2000 Pontiac Bonneville Se Sedan 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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Are orphan cars better deals?

Most folks don't know a Saturn Aura from an Oldsmobile Aurora. Those of you who are immersed in the labyrinth of automobilia know that both cars were testaments to the mediocrity that was pre-bankruptcy General Motors, and that both brands are now long gone. But everybody else? Not so much. By the same token, there are some excellent cars and trucks that don't raise an eyebrow simply because they were sold under brands that are no longer being marketed. Orphan brands no longer get any marketing love, and because of that they can be alarmingly cheap. Case in point, take a look at how a 2010 Saturn Outlook compares with its siblings, the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave. According to the Manheim Market Report, the Saturn will sell at a wholesale auto auction for around $3,500 less than the comparably equipped Buick or GMC. Part of the reason for this price gap is that most large independent dealerships, such as Carmax, make it a point to avoid buying cars with orphaned badges. Right now if you go to Carmax's site, you'll find that there are more models from Toyota's Scion sub-brand than Mercury, Saab, Pontiac, Hummer, and Saturn combined. This despite the fact that these brands collectively sold in the millions over the last ten years while Scion has rarely been able to realize a six-figure annual sales figure for most of its history. That is the brutal truth of today's car market. When the chips are down, used-car shoppers are nearly as conservative as their new-car-buying counterparts. Unfamiliarity breeds contempt. Contempt leads to fear. Fear leads to anger, and pretty soon you wind up with an older, beat-up Mazda MX-5 in your driveway instead of looking up a newer Pontiac Solstice or Saturn Sky. There are tons of other reasons why orphan cars have trouble selling in today's market. Worries about the cost of repair and the availability of parts hang over the industry's lost toys like a cloud of dust over Pigpen. Yet any common diagnostic repair database, such as Alldata, will have a complete framework for your car's repair and maintenance, and everyone from junkyards to auto parts stores to eBay and Amazon stock tens of thousands of parts. This makes some orphan cars mindblowingly awesome deals if you're willing to shop in the bargain bins of the used-car market. Consider a Suzuki Kizashi with a manual transmission. No, really.

The prized golden 1965 Pontiac Hurst GeeTO Tiger is headed to auction

Once upon a time, a Pontiac advertising executive named Jim Wangers created a countrywide contest with this gorgeous 1965 Pontiac Hurst GTO serving as the grand prize. The contest was centered around "GeeTO Tiger," a song by musical artists The Tigers. A 19-year-old took home the golden muscle car at the time, but now anybody can buy the rare car through an upcoming Mecum auction.  As a way to boost sales and awareness of the Pontiac GTO and its performance parts, Wangers partnered up with Royal Pontiac, George Hurst, and Petersen Publishing in 1965 to create a contest. Royal provided the car, Hurst dressed it up, and Petersen distributed the contest in publications across the country.  In order to participate, people were asked to provide a reason why they wanted the car and identify how many times the word "tiger" was used in the promotional song "GeeTO Tiger" (pronounced G-Tee-Oh) by The Tigers. A 19 year-old kid named Alex Lampone from West Allis, Wisconsin, won the contest and took delivery of this jazzed-up GTO at the 1965 NHRA Indy Nationals.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Tigers - GeeTO Tiger The prize car was completely kitted out and described by Wangers as "the nicest GTO you could put your hands on." It had more than 28 factory options, including a black cordova top, power windows, power steering, power brakes, a tilt steering wheel, a power driver's seat, dual-speed windshield wipers, a custom sport steering wheel, a rally gauge cluster, a push-button AM/FM radio with power antenna, and a Verba phonic rear speaker. What makes it stand out is the Hurst-inspired gold theme, which includes gold paint, gold mag wheels, and a gold-plated Hurst Shifter. Under the hood, this GTO has a Tri-Power 389 V8 engine that pairs with a four-speed manual transmisison. It also has a 3.55 Safe-T-Track rear axle and dual exhaust. Throughout the years, this car has exchanged hands many times and has undergone a few changes. It's been repainted, and the engine has also been rebuilt, but Mecum says it's otherwise highly original. Ony 59,000 miles have turned over on the odometer.  The GeeTO Tiger Pontiac is scheduled to go up for auction in Indianapolis this June. Visit Mecum for more information. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Woodward Dream Cruise Time Lapse Video

GM doing fine at retaining Pontiac owners

This isn't the first time we've reported positive news about General Motors retaining former Pontiac owners. Get a few more stories like this latest report from Edmund's Auto Observer, and it will mark an ongoing positive trend for GM. Edmunds.com crunched the numbers to see how well the General is hanging on to customers after shutting out the lights at Pontiac, and it found that nearly 40 percent of Pontiac owners stayed with a vehicle from a General Motors brand.
The numbers are a little lower than an earlier R.L. Polk & Company study, but Edmunds says General Motors is keeping more former Pontiac buyers than it has since 2007. Most are turning to vehicles from Chevrolet, especially during January and February of 2011, when GM incentivized Pontiac owners to stay under the umbrella. Those moves seem to have worked, and 28.1 percent of Pontiac owners trading up made the jump into a Bowtie.
Buyers that have gone elsewhere have largely stayed loyal to Domestic automakers, with Ford picking up the most conquests from Pontiac, with 9.4 percent switching. Toyota and Honda picked up 7.4 percent of the pool of former Pontiac drivers. The numbers are defying any predictions that Pontiac buyers would completely exit the General Motors fold, and have climbed up closer to parity with the retention figures of other GM brands from a 2009 low of only 16 percent retention.