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Real World Hellcat Trade-In Value Feedback

11K views 60 replies 31 participants last post by  ppowell1983 
#1 ·
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Muscle car Motor vehicle

Bought my 2015 Hellcat, 6 speed, white with navigation and summer tires for MSRP of 62080 on 4/27/15. Traded it in right at eight months later on a 2016 Honda CRV EXL on 12/24/15. Hellcat had under 2Kmiles. Dealer gave me 59800 for the car and and knocked 4200 off the price of the new car, so I felt the 59800 was a fair representation of trade-in value I was given as opposed to trade-in plus reduction in price on the new car. 2280 depreciation for eight months seemed fair enough to me for the fun of owning the car. I recouped about half of the sales tax since I paid no sales tax on the new car as the trade-in value was in excess of the new car price. I walked out the door with the new car and a check for 32K and change. Honda dealer did not want the car on their lot, but shopped it with dealers by phone. They did not say where it was going, but did say it was being shipped somewhere.

I probably could have gotten a little higher if I had tried to sell the car outright, but would have had to have paid about 2K in sales tax on the new car in Florida without a trade-in. This meant I would have had to have sold the car for right about MSRP had I gone this route. Plus deal with a lot of low ball phone calls or people who just hoped they could get to demo drive a Hellcat.

I hope the Hellcat prices hold up, but I was afraid they would drop when supply caught up with demand like the Camaro ZR1's. Now what to do with the 32K? I have a 67 Plymouth GTX 440 automatic. Maybe it it time for a muscle car upgrade.
 
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#2 ·
I have a CRV, along with a Challenger Hellcat, and they are complete opposites, in many ways, I don't think I could stomach it, having to hop into the Honda, when I'm actually in the mood to drive the 'cat...what possessed you to go from a Hellcat to a SUV?!? Isn't it like culture shock, the dramatic transition?!?
 
#13 ·
You my friend are most certainly the only person on this planet to ever trade a Hellcat Challenger for a Honda CRV.

My advice is stop sharing this story immediately.....:D
There's a definition for this type of behavior. It's called Schizophrenia. Time to up the dose of Abilify and maybe throw in a few Electroshock Therapy sessions, too? Yikes!!
 
#6 ·
I owned a 2011 CRV almost identical to the 2016 CRV before I bought the Hellcat. I have always had play cars and daily drivers. The playcars included (starting back in 1970) Lotus Europa, Triumph Spitfire, 65 GTO, 94 Viper RT 10, 96 Viper GTS, 67 Plymouth GTX and the 2015 Hellcat. I still am working on the 67 GTX restoration. The toys come and the toys go. My daily drivers have almost all been Hondas from four Accords to a Prelude to a CRX to two CRV's. Most of my wife's daily drivers have been Mercedes convertibles.

I got a survey after buying the Hellcat from some survey company asking what I most looked for in a car. I checked, reliability, resale, fuel economy, 4 doors, the ability to comfortably transfer four adults and ability to occasionally haul cargo. They then asked why I had bought the Hellcat and I selected "I saw it and I just had to have it." Not suitable for my daily driver and too expensive to keep as a toy. Wanted it, got it, had fun with it and will now move on to something else. Not sure what to do with the 32K and change I got back from the trade yet. Booze, drugs and wild women are always viable options!
 
#15 · (Edited)
The old saying is if it has tits or wheels, it is going to give you trouble. I posted this info more to give someone an idea of present Hellcat trade-in value than to explain my choices in car buying. The Hellcat was bought as a toy, not daily transportation. I still have a 911 Porsche Turbo, Ford GT and a real 69 Camaro Copo on the short list of toys I would like to experience owning in my lifetime. I have no desire to own all three at once and could never afford to do so. One at a time is fine.
Land vehicle Supercar Vehicle Car Sports car


The Hellcat and Honda CRV are very different vehicles, designed for different uses and both fill their intended purpose very well. I am actually anxiously awaiting for the Hyundai pickup to come out. The styling is extremely radical, especially the 5 foot bed where the entire back bumper, tailgate, taillights etc.slide out to form an eight foot bed when needed. Otherwise, it is three feet shorter for easy handling and parking. Like Hyundai's or not, that is pretty unique and innovative. The CRV is not unique, innovative or intended for performance, but it is well designed, fun to drive, efficient, provides a lot of utility and is extremely well built.

Hyundai Santa Cruz Truck Concept: The Long-Awaited Pickup Finally Arrives - Auto Shows
 
#24 · (Edited)
Listining to Trump's campaign speeches caused a wave of patriotism to come over me and the desire for a car built by Americans in America! LOL

I never had a Honda (any new car actually) back to the dealer for a service bulletin fix (radiator clamps falling off) and a recall (fuel rail installation issues) the first few months of ownership. I also never had Honda send me a cardboard thumb drive and ask me to reflash my own computer to keep control of my car from being taken over like a RC car.

Plus the Hellcat had a screw in the front tire and I did not want to wait at the tire store. I buy trade cars for very little reason. The Hellcat had only been washed once and detailed once in eight months and was due to be washed again.
 
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#31 ·
I kind of get the OP's logic. I've done some similar things and call it my "practical phase". I've owned close to 50 cars, everything from Mercedes up to and including AMG (C55, loved that thing) to Mustangs, to base model Grand Cherokees, C6 Corvette and now three SRT's. When my practical stage kicks in I go from being tired of worrying about the car every time I parked it to being sick of not wanting to drive it because I'm taking the kids somewhere to the gas it takes. Trust me, when the practical stage kicks in - the current vehicle is doomed. A couple examples of this is going from a modified C6 Corvette to a Honda CRZ. Jumping from a Grand Cherokee SRT to a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (actually kept the Wrangler, thing is cool). For some reason the more "opposite" the vehicle is - the easier it is for me to justify it with how "practical" it is by allowing me to drive around stress free and outside that rolling car show status.

That said, it usually doesn't last long. Bought a 2010 Grand Cherokee Unlimited and a month later went back for a 2010 SRT Grand Cherokee, recently traded in a 2012 Grand Cherokee SRT and bought a 2016 Wrangler Unlimited for myself and a week later went back and got a 2016 Hellcat. Tons of examples like this.

Bottom line - I get what the OP is saying and believe that we may suffer from the same mental illness.
 
#32 ·
I kind of get the OP's logic. I've done some similar things and call it my "practical phase". I've owned close to 50 cars, everything from Mercedes up to and including AMG (C55, loved that thing) to Mustangs, to base model Grand Cherokees, C6 Corvette and now three SRT's. When my practical stage kicks in I go from being tired of worrying about the car every time I parked it to being sick of not wanting to drive it because I'm taking the kids somewhere to the gas it takes. Trust me, when the practical stage kicks in - the current vehicle is doomed. A couple examples of this is going from a modified C6 Corvette to a Honda CRZ. Jumping from a Grand Cherokee SRT to a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (actually kept the Wrangler, thing is cool). For some reason the more "opposite" the vehicle is - the easier it is for me to justify it with how "practical" it is by allowing me to drive around stress free and outside that rolling car show status.

That said, it usually doesn't last long. Bought a 2010 Grand Cherokee Unlimited and a month later went back for a 2010 SRT Grand Cherokee, recently traded in a 2012 Grand Cherokee SRT and bought a 2016 Wrangler Unlimited for myself and a week later went back and got a 2016 Hellcat. Tons of examples like this.

Bottom line - I get what the OP is saying and believe that we may suffer from the same mental illness.
I have done the same thing several times. This is the last of it. I am going to fight my practical urge by driving the wife's Town & Country.
 
#34 ·
I'm not worried about the trade in value of my Hellcat. I plan on driving the hell out of it for 7-8 years.

The weather has been great here in Central New York so far this winter and I've had the Cat out almost every day.

Happy driving, and Happy New Year to all my Hellcat.org friends.

My Hellcat is the last new car I'm buying in 2015...
 
#49 ·
It seems lots of people dumped their new Hellcat after the first 6-12 months. I can't believe the number of Hellcat Challengers on e-bay alone. Only 4-5 Hellcat Chargers. I thought I was nuts for selling my 2012 Superbee for a Hellcat and adding $40k more.
I love my Hellcat and no way am going to trade it. I don't care if someone makes a 1500 hp - 9 sec car for $80,000. I am keeping this one for at least 5 years - if I live that long. I can't be trading up every 2-3 years.

My daily commute is only 1.2 miles round trip, so on nice days I take my $69 Walmart bike to work. I lose 706.5 hp but the bike gets me to work in 3 minutes, the best Hellcat time is 1 min, 20 secs,
 
#50 ·
For anyone interested, the Challenger Hellcat as traded by the OP is available at Jacksonville CJD, but at their price you can buy a new one and have some money left over. If it hasn't been posted anywhere before, those guys at Jax CJD are next to impossible to deal with, so GL to anyone trying to pick this up for a reasonable price. They've got a leftover 2015 Charger Cat and still asking $20k ADM and they wouldn't budge a few days before Christmas.
 
#53 ·
Surpsingly Hyundai albeit a korean car...are mostly assembled in America. Probably more "amercian" than many amercian cars out there. Haha more than our dodges for sure. Also im not a Hyundai hater my family has owned 8 in total. Never an issue with any of them. Great cars. However my hellcat is mine and my gf's elantra is hers haha. That little elantra is pretty cool though. She bracket races it. Runs the 1/4 in 16.5 secs. Keep right up with the monte carlo ss with the 3800s in them. Plus it has the 10 year 100k warranty
 
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