Phil,
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>That's all they are worth in today's market. The heavy discounting of 2003's as pretty much killed used values of the H2. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
What heavy discounting are you talking about? There was that $1000 offer cash back, and now this $1000 coupon, but compared to that you can get the $5000 rebate on a Silverado or other GM car or truck. The H2 is not heavily discounted. In fact, I think that except for the new for '04 models, it is the least subject to factory incentives than any other GM vehicle.
Consider, Porsche and Mercedes don't offer rebates, and their resale value is sky high, Hummer has only offered 2 rebates of at the max $1K. The residual looks pretty strong from where I sit.
The question remains is how much these vehicles will deprieciate in five years, not in one. Figure that in five years, the H2 may be ready for a reskin or other upgrades. GM doesn't change vehicles that often, partially in order to offset the drop in resale value that their incentives cause. If the model changed radically from year to year, then each individual year wouldn't be worth squat because the "big improvements" were in the
next model year. The longer that a product keeps true to the original, the greater the short term residual value. Once signifigant changes are made, the resale drops.
Having said all that, I am excluding classic and collectable vehicles from this equation, as they follow different rules for depreciation and residual value.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!