Future of Hummer value?

[father_of_4]

I am less concerned about the value of my H2 as to the cost to keep her running say 8-10 years from now (I tend to hang on to vehicles for at least 7 years). For now, I put that concern out of my mind and just enjoy the ride (and remote start) .

Bob

PS Anyone know what a low speed grinding noise from the wheels might be? Not dirty brake squeal.

[VegasGuy]

Originally Posted by father_of_4

Anyone know what a low speed grinding noise from the wheels might be? Not dirty brake squeal.

Bearings?

[HummerJim]

Vehicles make poor investments - there's maintenance, insurance, depreciation. I've owned several collector cars - the Corvettes did the best and the only one I really did well on was a Dukes of Hazzard Charger TV close up car, I bought in 1982 kept in the garage and polished it and drove it in a few parades and sold it when the movie came out in 2005 - but after you factor in 23 years of insurance and a new head gasket on the 440 engine, 18,000 miles of 9 mpg on premium gas with 4:11 gears - it was just about a break even. I don't think you'll sell your Hummer for a profit if you drive it for several years - but, so what, if you love driving it. I had fun in every car I've owned and enjoyed driving them. Honestly, I've enjoyed my two Hummers the most of anything except maybe the '65 396 I bought new, and the M5- yep, I'm an old fart! Hummers are fairly easy to maintain and people that want them aren't that concerned about gas. I plan on keeping my H2 until they bury me and maybe get another H3 someday, only used this time. When it comes to cost of maintaining a car or vehicle, very little can hold a candle to a high performance BMW V8 out of warranty. Cars that hold their value like a Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, or Prius, and the ones Consumer Reports likes are BORING and aren't that much fun to drive and when your gas gauge in life is approaching empty and you look back on things - fun in driving means a lot. As for how others feel about Hummers, I could care less if they sneer at me when I drive by - I LOVE HER and enjoy driving it every time I take it out, rather on pavement or dirt!

[father_of_4]

Originally Posted by VegasGuy

Bearings?

12k miles? Hope it's early for that. Started to hear it after first tire rotation...

Hmmmm

[VegasGuy]

Originally Posted by father_of_4

12k miles? Hope it's early for that. Started to hear it after first tire rotation...

Tire shops are notorious for over-torquing lug nuts. Maybe they tweaked something.

Back to the topic at hand: My father bought my first car for me when I turned 17 so I could drive myself and my younger sister to school. He bought a '57 Chevy Belair 4-door post 283 automatic for $150 in 1969. It was more of a family sedan that my father knew I could not turn into a street rod. The paint was rough but other than that it was in great shape with normal mileage. I drove it for two years and sold it for $100. I would love to still own that car today and I know it would be worth a lot more than $150.

My point is Hummers will continue to decline in value to a point. Like the unique looking '57 Chevy, there is nothing that quite compares to a H2. Given time they will increase in value and become very collectible, IMO.

[HummerMann]

I paid $56,790 for my 2006 H2 from the dealer and I was just glad to have one because H2s were going fast in those days. It's going to be a long time if ever, before it reaches that price again, but I have no intentions of selling anyway. I have a 1991 Corvette ZR1 that some dealers were getting as much as 100k for when they came out, now you would be lucky to get 35k for a nice one, so you never know - buy what you enjoy driving because investing in cars can be expensive business! I agree though that any old pre '68 Corvette, any Lamborghini, any Ferrari or Shelby anythings are good investments, but more importantly fun to drive. I've been into sports cars and classic cars for years, look at the fastest and "coolest cars" of when you were 16 and then extrapolate that to being 50 now and having the funds to buy one and then you can see what cars are peeking. '57 Chevies are on the way down, Chevy Nomads appear to have peeked, Cobras are holding value and older GT350s are still increasing, and those who bought the Caddy straight eights or '55 Tbirds a decade ago have taken a bath. There was a big article in a June 1999 C&D about the 1999 Isuzu Vehicross being the first SUV collectible and sure to increase in value because of its limited 1900 unit production, power and styling and some paid well over sticker on them - it hasn't happened.

[The Professional]

Auction prices rose after the turmoil with the sale. At least locally. I don't believe they will become a novelty or collector vehicle if that's the question.