Paging Car People- A Question

[Raederle]

Hi people-who-know-something-about-cars.

So I own a Saturn and GM has discontinued that brand.

Does that mean my car has no resale value anymore? If I go to get a new car will they still let me trade it in?Should I just donate it to charity and not bother trying to sell it?

[ummeiko]

I'm not a "car person". I do own a Saturn.

You can still trade in your car, and people can still buy used Saturns. Obviously, resale value depends on a lot of things, but a discontinued make/model doesn't cause the cars to suddenly void the market.

The thing that may happen that might hurt resale is if down the road, it becomes difficult to find parts if the car is in need of repair. This may or may not happen, as I'm not sure how interchangeable GM parts are or will be in the future. But that shouldn't be a problem for several years to come really, unless maybe it's a really obscure part.

Like I said, I don't know a lot of the finer details. I'm not a car guru. I have learned bits and pieces of car stuff from my dad though. Enough to get by.

That all said, donating your car to charity can be very fulfilling (and often can give you a good write off on your taxes). If your Saturn is a newer model though, it might be a bit of a weight, as newer ones I imagine still get a decent resale value. (More than my 2001 anyway...)

[Mr. Perfect]

Consumer Reports did a little writeup on the issue a while back. You can still sell it, trade it in or even just run it until it dies, same as any model that's not in production any more.

[Cozzene]

The only problem will be that there are no parts for it. If anything breaks, you'll probably end up having to scour a junk yard unless your auto shops have any Saturn pieces left.

[Raederle]

*sigh* thanks gang,

%$#@ GM for doing this to Saturn.

[Bellatryx]

no more saturns? noes =[

[Raederle]

Update: I was indeed able to trade the Saturn in!