Whats the deal with cheap US saloon's/hatchbacks?

[Kaiton]

Hey ho

Ive been looking at mid/low level second hand cars as you do when your insurance is coming up and every now and then up pops
a Dodge, Chevrolet, Chrysler etc that has sub 30k mileage, 1 or 2 owners and 08 or newer plate for around 6k.

Why are they so cheap for the mileage/age?. Being American they seem to come with all the basic perks like AC, CC, PAS, ABS yadda yadda, but they're peppered in with European and Jap cars 2-4 years older with 20,30,40k more miles on the clock.

Thanks for any info!

[martin84]

Because they were cheap new, depreciate fast and are very cheap now.

[excel monkey]

Limited demand due to:

Small dealer networks
Poor fuel economy relative to competition (with consequent high VED bands)
Poor interior quality relative to competition
Poor ride/handling relative to competition

[crostonian]

We just took a Dodge Caliber diesel in px and I had the privelege of taking it for an MOT. Quality is Korean circa 10 years ago but no arguing with the equipment levels and this one had a 130 bhp Passat diesel in it so it went well and should run forever. It needed a radiator which I was surprised only cost £120 from the main dealer and they had one the next day. By no means a good drive but not a bad car and it actually turned a few heads but not the necesarily the heads of people you want to turn!

[Zad]

I guess they were mainly sold to retired people on a finance deal with cash back offers etc. Come the end of the deal they might have to pay a lump sum, or go with another deal. So they go with another deal. End result: lots of fairly recent cars with lowish miles and not much demand.

[fozzymandeus]

A colleague runs some kind of 57 plate diesel cadillac thing.

It's basically a vectra in a funny hat, but...

...none of the parts seem to be compatible. He's having terrible trouble finding some transmission bits for it right now. I'd steer well clear unless you want to be touring wyoming looking for a new wheel bolt in years to come.

[HeatonNorris]

fozzymandeus said:

A colleague runs some kind of 57 plate diesel cadillac thing.

It's basically a vectra in a funny hat, but...

...none of the parts seem to be compatible. He's having terrible trouble finding some transmission bits for it right now. I'd steer well clear unless you want to be touring wyoming looking for a new wheel bolt in years to come.

That's because it's a Saab 9-3 with different badges... he should try a Saab dea.. oh

[martin84]

So basically we've concluded its because; st when new, st after they were bought and st now.

[EDLT]

Cheap when new, cheap now.

Same with Protons, they are packed with toys too. Most Gen-2s even came with full leather, I sort of want to drive one - they can't be THAT bad can they?

[ruff'n'smov]

Really poor ride. They seem to be geared differently. The caliber with the 130 VAG unit in it seems gutless to me and the Chevrolets (Daewoo's) are to a man pants.