adaptive front headlights, which let you see around curves, plus automatic high beams), collision-warning systems with adaptive cruise control, and a head-up display (to see your speed, GPS directions and other data without looking down at the dash).

Lexus also sells a hybrid version, the RX 450h (certified pre-owned price for the 2011 model: $30,403), with better mileage and more horsepower than the gas-only version.

2013 Cadillac CTS

Price when new: $46,135 (3.6-liter, AWD)

Certified used price: $31,692

Dealer used price: $30,292

Private-party price: $27,349

MPG (city/hwy): 18/27

The 2013 model year was the last one before Cadillac overhauled its midsize sedan. We picked it because it occupies a good spot on the depreciation curve, and by 2013 it was debugged enough to earn a decent reliability rating.

The CTS was once known for eye-popping style; now eyes are jaded to the Cadillac edge. Nonetheless, it's still a nice package of crisp handling, luxurious appointments and just a bit more chrome than its peers from Europe. We recommend the 3.6-liter V6 over the standard 3.0-liter. You get an extra 48 horsepower and a smidge better fuel economy.

Note that the back seat is snug, both in terms of the door opening and the space available once you've crawled in.

2012 Audi Q5

Price when new: $36,475 (without packages)

Certified used price: $30,860

Dealer used price: $28,260

Private-party price: $26,149

MPG (city/hwy): 20/27 (with premium fuel)

Audi has wooed car buyers for years with stellar interior design (and nice outside looks, too). Reliability has been the bugbear. But time has smiled on the Q5, which Consumer Reports ranks as "very good" for overall reliability for the 2011 through 2013 model years. The Q5 is in a crowded market segment (luxury crossovers with two rows of seating), but it stands out with its taut handling and high-tech, turbocharged, direct-injected 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine.

2012 Honda Civic

Price when new: $19,595 (LX)

Certified used price: $13,880

Dealer used price: $13,127

Private-party price: $11,119

MPG (city/hwy): 28/39

The Civic's styling took a step back in the 2012 model year, when the ninth generation was introduced. Besides a generally more jumbled, busy look, a plastic panel replaced the nifty little extra front window in previous models. But Honda's attention to detail and mechanical quality haven't flagged. Reliability remains excellent, and the Civic earns a Top Safety Pick designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

2013 Hyundai Elantra GT

Certified used price: $16,515

Dealer used price: $15,215

Private-party price: $13,034

MPG (city/hwy): 27/37

What's the Hyundai Elantra GT got that the Honda Civic has not? A hatchback, for one thing, which Honda doesn't offer with four doors in the Civic line. Also, styling that belies its low price, including a James Bond-esque hidden rear-view camera that flips up when needed. The GT model caught our eye when it came out in 2013, and we called it the Best New Car in its class. It has neat tweaks, such as a standard cooled glove box and heated seats (the latter can cost hundreds as an option in other cars). And thanks to Hyundai's generous warranty terms (five years or 60,000 miles comprehensive; 10 years or 100,000 miles for the powertrain), you should have years and miles of coverage remaining.

The sedan models, which share the hatch's basic layout and reliability, are also a good bet.

2013 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Price when new: $24,515 (Sport, manual)

Certified used price: $18,155

Dealer used price: $16,931

Private-party price: $15,911

MPG (city/hwy): 22/28 (premium fuel)

Since its introduction in 1990, the Mazda Miata has been more about the total sports-car experience than about individual performance numbers. For example, quite a few SUVs can beat it in straight-line acceleration. But if you want to put some wind in your hair, feel the road through the steering wheel and snick through the gears with a short-levered shifter, for a fraction of the price of a Porsche, the MX-5 Miata is the ticket.

And though its design harks back to the classic British four-cylinder, rear-wheel-drive sports car, it has none of its forebears' reliability woes.

2012 Acura MDX

Price when new: $43,925 (with no packages)

Certified used price: $29,985

Dealer used price: $28,385

Private-party price: $25,876

MPG (city/hwy): 16/21 (premium fuel)

If you can find a model with adaptive cruise control, a collision-warning system and blind-spot monitoring, it's tough to beat Acura's big crossover for the combination of safety, roominess and luxury. The MDX has seating for seven, a standard rearview camera and tri-zone climate control. Standard all-wheel drive gives drivers better control, and the 3.7-liter V6 has plenty of power, with 300 horses. Built-in convenience features include under-floor storage, a power tailgate and Bluetooth.

2012 Toyota Prius

Price when new: $24,760 (II)

Certified used price: $16,531

Dealer used price: $14,831

Private-party price: $13,300

MPG (city/hwy): 51/48

The Prius, which helped the hybrid go mainstream, makes Kiplinger's list of Greatest Cars of the 21st Century. It landed in our Best New Model lineup after its 2010 redesign, and we named the 2011 Prius Best in Class for its fuel economy (50 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving) and loads of space. It's also worth noting, now that the Prius has been on the market for well over a decade, that concerns that the battery packs wouldn't last or would cost a fortune to replace have proved overblown. So go electric-ish with confidence.

David Muhlbaum is an editor at Kiplinger. .