Used - Would you consider one of the defunct brands? (e.g. Suzuki, Pontiac, etc)

[Murdoc]

Would you consider buying a used car made by one of the defunct brands? (e.g. Suzuki, Pontiac, etc)

This question is mainly for those of you who buy used cars and tend keep them for a long time like I do (16 years with my current vehicle, a Ford Ranger). I'm cheap when it comes to buying cars.

Of course, what would worry me the most about those defunct brands is future parts availability and serviceability.

What made me think about this is I've been wanting an AWD wagon or hatchback and I've seen some cheap prices for AWD Suzuki SX4's (probably a reason for that). And Pontiac made some AWD Vibes.

What are your thoughts?

P.S. I realize Suzuki still exists outside the U.S., and Pontiac shared most of their parts with other vehicles, but the question still remains.

 

[michal1980]

Pontiac yes, mainly because most of the cars had duplicate chevy parts. others less so.

 

[sandorski]

Anything made by the Big 3 had so much cross platform use that there should be no worries about parts.

Something like Suzuki would be more questionable, but there should be parts available for quite a few years from at least After Market suppliers.

Not an expert on such things, but I doubt there's anything to worry about on that.

 

[Sheep221]

Doesn't matter, most parts for older cars are made by third parties anyway. Even companies they do exist don't make spare parts for much longer after announcing successor models.

You should also rephrase the thread name, that defunct suzuki really does blast to face.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

Pontiac Vibe, totally. It's a Toyota Matrix (embiggened Corolla) mechanically. Parts for those babies are everywhere.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Had a Vibe a few years ago with 200k on it. Rock solid car but man was it boring just like every other Toyota .