I think everyone's guilty of all the rebates and incentives these days. Honestly, GM doesn't really care what happens to resale value. They only care about big overall sales numbers, sometimes moreso than actual profit. They've hit sales records the past couple years, which is all that matters to them. It just sucks for the ones trading in their old models. But look out, it's going to get worse again. GM announced a couple weeks ago that they're going to get aggressive with their rebates, etc. again, due to slipping sales. It's a buyer's market these days, and that's about it!

Also, actually I think most people actually care what their car's value is worth in the future. Of course we don't buy them for investments, unless it's a classic or something like that. It's a worthwhile argument, and resale really does matter to someone who is financially concious.

If it weren't for the discounts, rebates, and my GMS pricing, I would've opted for a GP that was a year or two old, with maybe 10 or 20k on it. It'll be thousands less than new, most likely be in like-new condition, and it has taken most of it's first year value-hit already. That's really the best way to go, I feel. If things stay the way they are, it's the way I'll be going next time around...

In certain cases I do. Let me caveat this by saying I dont expect to ever get my payments back and I dont buy cars as investments and I know they will always depreciate. But you can limit the damage.

My wife drives about 10,000 miles a year. We bought an 00 honda CRV in 2000, put $2,500 down and took a 5 year loan. We liked the 02 a lot more when it came out. Sold our 00 with 17,000 miles on it and ended up with $4,000 after paying off the loan. Put the 4k on the 02 and away we go. Now its 04, want a bigger vehicle. Sold the 02 CRV after 2 years with 18,500 miles on it, had about $5,200 left after paying the loan and put that down on an 04 Pilot. Simple fact is, the honda SUVs we bought didnt depreciate like rocks so when I wanted something else in 2 years, I didnt end up owing $20,000 on a truck that I could only sell for $12,000.

Friend of mine bought a 2000 Dodge Intrepid. 2 years later he needed a minivan but could only sell the Intrepid for $4,000 less than what he owed. He bought the minivan and added the negative equity to the van loan. Now the van is worth less than what he paid plus the 4k negative equity means he wont be buying anything anytime soon.

Me I drive about 35,000 miles a year. I keep a car 4-5 years until I hit bout 150-200k. Therefore I need a car that doesnt really hold its value so I can buy something as new as I can as cheaply as I can because lets face it, its going to get pounded into the ground. The GTP is perfect. its a great car, durable, comfortable and will run 200k with little problem. The bonus FOR ME is that you can get them 2-3 years later for half of what they sold for. NOT good for GM, but Good for me. the only thing I fear is getting in a mild accident where the damage isnt that bad but exceeds the value of the vehicle. Id cry if my GTP got totaled just because of a little front end damage.

personally I wish GM cars held their value, I love em and Id love to see the big 3 on top of the world again. Hopefully they will continue improving their interiors and learn to make better and bolder changes/designs to their cars. Maybe by 2010 Ill be buying an accord for work and a Caddy SRX for home.

Adam you make a good point. everyone cares about upping the ante, more and bigger sales figures, not resale or what it does to people or the company. every business is like that. But isnt there some limit out there? Isnt there a point where the car market is just saturated and sales have to eventually slip a little? Why is a dip in the numbers so awful? they eventually go back up again when the next round of buyers come to the table.

why2k i hear what your saying but the big thang that help you keep positive equity in your car is hte 2500 cash down. That saved you a buttload of interest and everything. But my point to make was that you will never get what you paid for them and some people start to sound like i paid this and i cant get any of it back. the only investment that i look at when i buy a car is how much i enjoy it, how well it gets the job down (my old grand prix value dropped like a something really big not sure what) but it never left me stranded and only started to show some problems at the end.(it was wrecked) And as for as the slipping sales? Who knows? The thing that keeps it moving is the willingness for people to finance and finance away and that will hurt a lotta people down the road. I financed my new car. I just financed a house. But in less than 10 years half my house will already be paid for and i will still have my grand prix(unless it gets wrecked or hurt )and i will buy used cars again for play toys im sure. but now that i got way of topic i will end this post by saying. nothing. at all.

I guess this is why I just plan on driving the wheels off my GP until it's dead. If you take care of these things, you'll get easily over 200k, which I fell give you your money's worth if you keep up on the car mechanically and cosmetically. It's when you trade in every year or every other year that you get socked, especially these days. You keep digging yourself a hole 4 or 5 thousand dollars at a time every time you trade in, and in 5 or 6 years you've accumulated enough debt on a car that isn't worth a fraction of it, and basically still paying on debt from the last few cars. All of that to drive the latest and greatest. Everyone's got a different view on this topic I think, but financially if you buy new you'll come out best by just driving it until it's dead. That is of course unless you're spending a shitload on major repairs, which on one of these usually isn't a concern.

AMEN BRO NOW I CAN SLEEP (I also had the caps on )

Only people who are financially sensible care about what there car is worth in the future. But no, the rest of us don't.

I had a 2000 Ford Lightning, Best Waste of Money IMHO

I had it for 3 years and only lost a few thousand dollars when I sold it, It is nice when the vehicle retains some of its worth.

Had to buy a Comp G