Why don't Cavs have a better resale value?

I have had my cav since 03. I drove it off the lot with 2 miles on it and I have had very little problems with it. In fact, this car has given me fewer problems than any other car I have ever owned. I looked at the kelley blue book the other day and it was only worth about 6,000 bucks.

Same with any car, very few exceptions.
Any new car driven off a lot loses at a minmum 25% of it's value.
1 year old, 50% of the value depreciates.



To top it off, the Cavalier is at the bottom of the price range in the Chevy line-up

Also recall that GM had nearly across-the-board price cuts a few years ago, and that affect the used market as well.

damn, good question. i was wondering the same thing. my step dads 00 accord coupe is worth 2k more than mine is with 90k miles. and i have an 03 automatic in perfect condition.....tell me how that works? that and the civic is honda's lowest model but they still have a way better resale value than cav's do even though u can buy them new for about the same price.

also has 2 do with engine life...cavs last around 150k and civics can go 94834890329023452357849549035290910589037847190560 43589018394873719247993248957179235908398408193402 38490180815905768975970342349018958 miles without a tune up :thumbsup:

also has 2 do with engine life...cavs last around 150k and civics can go 94834890329023452357849549035290910589037847190560 43589018394873719247993248957179235908398408193402 38490180815905768975970342349018958 miles without a tune up :thumbsup:

what if an engine actually went that long??? I wonder what's the most an engine has ever traveled???? .....

any record holders out there????

It's no record but I had a 1984 Accord that went 225K miles before something in the carburator failed in 2004. The engine still ran but had a severe drivability issues. (4,000 RPM idle)

I saw an old Oldsmobile Firenza hatchback with 380,000 miles on it :P

when my mom used to work for a shipping company, some of the trucks that she had to work with had 500k-700k on original engine/tranny, proly not clutch or injectors or stuff like that. thats a shit ton of miles for the stresses they have to go through. thats the longest lasting engines i have ever heard of.

Seen a toyota corolla with 751,000 km original engine and all, nuts..

there are a few hondas that recorded over a million miles w/o major work.....but the statement earlier about how new cars lose 25% of their value right after you drive off the lot and 50% after a year is true for GM cars, but our 2005 Accord V6 coupe isn't the same. We paid $21,995 for it brand new and we recently looked into trading it towards an Acura RL. The trade in value was listed at 17,900. That's for a trade in! The resale value on the car is another $1500 higher than that at least.

On the other hand, we had a Bonneville SLE w/ all the options. We paid around $24,500 for it brand new in 2004. We recently sold it when we bought our new Mazda 6 Gran Touring. We only got $10,500 for it. That's absolutely horrible. We are now solely buying imports...after all the problems we had w/ the Bonneville (under warranty, but still a hassle) the only car from GM that i would buy is the Solstice, GTO, and Corvette.

I'm sure i'm going to catch some shit for this, but i really dont like the fact that my Acura is worth more as a 99 w/ 65k on it than a 2002 Cavalier w/ 40k miles.....Demand influences price a lot i guess

thats pretty easy to answer...


american cars > mediocre quality/workmanship thus low resale
japanese cars > high quality/workmanship thus high resale value

is that simple...nothing else to it.

Yea i hate the fact my winter ratt is worth more than my toy car... The paint job for this thing, is more than the value of the car its self.

03 Pt cruiser - 38kmiles $9K
99 Cavalier - 59K miles $4k

the cavalier is the most basic car that chevy makes. there is absolutely nothing to these cars when it comes to fixing them. They are made to take you from point a to point b and thats it. Theres no luxury to them. Just like the pontiac sunfire, and the dodge neon.

winter rat...that is an awesome term

i have never heard that before but i defintally want 1. but i dont wanna buy the cage and food and stuff for it...stupid animals and their basic needs 2 survive!

i drive a dodge neon and i have 2 say its a major step up from the cavalier...theres no comparison

(sunroof, power windows, 6 disk POS CD Changer...lol ect ect)

lol sorry. i know there are some neons out there that are actually pretty good. but im talking about the first neons, manual everything. lol.