Recalled GM Vehicles See Extreme Price Deflation

2010 Chevrolet Cobalt (Credit: © General Motors)

While a good portion of the population of the United States might think that GM has genuinely changed since it went into bankruptcy, that doesn’t mean that everyone is eager to purchase the models that have been part of the largest wave of recalls in the history of the automotive industry.

According to a study performed by iSeeCars.com, the six cars that were originally part of the ignition switch recall have seen an extreme drop in their prices. We’re talking price deflation that is over twice what competing models from other manufacturers have experienced. This means that if you own a Chevrolet Cobalt, HHR, Pontiac Solstice, G5, Saturn Ion, or Sky from the notoriously famous original recall, you just lost a chunk of cash. The car that took the biggest hit was the Cobalt, which is the model that has been highlighted the most in the news about the recall fiasco.

Conversely, if you always dreamed of cruising down the road in a gently used Saturn Sky or Chevrolet Cobalt, now is an excellent time to go shopping!

As part of the study, iSeeCars.com looked at the average price drop of all GM vehicles that have been recalled in February of 2014, which came in at 14 percent. That was still higher than the 6.7 percent drop in prices of cars from other manufacturers that were used as a measuring stick. Even more revealing was the amount of depreciation for GM vehicles that have not been recalled (don’t look too shocked that there are still some that haven’t been included in the constant stream of recalls) which was 7 percent. That should help clear up any doubts that it is the recalls and not the presence of a Chevrolet or Buick badge that is causing the above-average drop in value.