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When car brands go away, the service continues but your value can dry up. (http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/20/autos/buying_a_dying_brand/index.htm?cnn=yes)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2004_Oldsmobile_Silhouette.jpgPeter Valdes-Dapena - CNNMoney - Oct. 22, 2008

$30,000 for a 2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette, $8,000 today.

Adding insult to injury, stay away from domestics because the manufacturer may disappear? -- Ed.

NEW YORK -- With all the problems in the auto industry, you may wonder if the car brand you're thinking about buying today will be around tomorrow.

The bottom line is this: "You should stick with the strongest brand," advises Robyn Eckard, a spokeswoman for Kelley Blue Book, which tracks automotive values.

It's not what could go wrong with your car while you own it, she said. It's what happens when you want to unload it…

Where it really hurts

The real impact for owners of Oldsmobile and Plymouth vehicles was that their cars' resale values plummeted after the brands died.

What happened with Oldsmobile was that the used car values of Oldsmobile dropped a lot quicker than for brands that were still in business.

A year after each brand went out of existence, a two-year old Oldsmobile or Plymouth suddenly had the value of a five-year-old car, according to Kelley Blue Book… http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/20/autos/buying_a_dying_brand/index.htm?cnn=yes

Thanks for the find Michael!

Consider the implications of a GM/Chrysler merger:

GM: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, Wuling

Chrysler: Chrysler, Dodge, ENVI, Jeep, Mopar, Chrysler Financial


Some (actually, quite a few) of them will end up going. :( We already saw this with Oldsmobile and Plymouth... Buick is hanging on by a thread, GMC is just rebadged Chevy trucks, Hummer's going on sale...

A few of them could be collector's items, but it will take a few decades and good judgment to make money on that.

Perhaps, but more along the lines of the Dodge Viper or the Plymouth Prowler. I don't think anything else that's mass produced by these guys will be as collectible.

Hey, will my 1998 207000 miles Chevy Suburban become a collectors item? It would sell for maybe, maybe $1500 now(despite being in good shape and getting 21 mpg hy), so maybe my best bet it to wait until Chevy merges and starts selling ChevDodges.

Might be a long wait on any GM's- or any other brand for that matter- to become 'cult' or collectable vehicles.
GM actually has some good desireable vehicles now, so they should make it. The Malibu, the coming Cruse(sic) the 6 speed Cobalt, the Volt. They-GM.Chevy- make good pickups,and that will return to profitability once the inventory is sold off and the used ones age a bit. They will be niche vehicles -commercial ,GOV and affluent- but they will be profitable again .
It is commonly mentioned here that the Euros and Asians don't have many pickups, but some of that is because they aren't as spread out as we are. Farmers,Lumberers,GOV in the USA don't want a full big 18 wheel type or 5 ton truck to do longish range(20-100 miles) local hauling.Pickups can be profit producing vehicles for the sellers and the buyers.

Charlie

In the future we will see electric cars hauling H1s on mag-lev trailers to the classic car shows.

This is really sad.

I really wanted to buy a new oldsmobile when I'd be able to. I can't believe many of the Aurora's can be had for about $4000 or less.