Dang...everyone keeps saying how bad the resale value is on the HHR... I'm not complaining!

I bought mine in February 2009, over 2 years ago for $10,800. KBB says for private party that mine is now worth $10,900.

Yeah, that's not too bad....

 

I think it's holding pretty much the same, the guys that get hammered are the ones that bought new and financed them.

 

Since I bought my 2007 2LT for $9000 at the end of 2009, my impression is that used HHR prices have stabilized for non-SS models. Girlfriend's 2006 2LT @ $7500 ($8500 repaired/delivered) at the beginning of this year was the last one that went that low in decent condition. The rare loaded, manual 2LTs I have seen since then have been about $10K and higher.

SS prices, particularly on the 2008s, seem recently to have been dropping significantly. The SS used to maintain its $5k price difference from new when sold as used. No more! I'm not sure why. Perhaps the 2008 being more primitive than the 2009-10 matters to the few who specifically want the SS? Or are people worried about the power train warranty ending?

 

You should never buy any vehicle expecting that it will ever be anything but a financial loss, quickly. Even those with the best resale values depreciate quickly. The HHR's are no exception, they were a low cost vehicle when new, and are worth considerably less now. No different than any other vehicle. Right now used cars are actually going up in value, only because of shortages of new cars because of the mess in Japan. This is only temporary, so if you want to sell, now is probably the time, if you can find a replacement vehicle. If its serving your needs, it would be uneconomical in the long run to make any changes now. Our HHR is our tow car behind our motor home, and is ideal for that. I really could care less what happens to its value, its working for us and there are no plans to replace it in the forseeable future.

 

Unfortunately what KBB says is not what you can actually sell it for. But the used car market prices have went up in the past year or so.

 

10,900 is what I am seeing for retail here, so I expect to get back less. IMO im driving this car into the ground. It though only has 26,000 miles so I will be owning it for a while.

Through my company I have access to the real NADA website and I can go back and chk prices. 10,900 is for a very clean, low milage trade in. Average Auction values vary between mid 8's for rough and mid 11's for extremely clean, well optioned.

So basically if the dealer can't make money on the lot or auction, then thats when you take the hit.

My wife's HHR had not only the purchase price but bad debit rolled into it, needless to say its getting paid off but the payments suck and IMO this was was not highly optioned. But for now its gotta last.

 

Where we live, we've actually noticed that KBB is kind of low....

 

Your going to get regional variations, thats for sure. I am willing to wager you got a good deal and if you could get nearly 11k for the car sold privately, thats a good deal.

 

Well what I have going for me is condition and mileage. You don't see many even newer used ones in good shape, and you can't find an '06 around here with less than 80k on it now.

 

I don't trust KBB, I firmly believe in Edmund's True Market Value, which will list all options, condition, mileage, and geographic location.