There are some cars out there that hold their value well. High end sports cars are some of them. Then there are cars that don’t hold their value well at all. Those cars include some of the more common cars or cars that are surrounded by speculation of poor quality. Sometimes a lot of that speculation is warranted because of past performance in the quality department.

The top five cars (or bottom five depending on how you think about it) for not holding their value are either Chrysler/Dodge or Kia cars.
Here are some of the cars that Forbes found to hold less than 20% of their value after just five years:

1) The Chrysler Sebring Convertible. While it looks sporty to some, this car doesn’t hold value well at all. The MSRP is $28,530 and after just two years its value is only 27% of its original MSRP. After five years, the value fell to just 15% of its original MSRP.

2) Kia Sedona. Kia has been seen by many as a low quality automobile company. The Kia Sedona is just one of the vehicles that the company makes that doesn’t hold its value well. With an MSRP of $21,245 it too (like the Sebring) only holds 15% of its original value after 5 years.

3) Kit Optima Sedan. It does a hair better than the Sedona and Sebring. With an MSRP of $17,495, it holds 17% of its original value after five years.

4) Kia Spectra Sedan. With an MSRP of only $13,550, you will still lose a lot of its original MSRP, but it won’t seem to hurt as bad with it’s 17% value retention after five years.

5) Dodge Grand Caravan. This minivan’s MSRP is $23,545 and only holds 17% of its original value after five years like the previous three vehicles.

Some of the problems with Dodge cars not holding their value well is associated with the uncertainty of the company’s ability to stay in business in the future.

Before buying a car, you can check the resell value for the next few years; you can also check quality reports for the cars. If you have your heart set on one model, then just make sure that you will be getting what you consider to be a good value and make and informed decision to know what your investing in; even if the model doesn’t hold its value well (besides, what does resell value mean if you plan on keeping the car until you eventually run it into the ground?).

Source

When someone brings up Wal-Mart in conversation, what do you immediately think? Some people probably have memories of cheap clothes and off brand food items, or even low quality items. The truth is, even with a negative image of Wal-Mart in our minds, we still shop there and its competition has definitely taken notice.

Other companies like Target and even Family Dollar Stores have started implementing some of the same practices Wal-Mart has had for years. If you’ve noticed, there have been more and more “Super Target” stores popping up that sell grocery items just like Wal-Mart. Now, in my opinion, the offerings from Target are a bit more high quality and definitely less “everyday” like Archer Farm’s foods.

One of the main reasons why Target didn’t start this policy in the past is because retail items such as clothing have a higher profit margin than food items. However, it is seen now that if you can get a customer in the door with food items, then perhaps they will also start purchasing the other items with the higher profit margins at your store as well.

Target was once known for its inexpensive, yet stylish, clothing. Wal-Mart has since followed suit introducing the clothing lines George and even getting clothing maker L.E.I. to start making juniors clothing for the stores. So, once Wal-Mart has the customer in the door, then that customer is more likely to buy an item from the LEI brand than Merona or a Target brand.

However, from now on I will be doing all of my shopping for fresh items such as produce and meats from stores other than Wal-Mart. The last few times I have purchased either of these from a local Wal-Mart, they spoiled well before their time. On Wednesay June 3, I stopped by the nearest Wal-Mart to pick up some treats for my dog’s birthday and I noticed that seedless watermelons were on sale. I picked one up because my husband and I both like watermelon. Later that night, we went to cut it open and it was completely spoiled and waterlogged. The weekend of Memorial Day a similar situation happened with sirloin steak from Wal-Mart; when we went to cook the steaks before the use by date, they were also ruined. That time, I got sick from the food, even after cooking it until it was “well-done.”

The watermelon situation was the final incident, I will be buying those items, at a premium, from my local Kroger store or from a farmer’s market.

When someone brings up Wal-Mart in conversation, what do you immediately think? Some people probably have memories of cheap clothes and off brand food items, or even low quality items. The truth is, even with a negative image of Wal-Mart in our minds, we still shop there and its competition has definitely taken notice.

Other companies like Target and even Family Dollar Stores have started implementing some of the same practices Wal-Mart has had for years. If you’ve noticed, there have been more and more “Super Target” stores popping up that sell grocery items just like Wal-Mart. Now, in my opinion, the offerings from Target are a bit more high quality and definitely less “everyday” like Archer Farm’s foods.

One of the main reasons why Target didn’t start this policy in the past is because retail items such as clothing have a higher profit margin than food items. However, it is seen now that if you can get a customer in the door with food items, then perhaps they will also start purchasing the other items with the higher profit margins at your store as well.

Target was once known for its inexpensive, yet stylish, clothing. Wal-Mart has since followed suit introducing the clothing lines George and even getting clothing maker L.E.I. to start making juniors clothing for the stores. So, once Wal-Mart has the customer in the door, then that customer is more likely to buy an item from the LEI brand than Merona or a Target brand.

However, from now on I will be doing all of my shopping for fresh items such as produce and meats from stores other than Wal-Mart. The last few times I have purchased either of these from a local Wal-Mart, they spoiled well before their time. On Wednesay June 3, I stopped by the nearest Wal-Mart to pick up some treats for my dog’s birthday and I noticed that seedless watermelons were on sale. I picked one up because my husband and I both like watermelon. Later that night, we went to cut it open and it was completely spoiled and waterlogged. The weekend of Memorial Day a similar situation happened with sirloin steak from Wal-Mart; when we went to cook the steaks before the use by date, they were also ruined. That time, I got sick from the food, even after cooking it until it was “well-done.”

The watermelon situation was the final incident, I will be buying those items, at a premium, from my local Kroger store or from a farmer’s market.