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FCA has created the POOR MANS Hellcat

28K views 250 replies 75 participants last post by  Snorman 
#1 · (Edited)
What a shame to say the least. Just a little over 2 years into production the HELLCAT is now the "DEAL of the CENTURY". Just one posting after another of another "new forum" member getting the Hellcat for a steal. And FCA is now offering LEASE deals which I have never seen in all the years of buying 'HIGH END" niche Performance vehicles. I certainly hope some higher up FCA personal read these forums. The Hellcat has in my eyes been degraded way beyond what I would have ever have imagined. And yeah I know a lot here purchased a Hellcat for long term and not an investment. But come on give me a freaking break. You can now lease a Hellcat better than a SRT? Wow what a slap in the face FCA. And just how desperate is Marchionne at this point to sell his "SOUL' for the P&L statement. Truly disappointed in the direction FCA is going with this type of marketing and have a hard time from this point of purchasing any future EXPENSIVE so called NICHE FCA vehicles. I will certainly weigh my options on any further unique vehicles which may have to pass on the FCA brand. And have not seen anything like this with other manufactures. Fiat unfortunately at the end of the day may tarnish the brand. It may be time to sell Marchionne so you can get your big fat CHECK BEFORE YOU ruin the brand.
 
#12 ·
Not here to say NO DISCOUNTS. But with all due respect is FCA in such miserable financial dire it has to resort to "Radical" discounting? And if this is true then the future of FCA is not good. And yes all cars depreciate but this is truly ridiculous. So to answer your question. FCA needs to idle production and not offer dealers any factory discounts. I can assure you if FCA announced tomorrow 2017 is the last major run and 2018 would be by personal order only and Limited end of production builds the PRICING issue would adjust and stabilize.
 
#8 · (Edited)
If Hellcats were selling and commanding premiums still there would be no need for "deals". All about supply and demand apparently you never took econonics. FCA isn't trying to screw you they are just getting rid of inventory however they can. You have a Hellcat, assume that you enjoy it, drive it and get over it. I bought a ps4 5 years ago for 600 bucks, F Sony too.

Ironically these cheap lease deals are hinged on high residual values, so either the residuals are being highly subsidized by Chrysler Financial or they expect the "HELLCAT" to hold its value somewhat decently when they take possession of these cars again 3 years from now.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I was speaking more to the OP but I totally get it, I'm not happy about it either trust me ;) this is why leasing is smart in this day and age, you pay your payment and you know your cost of ownership. A purchase is always a craps shoot unless you plan to keep it until the doors fall off. I know most here like to think they will keep it forever and pass it down to their great grandkids, but in reality that will probably happen to about 1% of us.



OP....if you hate depreciation post up another picture of your Range Rover just to seal the deal for ironic post of the day. LOL couldn't resist :)
 
#15 ·
HCs are expensive, niche performance cars.
HCs are more or less unchanged in 3 years.
HC production was dramatically increased.
FCA has been mercilessly beating the bushes with Demon (aka the next great thing) publicity.
It's the middle of winter.

Demand was bound to soften, and to compensate FCA offers incentives to new buyers.

Sounds like business to me.

Meanwhile, our HCs are the same cars they were a month ago...

-nosualc
 
#16 ·
What happened was FCA underestimated how many people would want a Hellcat when they came out. They could not keep up with the demand. Then like the morons they are they overestimated the next year and now there sitting on lots or selling below msrp. All they had to do was limit the amount of cars and the people who didn't get there 2015s would get there Hellcat in 16 and so on. Instead I really wanted one and had to wait over a year from when I ordered. Now there sitting on lots. All they had to do is make 5000 a year. Pretty simple yet a whole team of FCA pencil pushers could not do the math or they are just greedy. I think we all know the answer.
 
#17 ·
Sounds like some people are just butt hurt cause they paid a high premium for there Kitty's. To bad get over it!
At the end of the day it's just another 70k car, it's not Jesus Christ's slay to heaven.
Plenty of higher end cars lease well. Why should this be any different.... Just cause it says hellcat on it?
In my opinion FCA woke up and put there brains in.

Also I'm the proud leasee of a 2016 charger hellcat. 500 down, 525 a month, 12k miles for 3 years. Suck on those apples!! Lol lol.....

And to think I almost bought one before hearing of these deals. What a moron I would of felt like...

Okay cry on fellas..
 
#19 ·
I never took the Hellcat to be a "niche" car. It was built to compete/best the last GT500. It was built to be mass produced etc. The Demon will be a niche car. The Hellcat is not and wasn't intended to be a niche car.

The other thing i notice is that everyone is giving FCA crap for cutting deals etc. I don't think it has anything to do with FCA cutting deals. Its the dealers. FCA sells teh cars to the dealer for their set price. If the dealer got greedy and bought a lot, and are now sitting on them, then to get new inventory they need to get rid of old inventory. Even if that means selling them at great deals and prices. I don't fault FCA for that they make the same per car regardless. I don't even really "blame" dealers, they jumped on the band wagon, probably ordered more then they needed thinking demand would stay high. Now they have to suck it up and unload inventory as best they can.

Its not much different then any other car or model, that end up sitting on lots for XXX amount of days. Gets to a point where they have to do deals to get them off the lots. For the people that are buying 16's, 17's its the best time for them. They are getting great deals. I got mine in 15, i paid an ADM i was willing to pay. I don't look at people now paying MSRP or less for a car. I look at it was they waited 2 years for a car that i spent the last 2 years enjoying. To me, that was worth every penny
 
#20 · (Edited)
It doesn't affect him alone it affects the entire HC community who were led to believe that this would be a fkn limited run car. You don't whore out a unicorn car within 2 years. However OP: "Poor man's Hellcat" is some poor choice of words to initiate a thread. I feel people already lost you and took offense when they first read that.

I blame the dealers more than than dodge/FCA for embellishing the product. Depreciation is expected when the laws of supply and demand become prevalent however IMHO, nobody expected such a slide in such a short span.

Ps: Apples to orange comparison but I never witnessed such a drastic depreciation in the last iteration of the gt500 (2013-14 MY to be specific). I never came across a brand new GT500 sell below invoice (maybe I'm wrong and stand to be corrected). I have never believed in brand loyalty as I consider myself a car enthusiast.
 
#41 ·
It doesn't affect him alone it affects the entire HC community who were led to believe that this would be a fkn limited run car.
Just pointing out that Tim K repeatedly said from day 1 that it was not a limited production car and that they will build as many cars as there are people who want to buy one. Then 1/2 way through the model year 2015, Tim K said they plan on doubling production of the hellcat. I think FCA has been pretty honest from the start. Still sucks that the value is going down, but they didn't hide anything.
 
#21 ·
Well that is also peoples fault for being led to believe it was going to be a limited run/unicorn car. Dealers were promoting that very hard, even when Dodge and Tim K came out and said that it wasn't true, and they would make as many as demanded. So, blame can be placed on dealers for saying that and taking advantage of that, and also blame people for believing it.

For the ADM price game, i actually don't really fault FCA for that. One, they don't control what a dealer charges for a vehicle. What they did do, was the allocation deal, based on volumes of dodges sold, then by Hellcats sold etc. There goal was basically to keep the dealer in check, they didn't want them buying cars, applying huge ADM's and then having the vehicles sit there waiting. Thats not what dodge wanted, they wanted the cars out on the roads, tracks etc. Problem was, that people didn't care about the ADM and were buying the cars anyway. So, in that aspect, you only have the customers to blame. Buy so many willing and able to pay the ADM it defeated what Dodge wanted to do to keep the ADM in check.
 
#22 ·
Well some people feel comfortable with the current situation and will provide a rationale like they have figured it down to a science, while some would voice their discomfort and frustrations. That's the beauty of difference of opinions on a forum which provides the end user a platform to do just that. It's all subjective anyways. No right or wrong in this game. Just wish some of us had thicker skin though.
 
#25 ·
With the new Demon under development, our Hellcats feel like the R/Ts did when the SRTs first came out. Or the SRTs did when the Helllcats came out. I'm grateful for continued advances in engineering and the willingness to keep keep raising the bar from a manufacturing perspective, but in today's day and age, almost everything seems disposible and caught up in phased obsolence while the next best thing or model is available next year. Don't get me wrong, I love my cat and may never upgrade again, but we all have to accept reality and realize that the basic rules of supply and demand will always govern here on price and value. We should just enjoy em while we got em and decide what to do with them later! :)
 
#26 ·
My only opinion on this is to enjoy the hell out of the car.
I am old enough to remember when people stored a perfectly good corvette because it was an anniversary edition, totally on speculation that it would rise in value, only to be surprised when they went to sell that pos it was not worth close to sticker.
In this day, special editions, limited runs, anniversary cars, its all marketing hype for the consumer to feel special.
The days of cars commanding a premium just because its a special color or supposed limited production is over.
My best advise, buy a car because you like it and it will provide some joy with the experience of ownership......not to make money or to think the limited nature of said vehicle is special.
we own a Dodge, not a piece of history.
 
#27 ·
I've said this before on here. Dodge is the king of cannibalizing itself. They come out with a new trim every year or two and push it hard. I agree that they way overestimated the market and now have all these 16's laying around that they gotta ditch because their new halo trim is around the corner. It happened to the scat packs with the TA and I don't even know why they still make the SRT 392. I'm not sure there are any other cars out there with as many trim levels available. Personally I don't really care because I don't plan on getting rid of it but I think alot of people are going to take huge hits when they go to ditch the HC for the Demon. Then we'll see deep demon discounts in a couple years and so on. Maybe not the first year but dodge will pump out as many as they can sell. I don't blame them I would too. Congrats to the guys scoring deals I wish I could have last March.
 
#30 ·
Then we'll see deep demon discounts in a couple years and so on. Maybe not the first year but dodge will pump out as many as they can sell
That i don't see, as the Demon will be a limited run vehicle. It can't just be ordered by a dealer and stuck in the dealership with a huge ADM. It will be a decent price for sure, but i don't see them sitting on lots etc waiting for huge discounts as its been said it is going to be a limited run vehicle. And yes i know "they said that about the Hellcat", and no, that reporter in Portland said that, Dodge never did.
 
#28 ·
This might be a piece of history because it's the highest HP dodge engine ever built (up to now anyway). When I watched the introduction video of the HC, the person there said basically that there was more hype on the internet about the HC and it was the single most searched term at that time. Dodge not only build more HC's they also sold more V6's, R/S, etc because people were buying the cars they could afford. HYPE/internet searches/MARKETING..MARKETING...now Demon, now ADR... free advertising... now that I have a HC and yes a 2016 lease (They took my 2008 ML320) in on trade and I have a payment I can live with since I still have my lease on my Lexus. It's a great car, great looks, great running.. and I plan on buying it out at the end and yes the warranty if the supercharger bearings go bad. My first true muscle car (90 vette not included only had like 385 hp) and i'm 66 years young and still working a steady job. Cheers.
 
#32 ·
When the Hellcat first came out I sat back and watched. I can't justify and $85k car $20 over MSRP. Just doesn't make sense. So I waited... 2 years actually. Saw prices going down and waited for the right time to pull the trigger. I love my $500 month hellcat and as I was taught good things comes to those who wait!
 
#42 ·
I love my $500 month hellcat
I agree to low payments, i pay less then that and had the 3rd one from my dealership

2015 Hellcat into a garage paperweight.
No paperweight here, car was bought to be driven and it is my DD. 20k miles in roughly 8 months. I agree there are people who bought it as a garage queen, or expecting it to be worth a fortune in the future. Lot of others here bought them to drive. To each there own
 
#34 ·
WTF...

Doesn't change the view from my driver's seat! Still smiling and enjoying driving my Hellcat!
 
#35 ·
The Hellcat was never meant to be limited or a niche car. Sadly, greedy dealers and deep pocket peeps morphed the 2015 Hellcat into a garage paperweight.
Chrysler made it very clear this was not their intent and their displeasure with dealers and the way the 2015 Hellcat was being price gouged.

There were plenty of articles stating just that! In 2016 this is why they changed the rules on how dealers could acquire Hellcats.
My best Hellcat experience to date was telling the dealer here to go F@ck himself when he started talking about 20k over msrp.

Even at 57k I’m beginning to feel like I paid a little too much, but once I fire her up and take her to work the cost doesn’t even phase me.

I plan on driving this thing into the ground and enjoying every day I do. And that was exactly what Chrysler wanted. An affordable (I use that term loosely still at 50k+) muscle car for people to drive and enjoy. Not to be placed on a Pedestal!
 
#36 ·
So, someone please correct me if I'm wrong...with all these great lease deals, it's great if you know you only want to keep the car for three years. But, if you decide to keep it, you might be paying less now, but you'll pay a lot more later when you have to pay off the residual??

Sorry for the ignorance...never leased a car before.
 
#38 ·
Yes. Only one guy his morning has recognized that the lease "deals" must have high residual values. That means the dealer would gladly accept your final payment with the residual payment, (then yes you "own it) or better yet, they DO NOT really want your residual payment, they want to sell it used and make a couple more thousand on that unit when they sell it to another on their lot. OR, they are banking on wholesale prices to be easy to unload it in 3 yr. Hard to say.
 
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#39 ·
I'm glad I sold my Hellcat when i did... only because I got out RIGHT before the value meltdown.

I bought it new in 2015 for $64,000 + tax and traded it in two years later for $63,000.

Between the time i ordered my new vehicle and delivery, they had some bonanza sale where they were selling Hellcats @ 15% below MSRP.

The MSRP in Canada had since risen to around $80,000 - yet, they were blowing out their inventory of BRAND NEW Kitties for $67,000ish.

All the sales people couldn't understand how I was given $63,000 for my 2 year used Hellcat. If I hadn't already locked in my deal, the best trade in they would have offered me was $52,000!

That's crazy! The Demon is only going to make things WORSE!

That being said, I always expect Dodge products to drop in value like a rock - the fact that this ONE Dodge product actually put some cash in my pocket was just a pleasant exception.
 
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#40 · (Edited)
Lots of interesting responses here and my POSTING seems to hit it on the head LOL. I aint gonna loose no sleep over this and yeah if you come to my "garage" and ask me how the car investment and bike investment is? All here including me would laugh. FCA has now put the Hellcat in the "poor mans" affordability world. And not here to make fun of people that go to work evrery day and work hard. The point of many points is its an everyone's car now. Wonder how the SRT 392 owners are feeling about this as well. If your an SRT 392 owner your car aint worth so much now as well. And the Hellcat lease deal will blow away the 392 as well. And I followed the release as most here as well and know all the language in purchasing a "high end car". And no I didn't pay ADM and never will. FCA has challenges ahead and to me as many have posted its a no brainer cut back production and don't kill the Hellcat value for all involved. And talking about the dealers as well that now cant wait to get the "just another car" sitting on their lot off their lot.
 
#44 ·
Any truth to what I was told? That FCA owns all the Hellcats and are not sold to dealers, they're given to "qualifying" dealerships in allotments based on their overall sales and success in selling specialty vehicles........? It was explained to me that the Hellcats are sold with a fixed incentive paid to the dealerships and anything over MSRP is dealer profit - which is what we as consumers all see as the side-bar sticker to the Monroney sticker that usually says "Area market adjustment". I got my car $3,500 below sticker and the sales manager said he had to call FCA to get approval for that deal. Full of crap?

My Dealer started off marking up the Hellcats $12K over MSRP this way, but now, none of the cars on this lot have any mark up and indeed, they're pimping the lease deal of the century to my chagrin.

It's definitely a shame our Hellcats weren't production limited way more than they have been, but I also have to think that if these cars are indeed sitting around unsold and having to be drastically price reduced or leased to get them moved...... FCA is taking the hit on anything below MSRP....... Right?

Yeah, I'm not liking it at all that there are now guys enjoying the same car as I am for nearly half the monthly payment and indeed, patience does pay off in these instances for the buyers...... but I'm not sure that the loss isn't being seen on FCA's end a bit as well?
 
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