I'm starting to think cause of the PT cruiser is why our cars drop so much in value. Afterall you have a million of them on the roads and under 100,000 HHR's.

 

I have to second WIHHR - it's the rental HHR's hitting the market. They just started hitting the market in numbers this summer. While shopping for a car in October I found dozens of rental HHR's at lots all around Orlando. Luckily, I subscribed to Carfax and avoided them. I was able to take advantage of sliding resale value and pick up a clean 3,600 mile HHR for very little.

 

Absolutely NOT TRUE !!!!!!

 

Let's face it... everything is working against us

 

I know trade in value is bad. But look what Godfather got for there heavy modify HHR that they sold on EBay no: 120065271294 27,999.00 it looks like they lost at least $10,000.00 in that deal. Plus if you are hard up after buying this HHR you can always sell the PS3 and get at least 1200.00 to 1500.00 back. I wish I did not have an HHR I would have loved to had the Godfather HHR.

 

One of the things you have to accept when buying new (some models more than others) is that you know you are going to take a hit with depreciation (especially) within the first 2 years.

 

Snoopy why do you say not true. Could you explain a little. I'll be honest, I have had dealers tell me that when those rental units started hitting the lots it began to drive down residuals. Now I'll grant you highly rebated vehicles do the same thing, but the HHR's are not heavily discounted either through rebates or dealer margins. I've have bought a new car every year since 1985, and I can tell you the gap has increased dramatically over the years. In fact the dealer I have bought the most of my cars from has told me that he is losing the people that trade every 2 or 3 years because trade in values drop so drastically. He is concerned because he stated that is his "bread and butter" customers.

 

WIHHR....

O'k, after some of your explanation...partially correct.

I'm looking for the exact GM media release. But, until then....

GM only provided the rental market with approximately 40% of what they "normally" provide in similar platform cars, i.e. Cobalts, with HHR's. That would be far less than saturating the market.

Maybe it's different in your part of the country, but a lot of the rental agencies have their own avenues to sell their vehicles. Some with their own car lot under a different name, some with car dealers (under a proxy). They get far more dollars for the vehicile than auctioning them to dealers. Thus, it is not financially correct to auction them.

When KBB, Edmonds (yuck), NADA or Consumer Reports quote prices for a specific vehicle with specific equipment it comes from accumulation of data from actual sales, trades, etc. It is not an arbitrary figure that they invent (if you search their websites it may provide exactly how they provide their data). So, if this is the case, why does the dealer provide lower trade in values for personal vehicles? They are in the business to make money (rightfully so!)But, believe me, they want to make as much as they can with the manufacturers continually changing the dealer cost to MSRP (sometimes only 10-12% as compared to 15-20 years ago, 15-20%) on new vehicles. So, dealers can make up the difference in the used car market...some with mark-ups as high as 40%.

I DO NOT TRADE vehicles because of 2 particular situations several years ago..... I was going to trade a pristine 13 month old vehicle, with no lien, loaded with "pay-back" options, 3200 garage kept miles and a few aftermaket options that were purchased from the dealer at the time of original sale. Dealer offered $8400 on a KBB trade value of $11200. Yeah, right. I sold it private party for approximately $13000. I learned a lesson and never looked back to a dealer for a trade-in value....except....

A couple of years ago, I had to many vehicles and decided to outright sell one of them to the highest bid dealer (no lien). Again a pristine vehicle with very, very low mileage (1/3 of "book" allowance). Because I was leaving town on extended business, I was in a rush and sold it to a dealer for $11,500(trade-in book value about $2000 more). Several months later, I accidently saw the car with the new owner. Discussion led to he paying $16400 for the car, which was marked at $17200. I'm mentioning these 2 situations because I learned a lesson and have not looked back. Never let the dealer take the "LEAD" position. I always pay cash and I always sell private party. And, I always come out ahead of their game.

I've read, other than the mentioned rental car agency vehicles, regular lease vehicles (company car), trades that were "upside down" (which, based on the responses on the forums, there are many), pay-off amounts and forfeitures also influence resale markets. But, do not forget the very important "supply and demand" issue. There just is NOT that high of a demand for these vehicles (regardless what members of this forum think, because we are prejudiced). If the demand was high, the vehicles would not be in rental agencies, would not be sitting on dealers lots, and resale values would be higher (all contribute to basic economics).

Hey, try trading in a one year old Corvette and see what a dealer will give you....ha, and they will sell it for near new car price.

Finally, It would be interesting to know the used car DEALER price of the 2006HHR's in your area. That may provide a more valid estimate of the used car value.

This is way to long....and I quit !!!!

 

a quick check on cars.com, has 20 used 06 HHR's in a 40 mile radius. The lowest priced lt with just under 30,000miles was 11995. The highest price was 19990 for a nearly new 06 with 2300 miles. There are no HHR's used offered within 20 miles of here. there are only 4 new ones on the lots within 30 miles. The longest that my local dealer has had one on the lot is an 07 that he has had for 3 weeks. I will own my HHR outright in a few months, and I expected to get hit with depreciation, but I am still ok with the value of sally. I want to also add that I am relatively weird in that I usually keep my vehicles until they are ready for the pasture. I bought my first new car at the age of 35.(last year) I do not like making payments on a depreciating asset.

 

You are a smart man, Pizzaman. Using the basic premise of Financial Planning 101.

Oh, by the way. My key point in the long winded dissertation above..... There is a big difference between the amount the dealer allows for a trade in and what HE SELLS that trade in for. So, if possible, try to do it another way.